Promoting the Yahoo ‘Better World Ripple Effect’ at the hair salon.

So I learned about the Yahoo ‘better world ripple effect’ in the most unlikely of places: at the hair salon, while waiting to be called upon, with my nose in a pile of magazines. Now I’m sitting patiently, while my hair is getting pulled and detangled, writing these notes, using my ever-so-handy smart gadget.

Yahoo employees got somewhat negative press lately with the whole ‘working-from-home’ fiasco. Here’s something positive. What caught my attention was the calm voice of a big guy talking about an anonymous Yahoo employee who changed his life.  He said that he was standing in line at Toys R Us and a person standing in line with him demanded to pay for all the toys in his cart, and then some, to make sure each one if his kids gets a present. The surprised dad protested, but the other person insisted, telling him he’s participating in a program at his company, Yahoo, intended to create positive ripples. Like an organized pay-it-forward program, the idea is that when a person does something positive for random people, it will inspire the recipients to do the same, and this will create a ripple that will spread, eventually making this world a significantly better experience for all.

The guy getting his hair cut said this did inspire him. He thinks he now affected the lives of 5-6 people, and he’s hoping this ripple effect won’t lose momentum. He’s hoping this ripple will affect real change for the better, spreading to more and more people. He also said he now uses Yahoo’s website more – out of gratitude. I’d like to think that wasn’t the intent of whoever initiated the program.

Sometimes when we are busy doing our thing we forget we are not alone. Just wanted to share this story.