EP224 – The Power of Small Wins
Most managers misunderstand what motivates employees. Research shows that 95% of leaders guess incorrectly about their team’s drivers. Today, I’ll share what actually motivates people, according to Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer’s study published in Harvard Business Review.
#AdvancedQualityPrograms #JuanNavarro #TheQualityGuy #HappinesSeries #SmalllWins
Many people think a big end‑of‑year bonus is the best motivator. But research shows the opposite. Managers often assume that offering a large reward will push people to perform better. But science says something very different. A one‑time bonus can’t compete with the psychological power of small, daily wins. Today, we’ll look at why small progress feels so good and why it motivates us more than any big reward.
We’ve all experienced this. A new project starts, leadership announces a huge target, and there’s a big bonus attached to it. Everyone gets excited—for a short time. Maybe a week or two.
But then reality sets in. The goal is far away. The project is huge. On day one, you’re excited. By day three, you’re tired. By day seven, you’re overwhelmed. The reward feels too distant to matter. Motivation drops. You start procrastinating—not because you’re lazy, but because your brain isn’t built to chase something that won’t happen for months.
This is the problem with big bonuses. They sound motivating, but they often do the opposite. The goal feels so far away that today’s work seems pointless. You lose energy, you disengage, and you just go through the motions.
So if big bonuses don’t work, what does?
Harvard professor Teresa Amabile and psychologist Steven Kramer wanted to find out what really motivates people. They studied nearly 12,000 daily diary entries from 238 employees in seven companies. Every day, people wrote about their feelings, motivation, and what stood out to them.
Analysis revealed a key finding: progress in meaningful work is the greatest motivator. This concept is known as The Progress Principle.
On days when people made even a small step forward, they felt more motivated, creative, and engaged. If someone ended the day feeling good, it was usually because they made progress. If they felt drained or unhappy, it was usually because they hit a setback.
This wasn’t about personality. It was about daily experiences. And the most important experience was simply moving forward, even a little.
The reason small wins feel so motivating comes down to a brain chemical called dopamine.
Dopamine isn’t just the “feel‑good” chemical. It’s the motivation chemical. Your brain releases dopamine when you notice that you’re making progress. It tells your brain, “That worked—do it again.”
This is why video games are so addictive. It’s not the final prize—it’s the constant small wins. Every coin, every level, every progress bar gives your brain a tiny dopamine hit. That hit motivates you to keep going.
A big annual bonus doesn’t do this. It’s too far away. It doesn’t create the steady feedback your brain needs to stay motivated.
Your brain is built for immediate, visible progress, not distant rewards.
Amabile and Kramer found that small wins often had a surprisingly large effect.
In fact, 28% of small events that barely affected the project had a major impact on people’s motivation.
Think of a programmer finally fixing a bug or a writer finding the perfect opening sentence. These aren’t huge achievements, but they create a big emotional boost.
But there’s a downside. Setbacks have more than twice the negative impact that small wins have a positive one. A tiny obstacle can crush motivation. A pointless meeting, a sudden project change, or a canceled task can drain your energy fast.
There’s one more important piece: Progress only motivates you if the work feels meaningful.
If the task feels pointless, progress won’t give you the same boost. The work needs to matter—to you, your team, or your values. When progress connects to meaning, motivation increases dramatically.
Amabile and Kramer identified two types of actions that help create small wins:
1. Catalysts
These are actions that help people do their work. They include:
- Setting clear goals
- Giving people freedom to decide how to work
- Providing enough resources and time
- Helping when someone gets stuck
- Learning from problems instead of blaming
Catalysts remove obstacles and make progress easier.
2. Nourishers
These support the person doing the work. They include:
- Showing respect
- Recognizing effort
- Offering encouragement
- Providing emotional support
- Building team spirit
Nourishers are free—they recognize the personal aspect within the workplace. When combined with catalysts, they foster a setting where daily small victories are possible. These successes not only boost your mood but also influence your self-perception.
If your goal is “lose 50 pounds,” every day without big progress feels like failure. But if your goal is “walk for five minutes today,” you can do that. You get a small win. You get a dopamine hit. You do it again tomorrow. After a week, you’re not just trying to lose weight—you’re someone who walks daily. Each action shapes your identity: writing one sentence makes you a writer, doing a push-up makes you an exerciser, and sending an important email makes you productive.
A big bonus is an outside reward, but a small achievement comes from your own effort and growth. People often think that big rewards make us work harder, but brain science shows that making steady progress is actually more encouraging. A large bonus rewards the final result, but a small win celebrates the steps you take along the way. Big bonuses usually only motivate us for a short time, while small wins keep us going over the long run.
This week, I challenge you to recognize a small win—yours or someone else’s—with genuine acknowledgement. Research confirms that small steps drive progress more than big breakthroughs.
Thank you for supporting my books The Quality Mindset, Life Quality Projects, and The Principles of Quality. Keep striving for excellence, keep improving… I’m Juan Navarro with Advanced Quality Programs.
Based on the article “The Power of Small Wins” by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, published in the Harvard Business Review.