From Chapter 8, "Kindness: The Art of Paying it Forward" in Ingredients of Outliers Lagniappe Unless you’ve spent part of your life in the Deep South, you may not be acquainted with the word lagniappe (lan-yap). It describes a long-standing French-Creole tradition in southern Louisiana and parts of neighboring states. It’s defined as a) a small gift given by a merchant to a customer with the customer’s purchase; b) an extra or unexpected gift or benefit. It’s often used to signify a small kindness or going the extra mile. In his book Life on the Mississippi, published in 1883, Mark … [Read more...]
Young Outliers: A Middle School Football Team’s Life Changing Play
Being an Outlier is not distinguished by an individual’s age or life experience, it is distinguished by an individual’s ability to think outside the group and generate positive change, creating a ripple effect for the better. Here’s a story of how one small group of eighth grade students changed the life and perspective of many from the football field. Kieth Orr was born with behavioral and learning disabilities, which is cause in part for his extra-compassionate temperament. During a football game in October, Orr’s teammates created a heroic scheme, without the knowledge of their coach … [Read more...]
The Ripple Effect
“Lagniappe” editor Caitlin Brewster used the analogy of what happens when a pebble is tossed into a lake or other body of calm water to describe kindness. “Although the pebble is small, the effect is large. From that tiny plop, ripples begin to spread out in all directions. And it never ceases to amaze me just how far they can extend.” Just as we talked about on Monday, someone who receives kindness is then inspired to show kindness. This kindness radiates from them and reaches the people around them. A great example of what we will call the “kindness effect” is the following story. … [Read more...]