When I was young, I would visit my grandma in Michigan, and we would often play 500 Rummy.

It’s a card game where you score points by laying down three or more cards of the same number, or a run of three or more cards in the same suit.

You pick up from a pile, decide whether to keep the card or discard it, and then the other player does the same, back and forth, laying down runs and sets, until someone has laid down all their cards going out.

And my grandmother had this phrase she would use.

Whenever I discarded a card that she would pick up, she’d smile and say,

“I think I’ll percolate on this one.”

Then a few turns later, she’d do it again.

“I think I’ll percolate on this one too.”

At the time, I didn’t really know what percolate meant … I definitely didn’t know how to spell it. (It did throw me off my game a bit I have to admit. The words. Her smile. Which could have been part of her strategy now that I think about it).

But eventually, I understood what she was doing.

She wasn’t sure if she could use the card right away. But she saw potential.

She was willing to hold onto it to see what might build from it based on the cards she already had and the ones she would pick up.

And more often than not, it paid off.

Out of nowhere (or so it seemed to me), she would lay down multiple sets and runs, go out, and rack up all the points.

The other day, I was in the car listening to the radio, and they started talking about something called Percolation Theory.

Of course, my mind immediately went to my grandmother.

Because of her, I’ve always loved that word percolate. But I never knew it had a theory to go with it.

As I listened, something clicked.

Percolation theory is about how things spread through a system … how individual pieces build and connect until they reach a threshold.

Before that threshold, it looks like nothing is happening.

After it, everything starts to connect.

And I thought … this is exactly what my grandmother was doing. She was building and connecting potential with her cards. At some point she would reach a threshold, sets and runs could be made, and success was achieved.

The Percolation Theory is exactly how a job search, or a career shift, works as well.

You’re Not Stuck. You’re Percolating.

In your career, you’re constantly picking things up:

• a new contact
• an idea
• a role you’re not sure about
• a skill you might need later

And just like in that card game, you might not be able to use any of it right away.

It can feel random.

Disconnected.

Unclear.

But it’s not.

You’re building something.

You just haven’t hit the threshold yet.

3 Ways to Percolate (on purpose)

1. Pick things up even if you’re not sure yet

My grandmother didn’t wait for the perfect card. She followed her inner instinct that said, “That card might be worth percolating on.”

When you feel the nudge to reach out to someone, apply to that nonsensical job, or explore a new skill, don’t think too much on it … just do it!

2. Let multiple things exist at once

My grandma might pick up the 7 of clubs and then, next, the 9 of hearts. It made no sense to me, and I don’t think it made complete sense to her either in the moment. The thing was, she didn’t try to force anything to connect ahead of its time when she was percolating.

You don’t have to either. You can explore more than one path, hold more than one idea, and let things develop without rushing to define them.

The connection happens when there’s things to connect. So, pick up things that seem disconnected but interesting and watch as the connections unfold.

3. Give time for the hot mess to come together

At any given moment, I must assume her hand looked like a hot mess. How could it not!  Until suddenly it didn’t.

She kept picking up. Discarding. Keeping some cards that she started with and letting some go. She was not attached. She was comfortable in the uncomfortable hot mess.

Let things be messy. That’s part of the process.

How You Know You’ve Hit the Threshold

There’s a moment when things start to shift:

• Conversations start leading to other conversations
• Opportunities come through people, not postings
• The same idea keeps showing up from different directions
• Things feel less forced and more like momentum

It stops feeling like guessing … and starts feeling like something is forming.

That’s the threshold.

What Comes Next

This is the part my grandmother never missed.

• She percolated and then she would act.
• She would see the connections and make her moves.
• She did not overthink the moves (You did not ever hear her advise to keep holding onto cards just in case something better might come along. Make the move!)

In coaching I see people hesitate right at the point between percolation and action.

They keep percolating thinking something better might come along or more information might be helpful … when it’s actually time to move.

So, when things start to click:

• Say yes before you feel completely ready
• Act on what’s in right front of you without overthinking it
• Let yourself connect

Because once you’ve reached that point, trust that you have been quietly percolating and now the connections are happening and you need to act!