When You See Something That Needs to Be Done, You Do It - Andiamo!

Andiamo Business Assistance Blog Post

I’ve just finished watching The Bombing of Pan Am 103, a powerful drama about the 1988 Lockerbie disaster, where 270 lives were tragically lost. As you’d expect, it’s incredibly emotional—but what struck me most wasn’t just the horror of the event. It was the quiet heroism that followed.

One volunteer, who had spent months carefully cleaning and cataloguing passengers’ belongings so they could be returned to loved ones, said something that continues to loop through my thoughts:

“When you see something that needs to be done, you do it.”

No instruction manual. No fanfare. No job description. Just a deeply human instinct to make someone else feel noticed, respected, cared for.

It’s a lesson that quietly echoes through so many parts of life and work—and it’s one we often overlook.

We’ve all heard “That’s not my job” or “I wasn’t asked to do that” in workplaces, shops, online. But it’s those small, unnoticed acts that build trust, respect and integrity. Picking up a bit of litter, watering the parched plant in reception, answering the phone that’s been ringing off the hook while everyone looks around—these are the things that change the tone of a place. They're the difference between a team and a group of people who just share a space.

And I think it’s also why a lot of us start businesses in the first place. Not for overnight success (ha!) or buckets of money (double ha!), but because we saw something that needed to be done. Something that would help. Something that might just make someone else’s life a little bit easier.

Sometimes, all it takes is looking up from our phones, taking a breath, and asking ourselves: What’s needed here?

And then—just quietly—doing it.

Andiamo!