I recently read about how an NGO got smoking banned in closed public spaces in the US. The tobacco companies had lobbied. They got a law passed that made it mandatory to provide smoking zones in all such places. It was challenging to fight against the muscle power of these large corporations. Therefore, the NGOs started chipping away at smaller, easier targets. They first requested the administration to ban smoking in schools. It was a very logical demand. Even the farmers who grew tobacco did not want their kids to smoke! State after State banned smoking in schools.
The NGOs then turned their attention to restaurants. California banned smoking in restaurants. They soon extended the prohibition to other closed areas. Over one decade, almost all States in the US banned smoking.
Getting smoking prohibited was a herculean task. However, the NGO started with the schools in their district. It took a few years to have smoking banned across the State. In a couple of years, 7 States prohibited smoking. And in another couple of years, it got enforced across the country.
An important lesson to learn from this story is that any big problem can be solved with the following ingredients:
Commitment to the cause
Being on the field to understand the issues firsthand
Tackling issues at the micro level before scaling it to the macro level
Building momentum through baby steps
The same concepts apply to the challenges we tackle in the business world.
Metrics:
Pick an issue that you think is insurmountable.
Find the smallest component that you can tackle from it.
Solve the challenge at its micro-level.
Chip at the next element.
Repeat the process.
Patience is the key in this process.
Subodh
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