I keep hearing the tale of Throwing Starfish in recent weeks, it has come up in many different places, in many different ways. In all my years I had never come across this tale. But it gives me hope each time I hear it and each time I read it. The version below is an adaption from the work of Loren Eiseley and his work The Star Thrower.
“An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer. As he came closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.
"Young lady", he asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in they will die."
"But young lady, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference."
The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves,
saying: "It made a difference for that one."
The old man looked at the young woman inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Inspired, he joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.”
So often we give up on our visions, or missions for our own change or the change we wish to see in the workplace. We often put it under the category of being too busy, distracted by life and the everyday stuff we think we need to take care of, or even too hard or simply too much to do.
The amount of times I have worked with organisations and what I hear from the people at all levels, is stuff like this:
“Yup, another change programme. Never going to happen!”
“Yeh we’ve already tried to do this, but failed.”
“Oh good, more change being done to me! It’s never going to work!”
“We really want this, but we’ve tried it so many times and never got it off the ground!”
“There’s too much to be done, we will never be able to do it.”
“We don’t have enough people to carry out this change, why bother!”
Have you heard yourself saying this before? Have you heard your colleagues saying this before?
Let me invite you to explore these questions for yourself and the changes you are trying to make:
❓ What was your big WHY when you set out to make this change?
❓ What did you want to receive from making this change to your life, to your work, to your organisation?
❓What was your inner intention towards it? How did you want to show up to executing this change?
Back to Throwing Starfish, the lessons that give me hope in this tale for our own transformations and our workplace transformation:
⭐ One person can make a difference and inspire others to action.
⭐ Consistent, grounded and intentional action can create results.
⭐ You can create impact by just being you and following your beliefs.
⭐ Stand out from the crowd, let yourself be seen.
Whilst one person can make a difference, when we come together we can create greater ripples and waves to make change. We can uplift each other, grow together and be supported through the discomfort change brings. If you are ready to make these changes for you, for your work and for your organisation we invite you to connect with us through our membership. Schedule a call with us to talk about the amazing new toolbox you will build to be the change maker we know you are.
Leave your gifts of light as you sparkle brightly,
Nikki - of The Change Tribe
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