Ripple Effect Thinking is a mindset that recognizes how our everyday actions and interactions influence others in ways we may never fully see. It challenges us to look beyond our own intentions and immediate outcomes to consider the broader impact our behavior has on the people around us.
I developed Ripple Effect Thinking around a simple belief:
You may control less than you'd like, but you influence more than you realize.
And understanding that difference can change the way we lead, work, and connect with others.
Why Don't Our Good Intentions Always Create a Positive Impact?
Early in my career, within my first year of managing people, I was determined to be a great leader.
I cared deeply about helping the people on my team grow, develop their skills, and reach their potential.
And I thought one of the best ways to do that was through lots of constructive feedback.
At the time, I was overseeing a group of fairly junior folks who were responsible for new client onboarding and customer success. After meetings, presentations, or sales calls, I'd offer suggestions for what someone could do differently or improve upon the next time.
I thought I was helping.
Until one day, after sitting in on a sales call with a woman on my team, I started sharing a few things I thought she could improve.
And she burst out:
"Can I do ANYTHING right??"
I was floored.
I genuinely thought I was being a supportive manager. I wanted her to succeed, and I believed my feedback was helping her get to our agreed upon goals.
But I’d become so focused on what she could do better that I was completely overlooking what she was already doing well.
And while my intention was to help her grow, the impact I was having was making her feel like nothing she did was ever good enough.
For months, I'd been creating friction I couldn't see.
That conversation was a turning point for me.
I owned my part, acknowledged what I'd been missing, and committed to being better about recognizing people's strengths and contributions, not just their opportunities for improvement.
The lesson was clear:
Our intentions don't always match our impact.
And unless we bring awareness to our impact on others, we can continue creating friction for the very people we're trying to help.
What Is Invisible Friction, and How Does It Affect Teams?
One of the biggest challenges in leadership is that we don't always recognize the impact of our own behavior.
I call this Invisible Friction™: the unintended impact we create for others through behaviors whose consequences we don't fully see.
It shows up in seemingly small interactions.
A leader interrupts an employee who's sharing an idea.
A colleague fails to follow through on a commitment.
A manager makes a decision without explaining the reasoning behind it.
An employee asks a question and receives a dismissive response.
None of these moments may seem particularly significant to the person responsible.
But for the person experiencing them, they can create frustration, uncertainty, or a loss of trust.
And when those moments accumulate, they begin shaping how people show up at work.
I've seen this firsthand in my work with organizations.
This year, I facilitated five Invisible Friction workshops with more than 100 managers and supervisors at a biotechnology company.
Participants identified everyday behaviors that made their work harder, including unclear communication, inconsistent accountability, and assumptions between teams.
I collected the data and shared reports back with my client on the major themes, takeaways and recommended actions.
What we saw was how often small behaviors created consequences far beyond the original interaction: rework, delays, strained relationships, and missed opportunities for collaboration.
We can't change the ripple effects of our behavior until we become more aware of the moments creating them.
What Is the Difference Between Siloed Thinking and Ripple Effect Thinking?
In my leadership work, I describe two ways of approaching everyday situations: Siloed Thinking and Ripple Effect Thinking.
Siloed Thinking focuses primarily on your own pressures, priorities and perspectives with a bias toward immediate outcomes.
Ripple Effect Thinking considers the broader impact of our actions on other people, relationships, and long-term results.
Here's what that difference can look like in practice:
Siloed Thinking
Make assumptions
Focus on the presenting problem
Jump to conclusions
Prioritize short-term outcomes
Focus on limitations
Ask “what’s in it for me?”
Ripple Effect Thinking
Seek the truth
Explore the root cause
Reserve judgment
Invest in long-term relationships
Look for potential
Ask “what’s in it for us?”
These are not fixed personality traits. They're choices we make, often unconsciously, in everyday moments.
And those choices influence whether we create friction or connection.
My experience as a new manager is the perfect example.
I was focused on what I thought my team member needed to improve. I wasn't considering how my approach was being experienced or what it might be doing to her confidence.
Ripple Effect Thinking would have challenged me to ask different questions.
How is my feedback being received?
Am I recognizing what's working as much as what's not?
What kind of relationship am I building through these interactions?
The goal isn't to avoid difficult conversations or stop giving constructive feedback.
It's to become more intentional about how we have those conversations and the impact they create.
