The #RisingTide LevelUp Challenge

The butterfly effect is a term used to reference a scenario where, if you were to go back in time 1000 years and step on a butterfly and then return to your current time, you would find that everything has been changed. Potentially even you would no longer exist. This is explained as being caused by the fact that everything in the world is connected (as being part of the same ecosystem) and therefore given enough time the effects of a tiny butterfly being squashed can exponentially grow into an event where the Germans won World War II, or your parents never met.

In a world today where we are too busy to look beyond the face value, the lesson is pretty clear. If you go back in time, make sure you don’t step on any butterflies. If we were to stop and look beyond the face value, the lesson hits far closer to home. Scientists use this to explain that even a small change in a complex system can have a huge impact, but even they distill the true lesson down to its practical use for themselves.

Have you ever watched a Wave roll through the stadium audience, proud to join the hundreds raising their hands but jealous you weren’t the one who started it? What did the other person have that you don’t? Why couldn’t you be the source of this impressive movement visible throughout the entire stadium? The answer is honestly, nothing. Just the courage to go first, and be the leader, influencing others around you and creating an impact that spreads.

You have been created in order that you might make a difference. You have within you the power to change the world. – Andy Anderson

The Rising Tide Consulting Group is movement looking to start the waves, creating the tide, that will subsequently create larger waves, and larger waves, eventually rising higher and elevating everyone within the ecosystem. Let’s go back to the Wave in the stadium, can you imagine if the first person lifted their hands to create the Wave and the person next to them watched, acknowledged it was cool, and did nothing? The only reason why the Wave works is because the second person who follows, then the third, and the fourth and so-on. This is why at Rising Tide we are hyper-focused not on your business, but on your people. If we do your work for you, there is no impact, and we are left deciding if we should keep raising our hands to make up for the effort of those who aren’t joining or give up! If we can influence you doing your work, we can be the start of a massive wave that will spread not only throughout your entire business, but to your clients, and your vendors, raising the level of partnerships and quality of service being delivered to you, and by you.

The Rising Tide LevelUp Challenge is our ‘Audience in the Stadium Wave’. A movement started by our mentor Mendy Green on LinkedIn, where you take three stories, or analogies, and you pull out a lesson learned from each one (similar to how we did it with The Butterfly Effect mentioned above). After your three lessons you call out three new people to partake in the challenge and post their own. The lessons can be repeated, but the analogies or stories must be different.

In every situation, scenario, or story, there’s always a lesson to be learned. The scientists knew that when they framed the Butterfly Effect to teach their lesson, but each person will look at these stories and lessons through a colored lens filtered for their specific use case! It’s up to each individual as they hear these to take a lesson that relates to them. In fact, it is with Elizabeth Copeland’s lesson from the challenge (“Sometimes you need to stop and take in the view”) that we can examine analogies and situations and pull out a lesson from each one relevant to us to help us grow; the difference between taking something at face value or looking for that deeper meaning.

You can find her lesson and more by looking for the tags #RisingTideChallenge or #RisingTide on LinkedIn.