My mom and dad live about 20 blocks south of me, also all the way on the West Side of Manhattan. This morning, my dad called and said “Look at the cruise ship that just pulled into the berth around 42nd St. It’s HUGE!”

He’s right – It’s the new Norwegian Epic – the aptly-named mega-ship, on its maiden voyage.

Note the THREE water slides.

This is one huge-ass ship. As I was looking at it, I heard my mom over the phone in the background “I’d never want to cruise on that – We’d be lost in it!”

She has a point. Bigger is better in a lot of ways – car engines, bank accounts, some porn stars… But is bigger really better?

Top Five reasons to think SMALL.

5) Small rocks in the customer service world. People want to buy a mobile phone from Verizon, since they have the biggest network. But they want to know that Bill at the Verizon store is going to help them when they have a problem. Be global, act local.

4) As mom said, big means lost. No matter how much you grow, remember how you acted when it was just you and a cat, and never lose that. Your customers who started with you in the very beginning will notice if you become “too big for your port.”

3) Small equals love. Ever walk into a wholesale club and can’t find what you’re looking for? Good luck tracking someone down to help you. Answer your own emails, post your own Facebook updates, tweet your own Tweets. Small means true. True means transparency. Transparency means social media.

2) No matter how big you get, never forget that you’re still just one person. Think back to when you were smaller. Things were easier, right? You handled problems yourself. Try doing that again. It’ll give you a rebirth.

1) Remember that bigger doesn’t always equal better. It’s good to strive and have goals, and it’s good to grow. We should all strive to grow. But in the end, the world still runs entirely on protons and electrons. It’s usually the smallest things that have the most power. We all have that power. Let’s not forget that as we get bigger.