What Are the Five Qualities of a Ripple Effect Mindset?
Ripple Effect Thinking will never be about perfection, because this work is hard. It’s also not about making every interaction some extraordinary, life-changing event.
It's about developing greater awareness and intention in how we show up for others.
In my work, I teach five qualities that help leaders practice this mindset:
Vulnerability: Being willing to show up authentically, acknowledge uncertainty, and admit when we don't have all the answers.
Kindness: Recognizing that small acts of consideration can have an outsized impact on someone else's experience.
Curiosity: Asking questions and seeking understanding before making assumptions or jumping to conclusions.
Empathy: Making an effort to understand what others may be experiencing, even when their perspective differs from our own.
Humility: Recognizing that our perspective is incomplete and that we can learn something from the people around us.
The beautiful thing is that these qualities are available to everyone (though increasingly important as your position in the hierarchy of corporate structures grows)
Anyone can practice them.
And each one uniquely creates opportunities to turn moments of potential friction into moments of connection.
How Can Leaders Put Ripple Effect Thinking Into Practice?
The good news is that it requires very few resources. You don't need to launch a whole new program, redo your strategy or craft a new mission to begin practicing Ripple Effect Thinking.
You just need to become more intentional about the moments you're already creating.
Here are five places to start:
1. Notice the moments you usually overlook
Pay attention to how you greet people, respond to questions, acknowledge contributions, and react when things go wrong.
These interactions may feel routine to you, but they shape someone else's experience.
2. Get curious about your impact
It’s easy to assume others think we have good intentions. And maybe they believe that. But you need to ask how your actions are actually being experienced.
A simple question like "What could I do differently to make working together easier?" can reveal friction you didn't know existed.
3. Choose connection over assumption
When someone behaves in a way you don't understand, resist the urge to immediately assign a motive. Gosh it’s hard, I know.
Ask a question. Seek context. Make room for another perspective.
4. Recognize the ripples others create
One of the most powerful ways to reinforce positive influence is to tell someone how they've impacted you.
Through my Start a Ripple Postcard Project, approximately 5,000 postcards have reached people across more than 40 states and nine countries.
Each postcard carries a simple message:
"You created a ripple effect in my life when..."
It's a small act of acknowledgement that helps people see the impact they might otherwise never recognize, and more deeply, see that their legacy is already living in your life.
5. Start with your next interaction
Again, this is not about some massive overhaul that requires a heavy lift.
Start with your next meeting.
Your next difficult conversation.
Your next opportunity to listen, encourage, acknowledge, or support someone.
Ask yourself:
"What kind of ripple do I want to create in this moment?"
Then act accordingly.
Why Does Ripple Effect Thinking Matter for Organizational Culture?
Organizations often invest significant resources in leadership development, employee engagement, and culture transformation.
Those investments matter, and are initiatives I’ve been part of leading both internally and as a speaker/consultant.
But culture ultimately comes to life through the behaviors people experience every day.
A company's values may say that people matter.
But whether employees believe that depends on what happens when they share an idea, make a mistake, challenge a decision, or ask for help.
This is where Ripple Effect Thinking becomes more than an individual leadership philosophy.
It becomes a shared approach to how people work together.
When leaders consistently model vulnerability, kindness, curiosity, empathy and humility, they help create conditions where people feel safer, more connected, and more willing to contribute.
And when those behaviors spread throughout an organization, their impact extends beyond any single leader or team.
That's how small moments can create meaningful cultural change.
How Do You Start a Ripple?
We've been taught to think about legacy as something we leave behind. Something measured at the end of a career or a lifetime.
But the more I've reflected on the people who have shaped my life, and the impact we have on one another, the more I've come to believe something different.
Legacy isn't something you leave behind. It's something you cause every day.
It's happening in the way you respond when someone makes a mistake.
The way you notice someone hesitating to speak up and create space for their voice.
The way you show up for someone during a difficult moment.
You may never know the full impact of those interactions.
But that doesn't make them any less significant.
You simply need to recognize the influence you already have and choose how to use it.
Because the most important moments aren't always the ones you'll remember.
They're the ones someone else never forgets.
Chris Rollins, the Ripple Effect Speaker, helps people see they influence more than they realize, for better or worse, and use that influence with intention.
Connect with Chris about bringing the Ripple Effect Thinking approach to your event or organization help strengthen trust, connection, and collaboration.
