BY MEANINGSPHERE STAFF
Somewhere out there, a computer programmer fixes a bug and breathes a sigh of relief. A customer service rep helps a client with a tricky problem, then hangs up the phone with quiet satisfaction. An intern’s efforts behind the scenes garner an unexpected shout-out at the weekly meeting, and their cheeks briefly flush with pride. The workplace is full of these little moments of transcendence, if you know where to look.
Such “small wins” may go unnoticed by our colleagues, but they have the power to transform our days and fuel our motivation. Each little victory communicates something powerful: You are making progress. You are on the right track. Keep going.
The power of (incremental) progress
Researchers Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer have a name for this: the progress principle. Their 2011 book of the same name, though pitched at managers, holds insights individuals can easily apply and benefit from, as we’ll explore in this piece.
The authors demonstrated that the most powerful driver of positive emotions, deep engagement, and high motivation in the workplace wasn’t financial incentives or workplace perks. It was a sense of forward momentum in meaningful work.
Most adults have already experienced the power of progress, however slow and incremental, in our personal lives. Whether learning to speak a new language, starting a home renovation project, or pursuing a new fitness goal, we generally accept that progress won’t be immediately evident. In these areas of life, we may already be primed to look for and acknowledge the small wins: the first simple conversation in a second language; beating our previous time on a morning sprint. These moments are usually validating and motivating. In the workplace, Amabile and Kramer discovered, it’s no different.
As part of their study, the two researchers analyzed nearly 12,000 daily diary entries from 238 workers across seven companies. In these diaries, the workers were asked to briefly describe one event from their workday that stood out in their minds. The goal of this research was to understand the human stories behind what Amabile and Kramer called inner work life, defined as “the conditions that foster positive emotions, strong internal motivation, and favorable perceptions of colleagues and the work itself.”
Using data from these anonymized, confidential accounts, the researchers identified the most powerful forces—positive and negative—that influence our emotions, motivations, and perceptions at work. Although “progress in meaningful work” topped the positive list, the authors discovered that most managers grossly undervalued its influence: when they asked hundreds of managers globally to identify the best ways to motivate people, the managers ranked “supporting progress” dead last.
Clearly, there was some work to do.
The grim state of workplace engagement today
Are workplaces any better at supporting progress—and thereby creativity, engagement, and joy—these days?
Some of them are! In fact, Gallup has recognized a few of them with its Exceptional Workplace Award, which is given to organizations globally who prioritize engagement, personal development, and human thriving within their workplaces. (You can see the 2026 winners here—the list may surprise you!)
But going by recent data, most workplaces are not successful at supporting progress and fostering engagement. Gallup’s own State of the Global Workplace Report found that global employee engagement fell to 20% in 2025, the lowest it’s been since 2020. A wave of workplace trends like “revenge quitting” and “rage applying,” which we listed in a recent blog post, add further color to Gallup’s portrait of an unsatisfied workforce.
Globally, only three in 10 workers agreed with the statement “There is someone at work who encourages my development.” One in three strongly agreed that someone at work has talked to them about their progress in the last six months. This is a fairly low bar. The best managers, the Gallup report goes on to say, are having regular conversations with team members about their progress, not saving up their feedback for an annual or biannual review.
But even a small improvement in this area would be beneficial, Gallup projects: Simply doubling that “one in three” ratio could drastically reduce safety incidents (38%) and absenteeism (28%) and even increase profit (11%). It would seem that the progress principle applies to management, too.
How individuals can leverage the progress principle
Insights about engagement and workplace motivation are typically pitched to people in leadership positions, and with good reason. They’re the ones with the power to make structural changes that steer an organization’s culture. But what if you’re not a CEO, manager, or even a team leader; just a regular employee trying to get through the workday? Your options are more limited—but as Amabile and Kramer point out, even a little bit of progress goes a long way. In that spirit, here are seven ways individuals can apply the insights from The Progress Principle themselves.
Quick caveat: Every person’s workplace dynamic is different, and it’s possible that not every idea here will resonate with your present work situation. If that’s the case, feel free to take what’s useful, and leave the rest! And don’t worry, the point here isn’t to let your workplace off the hook, to become more productive for your boss, or to wish away embedded structural problems with positive thinking. The point is simply to bring a little more ease, enjoyment, and meaning into the role you have and the circumstances you find yourself in.
Okay, on with the list.
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1. Look for the small wins
You don’t have to finish an entire project at once to experience progress. Identify something meaningful you can move forward today—even if it’s small.
Try this: Ask yourself each morning, “What’s one thing I could move forward today that matters?”
2. Reconnect with your work’s purpose and impact
Progress is especially motivating when you’re working toward something you care about. When motivation dips, picture the person (or people) who benefit from your work and remind yourself why it matters.
Try this: Before starting a task, picture the person, team, customer—or future version of yourself—who will benefit from getting it done.
3. Make your progress visible
Important progress can be surprisingly easy to overlook, particularly when your work consists of dozens of small steps.
Try this: Keep a “done” list alongside your to-do list. At the end of the week, look at what actually moved.
4. Identify your progress blockers
When you’re feeling unmotivated, don’t automatically conclude that you’re lazy, disengaged, or in the wrong career. Something may simply be getting in the way of progress. In The Progress Principle, Amabile and Kramer identify three such barriers: setbacks, inhibitors, and even toxins—negative interpersonal events.
Try this: Ask, “What’s making it harder for me to do good work right now?” It might be unclear priorities, interruptions, missing information, excessive approvals, or competing demands.
5. Protect the conditions that allow you to make progress
Avoiding negative influences is one thing. Discovering (and holding onto) the things that help you work best is another. The book refers to these forces as catalysts.
If you know that uninterrupted time, certain environments, or particular routines foster your best work, treat those conditions as valuable—not indulgent.
Try this: Protect a recurring block for focused work, turn off unnecessary notifications, or batch low-value tasks.
6. Create more autonomy where you can
Amabile and Kramer emphasize the importance of conditions that facilitate progress. For individual workers, that often means looking for places where you can exercise choice and ownership, even within constraints.
Try this: Ask, “Is there a different way I could approach this?” Then discuss it with your manager when appropriate.
7. Finally, notice the people who help you make progress
Progress isn’t purely individual. Encouragement, respect, collaboration, and useful feedback can make it easier to keep moving. The researchers refer to these positive interpersonal events as nourishers.
Try this: Notice who helps you do your best work—and invest in those relationships. And when someone helps you make a bit of progress, tell them! You could be part of someone else’s “small win.”
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If there’s one piece of wisdom at the heart of these ideas, it’s this: you don’t have to love every part of your job to find meaning in it. Even within imperfect systems, there may be more room than you think to experience connection, autonomy, impact, and of course, progress.
