Philosophy scientists can use Part IV: Little Strokes

Welcome to the fourth post in our series about aphorisms that can be used by scientists, if you missed the introduction to this series we recommend you check it out. This week we are discussing the phrase:

“Little strokes fell great oaks”

As with last week’s post we have another wood related aphorism. This phrase, however, is designed to remind you that even if the task in front of you seems too big to be beaten, a little effort carried out over a long time can beat any problem. This sentiment might feel particularly relevant for anyone who has done/is doing a PhD, but this knowledge can benefit anyone , and not only in their work life.

With the previous aphorisms we have talked about it has been relatively easy to find sources discussing their origin and to track how they have changed over time. In this case the sources are limited at best, making it difficult to find a reliable starting point. Some of the sites which mention this proverb attribute it to Benjamin Franklin (United States founding father and the one who did an experiment with a kite this one time). It has been suggested that the phrase was first mentioned by Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanack , a journal which he published between 1732 and 1758. This type of almanac was popular during this era and one which he published annually under the pseudonym "Poor Richard." With this being the only source of information concerning the origin of this aphorism it’s reliability remains unclear. However, it seems rather fitting that a man famed for his scientific inquiries and inventions, as much his political heritage, may be the mind behind this aphorism.

If someone like Franklin can provide this wisdom, and apply it in his life to accomplish the things he did, we would be remiss if we did not at least considering how we might apply it to our own lives. This brings us to our usual question, what can we take from this phrase and start using it as scientists?

 Don’t risk burn out
When you’re in the middle of a project and becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work which is required it can feel like you’re up against an insurmountable obstacle. In times like this it pays to look at it rationally and realise that no achievement can be accomplished all at once. There isn’t just one experiment that you can do or a single document you can write that will solve all the problems in front of you, as much as you’d like it to. Think of athletes, they may win a gold medal but they didn’t wake up one morning and do it; it took years of practice and training. Just like them this means you’re going to have to take lots of little steps to achieve the goals you’ve set. Maybes it’s a research project or writing a thesis but if you think that you can complete the project right now and push yourself too far you’re just going to wear yourself out. Instead, when panic sets in and you want to throw everything you have at the problem you need to remember to take progress in small steps, even if it’s just individual actions. Ask yourself what is one individual action I can take, no matter how small, which will help me make progress today so that I can make more progress tomorrow? Asking this is how you make sure that any progress you make is sustainable in the long run.

Persistence always pays off…eventually
At the core of this aphorism is the sentiment that persistence will always pay off. Unless you have a particularly easy life you’re going to encounter problems and difficult situations where things seem to be going perpetually wrong. You might research dead ends, realise you’ve been doing something wrong or make a mistake which wastes your time. When these situations happen you can approach them in two ways. Firstly, blame other people or bad luck and refuse to acknowledge the truth of the situation. Or you could see this as an opportunity and realise that you can use it as a learning process, no matter how embarrassing or painful it may feel. Now, you’ll never make that same mistake again or you’ve got data supporting or disproving a different hypothesis. A situation is only truly wasted if you choose not to learn from it.

Sometimes you have to forget the big picture
As with the first point sometimes we need to re-examine our perspective. The problem in front of you can appear too big, but what if you didn’t look at the problem as a whole? Sometimes even just getting to work can be hard, but what if you broke it down; get out of bed, brush your teeth, shower, put your clothes on, put your shoes on…on it goes. Bit by bit you can always break a problem down to make it easier to handle. Rather than trying to make the whole project perfect look at each bit separately. If you have 50,000 words to write, you’re not writing a perfect book just right one good sentence, then the next one and the next. This might seem like you are simplifying things but sometimes it’s what is needed to make progress. Focusing on the task at hand and chipping away at the bigger picture is our reach the goals we set for ourselves.

Hopefully this aphorism has provided some insight that you can take on board and start applying in your life. It might be realising that you can’t achieve everything at once and need to take your time or helping you to examining your perspective to break a task down. 

If you can think of any more reasons that this aphorism could be useful to a scientist let us know on twitter.