What’s So Special About Small?

(Source: Unsplash/Elena Mozhvilo.)

“We may not be big, but we’re small.” 

That was the slogan of a small, independent record store called The Vinyl Cafe, in a world imagined by the late, legendary storyteller Stuart McLean, whose tales could be heard on public radio airwaves in the U.S. and Canada for more than a decade.

I absolutely love that phrase: we may not be big, but we’re small. With just a few words, it manages to communicate something deep, while being clever and self-aware.

The notion that there is strength in smallness can be found everywhere in the Strong Towns approach. Small bets, small actions, small projects. Small spaces, small-scale developers, small towns. And of course, small businesses! (A previous incarnation of The Bottom-Up Revolution podcast was even called “It’s the Little Things.”)

So what’s so special about small?

Small Saves Time

Whether it’s the scale of the action or the size of the group, keeping things small (at least to start with) almost always saves time. Consensus-building in a large group of people can take a long time. Of course, in many circumstances, consensus is a valuable and worthy goal, but in others, it can needlessly chew up a lot of time and energy—and sometimes, goodwill!

I’ll give you an example. Right now I’m working on a neighborhood event: a summer chalk festival. A neighbor mentioned that he thought it would be fun to do, and so the two of us emailed back and forth a few times and brainstormed a plan. We divided up the tasks, each of us taking on things we had the skills, experience, or desire to do. In just a few spurts of 10 or 15 minutes, we had a solid plan for how to pull this event off. 

We could do this because our neighborhood association tries as much as possible to use a “lead your idea” model. In this model, folks are empowered to run with an idea they have and the rest of the group is mainly there as support: to bounce ideas off of and to offer assistance with connections or leads or practical help. 

Rather than the entire committee being involved in every event and idea, individuals or small teams are entrusted to make decisions and plans they feel comfortable and capable of. While we started using this model as a way to ensure volunteers didn’t burn out, we’ve stuck with it because it’s a great way to get people in the door to act on things they’re passionate about. Getting involved is easy when you have a small and manageable list of tasks to help accomplish something you’re excited about. 

Small Lets You Be Nimble

Acting small also lets you be more nimble. 

The other day, an acquaintance was describing their job in the public service and I was struck by the enormity of the bureaucracy and what that meant for decision-making. Layers upon layers of org charts, reporting lines, policies, procedures… It seemed necessary, given the size of the organization, but also incredibly frustrating and potentially demoralizing for employees. Big ships turn very slowly.

In my own mid-sized city’s municipal government, we see this in action all the time. Seemingly few people have the authority to make decisions on their own; everything has to be run up the chain of command and things often take months (if not years) to happen. Sometimes it feels as though the city’s motto should be, “Let’s order a report on that.”

“Pivot” is not a thing for mammoth organizations. But for a small grassroots or non-profit group? Being able to adapt at the drop of a hat, work within all sorts of constraints, and improvise on the fly is second nature. And that is why it can be so rewarding to spend your time and energy at this lowest level, getting small things done, building on them, having the freedom to ditch an idea that’s not working, or starting something fresh and exciting. 

Small Is Accessible

Here’s the thing that’s near and dear to my heart. Small actions are what’s most accessible to everyday people. Everyone has something they can contribute to making their place better, whether it’s a skill, resource, or personality trait (or an excellent repertoire of cookie recipes!). Small actions are much more likely to inspire copycats (imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, and all). And those copycat ideas are much more likely to be brought to fruition because they’re within the ability and reach of regular people.

This makes total sense when you consider that for most of history, it was everyday people who built up their neighborhoods, towns, and cities through the accumulation of many small but attainable changes: little things like putting an addition on their house or starting a small business from their home. These actions take a lot of individual effort, of course, but they are still small in the grand scheme of things. 

When everybody has the ability to make a few small improvements and changes to their home or neighborhood, the result is a place that gets better and stronger. It’s like the wonderful Jane Jacobs quote: “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Small Is Incremental

Sometimes the term “incrementalism” is used with a really negative connotation, as an accusation of being too timid and too slow. Daniel Herriges has a good piece that addresses that misconception, noting, “The defining feature of incrementalism as a planning or policy approach is not slowness or timidity: quite the opposite. Incrementalism entails a bias toward quick action over exhaustive planning: you take the next, easiest action to address the immediate situation you’re facing, and you take it right now.”

The incrementalism that builds strong, resilient, sustainable, and loveable places is all about quick, constant, repeated small actions. The essence of this is summed up in Strong Towns’ 4-step process for public investment:

1.     Humbly observe where people in the community struggle.

2.     Ask the question: What is the next smallest thing we can do right now to address that struggle?

3.     Do that thing. Do it right now.

4.     Repeat.

Small Feels Pretty Darn Good

I don’t have any science or sources to cite here, but don’t you just find that sometimes the smallest things have the biggest impact? Think about the kind thing someone once said about you that you still remember years later. The little card or gift a neighbor brought over when you moved in. The “just because” text from a friend that came at just the right moment and brightened your day? 

It’s so easy to think that small actions don’t amount to much, but nothing could be further from the truth. And it’s why I love the Strong Towns philosophy, which believes that by definition, acting on a small scale is one of the most powerful things that citizens can do. Thinking, acting, and starting small can be your biggest asset!

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