Making the Invisible Visible - seeing progress clearly.
Have you ever worked hard to make things better — a kinder culture, fewer mistakes, more psychological safety — only to find people still saying, “Nothing’s changed”?
You’re not imagining it. And neither are they. Welcome to the Blue Dot Effect.
It comes from research published in Science (Levari, Gilbert et al., 2018), where participants were asked to spot blue dots among purple ones. As the number of truly blue dots decreased, something fascinating happened:
People started calling more and more purple dots “blue.”
In other words, when real problems shrink, our brains simply widen the definition so we still see them.
Researchers found the same pattern when people made other kinds of judgments too — for example, deciding whether a face looked threatening or neutral, or whether a decision seemed ethical or unethical.
Even when people were told the prevalence would change, they still expanded their definition. Our brains don't like “no problem” — they like something to monitor.
So what does this mean?
It means progress can be real… but feel like nothing has changed.
Because as things get better, our internal baseline shifts. The bar rises. Yesterday’s “great” becomes today’s “normal.” And we start noticing smaller imperfections that once wouldn’t have registered at all.
Sound like work? Sound like life? Yep.
A workplace challenge
If leaders don’t understand the Blue Dot Effect, they risk mistaking progress for failure. As problems shrink, our brains keep searching for them — and that can quietly warp a workplace in many ways.
A culture of endless nit-picking – when big issues are solved, people start zooming in on tiny flaws, creating the sense that nothing is ever good enough.
Team fatigue – constant fault-finding drains energy and optimism, leading to disengagement and burnout.
Erosion of motivation – when every improvement is met with “yes, but…,” people stop trying to improve at all.
Cynicism about change efforts – teams may believe change doesn’t work, even when the data shows it does.
Resentment from the doers – those who’ve actually made things better feel unseen and undervalued, breeding quiet frustration.
Unchecked, these dynamics create a culture of perfectionism and complaint rather than curiosity and growth.
A workplace opportunity
Leaders who understand this effect can turn it into a cultural superpower — using awareness to keep progress visible and morale strong.
Help teams recognise improvement – show where progress has occurred and celebrate it before chasing the next challenge.
Celebrate progress before perfection – shift focus from fault-finding to learning, reinforcing momentum and pride.
Reset expectations as standards rise – consciously recalibrate what “good” means so people don’t move the goalposts unconsciously.
Create balanced cultures of quality + humanity – hold high standards without eroding trust, humour, or joy.
Hold people to high standards without making them feel perpetually behind – recognise that relentless improvement only works when people feel safe, appreciated, and part of something that’s working.
In other words, the Blue Dot Effect is your reminder that progress doesn’t speak for itself — leaders have to narrate it.
A powerful leadership move is saying:
We’ve raised the bar. That’s progress. Now let’s make sure we still celebrate the wins, not just hunt for the crumbs.
Imagine the difference between:
There are still issues and There are fewer big issues — and now we’re refining the finer points. That’s growth.
Order matters. Tone matters. Context builds resilience; silence breeds discontent.
Making the Invisible Visible
Improvement doesn’t feel like improvement unless we notice it. And noticing it isn’t self-congratulation — it’s fuel.
We can be standards-driven without being soul-draining.
We can push performance and protect morale.
We can build workplaces where people feel proud, not perpetually lacking.
The job of leadership isn’t just to make things better. It’s to help people see that things have become better, so they believe that more progress is possible.