When I was growing up, we could tell if the heating was on in the greenhouses due to a clicking noise (sometimes it was more like a banging). This was the metal pipes expanding as steam was pushed around the circuit. It could be quite loud. As a boy, I can remember sitting trying to ‘see’ the expansion of the pipes. I never could.

We have wood stoves in our current house. When we light fires, the flue expands as it gets up to temperature – the clicking it does reminds me of the greenhouse. Once the pipes have expanded, the clicking stops. And similarly to my experiences as a boy, when I’ve tried to ‘see’ the expansion happening, I cannot.

The clicking is a form of a ‘tell’. It indicates that change is happening even though we cannot see it. Most change projects have ‘tells’. What is the tell on your project?

Photo by Matt Seymour