Ripple Effects

After I got an MS in Information and Library Science, I started teaching a class on Usability at my alma mater, Pratt.

Recently, there was a gathering of all the full- and part-time faculty that teach the Information Experience Design (IXD) courses. Craig MacDonald, the professor who taught me Information Architecture and countless other valuable things during my time at Pratt, was telling the group the history of the IXD program. During his description, he pointed directly at me and said, "Sam is actually responsible for the existence of this program. She was the first student to take a UX-related course within the Library Science Program and say 'this is the field I'm going to work in when I finish this masters'." After that, he turned it into a specific graduate degree and has built out courses, hired full time faculty, and churns out hundreds of really incredible students every year.

I was totally caught off guard. And floored. And honored! Then asked where my cut of the enrollment income was. ;)

But, seriously, I had no idea that what I thought was a very self-focused and individual decision nine years ago was the start of something so important to so many people. Something that I didn’t actually have to help foster or grow. Something that I am now a part of as a professor, getting to see the amazing places it takes students' lives.

For those of us that are overly sensitive to others’ needs and nervous about taking up space or appearing selfish, I have this to report: your "selfish" acts can help lots of other people in ways you may never know. There are so many butterfly effects possible from any decision you make.

What if instead of assuming your seemingly selfish choices are negative (or neutral at best, as I do), you assume they're positive?

For example:

• You ask a CEO that you meet at a conference, "How do you think about hiring people who are applying for the role they aspire to rather than what they do now? Such as, someone who has only managed two people at their past company but will need to manage ten as a Director at yours."
  
  This could...
  help you figure out how best to answer this question that you keep getting, as a woman, during interviews which leads you to getting the level of job you've been targeting for over a year.
  AND
  make that CEO discuss this issue with their head of HR next week, counter bias, and lead to them promoting and/or hiring way more people from underrepresented groups over the next ten years.

• You have stayed at a toxic job far too long because you really care about the people you manage and their wellbeing. You know quitting will be best for your mental health but worry it will lead to an unstable and scary situation for your reports.
  
  This could...
  move you on to the next incredible stage of your career that you don't currently have time or emotional space to figure out.
  AND
  lead the people you manage to also take risks in their careers and find jobs with much better treatment and deeper fulfillment. One of your colleagues might eventually go on to start a company that improves housing opportunities in an underserved community and another might use the work-life balance they find in their next job to spend more time with their five year old which makes their whole family much happier.
  
  (Vindictively, it could also lead to a whole bunch of people quitting and really screwing over your evil boss and making their life hard. Yes, I am a fan of schadenfreude.)

• You really want to quit your current career and become a writer, finally writing the book you've had an inkling you could write for a while. You worry that this leap will put a lot of financial stress on your partner (even though they keep telling you to do it!) and aren't sure anyone will ever even read the book.
  
  This could...
  lead to a whole new career for you, where you find financial stability and get to travel all around the world, meeting incredible people and having the kinds of experiences you never imagined you could.
  AND
  one person who reads your book is inspired to write themselves, leading to an incredible sharing of contextual knowledge that only they have within them. Their writing then might inspire others of a similar experience to write as well, overall increasing empathy amongst humans.

Maybe you're reading this and thinking I'm totally over-aspirational. But, in the words of an early-90s McDonald's campaign: Hey, It Could Happen!

And why couldn't it? Aren't these things just as likely as the negative versions we all come up with in our heads to stop ourselves from making scary leaps that lead to big progress?

So, what are the possible butterfly effect outcomes of your next "selfish" step?