Find the Spark. Then Feed It.

A spark, on its own, does very little.

It flickers. It shows that something is there. And then, if nothing is added to it, it goes out. Most sparks do not fizzle out because they were weak. They fizzle out because nobody fed them.

A few days ago I wrote about how sparks are lit within us, and how they fade. That leaves a more practical question. While the spark is still burning, what do we do with it?

Our job is to spot the spark, within ourselves and within others. Then fuel the spark, so it becomes useful energy of some sort.

Spark, fuel, glow

It helps to see it as a simple sequence.

Spark → Fuel → Glow

The spark is what we have inside us. An interest, a talent, a curiosity, a care for something. It is often hidden. Sometimes it is hidden from others. Quite often it is hidden from ourselves.

The fuel is what we put into it:

• Effort. The work of showing up and practising.
• Investment. Money, backing and commitment.
• Knowledge. Learning, teaching and guidance.
• Time. Room to try, to fail and to try again.
• Resources. Tools, access and the right people around it.

The glow is what comes out the other end. Energy that can be used. It shows up as production, and as value.

None of the three works alone. A spark without fuel stays a flicker. Fuel without a spark is just effort poured into something nobody cares about. Only the two together produce the glow.

Spotting the spark in others

Spotting our own spark is hard enough. Spotting it in others is harder, and it matters more for anyone who leads.

Sparks rarely announce themselves. They show up in small ways. The question someone keeps asking long after the meeting has moved on. The problem a person solves on their own time because it bothered them. The part of the job someone does with more care than the role requires.

These signals are easy to miss, because they are quiet and they do not appear in any report. A leader who is busy managing tasks will walk straight past them. A leader who is paying attention to people will notice.

The right amount of fuel

Spotting the spark is only the start. Then comes the harder part: feeding it with the right amount of fuel.

Too little, and the spark starves. Someone shows real interest, and nothing comes back. No time is made for it. No knowledge is shared. No resources are offered. After a while, they stop showing the interest at all. Not because it died, but because they learned it had nowhere to go.

Too much, and the spark is smothered. A small interest is turned overnight into a large responsibility, with targets, deadlines and an audience. What was curiosity becomes pressure. The fuel arrives faster than the spark can take it, and it goes out under the weight.

The right amount is not a fixed quantity. It depends on the person, the stage they are at, and how bright the spark already is. That is why it takes attention, not a policy.

A familiar example

Consider a council replacing its payroll system.

During early workshops, one payroll officer keeps asking how the award rules will be configured. She stays back to compare old pay runs against the new design. She notices problems before the consultants do. Nobody has asked her to do any of this.

In one version of this story, nobody notices. She is thanked for her help, and her normal workload carries on as before. The project brings in an external specialist for award interpretation. Within a few months, she stops staying back. The spark was there. It simply received no fuel.

In another version, her manager notices. He makes a little time in her week for the project. She is given access to the test environment and paired with the vendor’s configuration lead. She is named as the subject matter expert for award rules, with a clear and manageable scope. Not the whole program. Just the part she already cared about.

By go-live, she understands the award rules in the new system better than anyone else in the organisation. Pay runs reconcile. Questions from staff are answered in-house. Two years later, she is still the person everyone goes to.

Same person. Same spark. The difference was whether anyone found it, and how carefully they fed it.

Where the difference is made

We make a difference. It all starts with finding sparks, and feeding them with the right amount of fuel to make a difference.

Not every spark will grow into something large. Some will glow briefly and fade, as sparks do. That is fine. The waste is not in the spark that fades after being fed. The waste is in the spark that was never noticed at all.

The questions that remain

Here are some questions to ponder.

Which spark in you is still waiting for fuel, and what are you holding back from it?

Who around you is showing a spark right now that nobody has noticed yet?

And where you have noticed one, are you feeding it with the right amount, or starving it, or smothering it?