🪵 The power of ONE thing

Last week I went to a chiropractor because I was dealing with some brutal back spasms.

I expected the usual experience: an adjustment, maybe a plan, probably a recommendation to come back every week.

Instead, it was something completely different.

He adjusted me, but that wasn’t really the point. He started teaching me how the back, hips, and pelvis actually work, what was happening in my body, and why it hurt.

Then he said something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: “I don’t want to see you again. I want to give you the tools.”

That alone surprised me.

But what really shifted things was this: at first, he assumed I just wanted the pain to go away. I told him, “This might sound crazy, but I want to be playing tennis again. Multiple times a week.”

That completely changed how he approached me.

Different explanation. Different plan. Different expectations.

He said: “If I give you fifteen exercises to do, you won’t do any of them. Zero.” “If I give you one, you’ll do one.” “Once that becomes a habit, we can add another.”

That hit me.

Because I’ve had the opposite experience so many times. Plans that make sense, but I can’t actually see myself following through on them.

And if I’m honest, I’ve started to expect that.

I want to change, but I don’t always believe I will.

✨ What this reveals

I’ve been thinking about how often I do this to myself—and how often we do this in leadership.

We give people a five-letter acronym. Seven habits. A 2×2 framework.

All of it is good.

Most of it doesn’t happen.

Not because people don’t care. Not because they don’t understand.

But because in the moment, behavior isn’t driven by what makes sense. It’s driven by what’s simple enough, clear enough, and practiced enough to actually show up.

That’s something we talk about a lot at Campfire: behavior over content, simplicity over complexity.

Not because frameworks don’t matter—but because they don’t change anything unless they actually get used.

🔥 Something to share

If you’re supporting managers right now, try this:

Don’t give them five things to work on.

Give them one.

Or better—ask them: what’s one thing you want to do differently this week?

• One conversation you’ve been avoiding

• One moment you tend to be reactive

• One habit you want to practice

Then make it small enough that they’ll actually do it.

Lately, mine has been this: buh… reeth…

There are moments where I can feel it building—in my chest, in my body—and I want to react. Fix it. Say something. Move it forward.

And instead, I’m just trying to pause.

Not solve it. Not get it right.

Just… don’t react.

🔦 What we’re hearing

In conversations with talent leaders, I keep hearing versions of the same thing:

“Our managers know what to do—it just doesn’t show up in the moment.”
“The training makes sense, but it doesn’t stick.”
“This feels more like habits than knowledge.”

That’s usually the shift.

From learning to practice.

From understanding to repetition.

Final thought: The only plan that works is the one you’ll actually follow through on.

One thing you’ll actually do beats five things you agree with and forget.

One small shift, repeated, changes more than a whole framework that never shows up in your week.

I’m still working on this.

But this week, I’m trying to keep it simple.

One thing. One moment.

buh… reeth…

Warmly,
Steve

Sent from Campfire—a hub for developing leaders at scale.