Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.
—Benjamin Franklin

People are often scared by the concept of big changes. They may immediately dismiss an idea as unachievable and miss a really great opportunity.

A classic negotiating technique that makes big things seem smaller is called “nibbling.” The idea is that rather than asking for a big concession all at once, you keep returning to ask for smaller concessions. When taken together, the sum of the small items is large. As humans, we can only put one foot in front of the other, anyway. So why scare ourselves with the magnitude of the task in front of us? If a change seems like a hundred marathons of effort, just focus on the step in front of you and never stop stepping. You will achieve the change sooner than you realize.

Conversely, it is also critically important to think big. If you only think incrementally, you will miss the really big opportunities. As a change leader, you must be the visionary. You must be able to see beyond your client’s limited vision. Most of us usually have extremely limited vision and we grossly underestimate what is achievable. We essentially live in boxes that we create for ourselves. One way you can become a strategic resource for your client is to help him see outside of his box.

If you or your customer has small expectations, you will reap small rewards. All of us would like bigger rewards. But because our daily lives are necessarily incremental, it is easy to get caught up in the current challenges of the day and lose sight of how small they really are.

Rather than thinking incrementally and executing incrementally, you will reap far bigger rewards if you think big and then execute incrementally. Even humanity’s biggest achievements, such as the Great Wall of China, were accomplished in small increments, one brick at a time.

As you build a vision of change for your client, be careful to test what size vision is palatable at what time. In some cases, it may be better to take a “nibbling” approach, focusing the client just on the step ahead. In other cases, the client may not have patience for small items and you could lose credibility if you do not paint big pictures with big ideas.

Think big and reap big rewards. For execution, think small—execution most often fails due to overlooked details. Appraise the customer’s appetite before describing the menu.