I heard about an artist who bought a random box of old photos at a flea market because they “felt cool.” No grand plan. Just vibes.
The artist got home and realized the photos belonged to Ricki Lake (the actress and talk show host). Instead of shrugging and moving on, as most of us would, the artist tracks down Ricki Lake to return them.
Here’s the twist: Ms. Lake had lost nearly all of her family photos in the LA fires. These “random flea market photos” turned out to be among the few left. Cue goosebumps.
How many times have we written something off at work?
- That employee will never change.
- That policy is fine; we’ve always done it this way.
- That issue will never actually become a problem.
In HR, we see this all the time. Potential gets underestimated. Risks get ignored. People get mislabeled. And what feels like “no big deal” quietly becomes the big deal.
As we roll into 2026, even if you’re not a “resolution” person, try to keep in mind the following:
- People can surprise you
- Problems don’t fix themselves
- And overlooked things tend to matter most
At The HR Team, our job is to help leaders take a second look before something important gets lost for good. Because sometimes the thing you almost dismissed is the thing that changes everything!
