The real problem is not with the problem who don’t get their job done. They will be weeded out sooner than later. The problem comes when people just get their job done AND nothing else, consistently and over a long period of time.

Think about it.

It seems like unfair to complain about people who get their job done.

Why blame them?

The birth of mediocrity

Mediocrity is not meeting the standards expected. That would be non-performance.

Mediocrity takes birth when people choose to do JUST what is required of them. If everyone in a department, takes that approach, the choreographer (the leader or manager) gets overloaded as he or she has to stitch the pieces of work with utmost care.

Now, imagine the exact opposite scenario. If every member of the team starts doing what is required of them and goes beyond that a bit to ensure that what they did really creates the necessary impact that the organization is expecting it would. This would mean that they have to walk a few extra steps or a mile as the case may require. The goal is for the team members to do things that will create the necessary impact their actions were designed to create. In this scenario, the choreographer has to spend very little time thinking through the pieces as the team is pretty much autonomous working in alignment of organizational goals.

The second case, as you can see, is far better than the first case.

The Case of Coupons

Recently, I was at a restaurant where there was a packet of coupons from Kohls. The packet was packaged in a neatly sealed plastic. Someone (probably) a customer had tried to open the packet but must have given up so all the coupons were inside the packet.

There was no incentive for the restaurant staff to open the packet.

So, that “someone” who will open the packet will be a restaurant customer who wants those coupons. This customer will have fumble through the packaging for at least a minute to get that coupon. As you can see, nobody had dared to do that for whatever reason.

I am confident that if those coupons were available freely many of them would have been taken.

The person who delivered the packet of coupons did his or her job. And, nothing more. If the person had thought even for a minute, he or she would have realized that the real value comes when people take these coupons and use them in the store. The first step was to make these coupons easily accessible. But, obviously, that would mean that the delivery person has to be more thoughtful about what else he or she needs to do beyond tossing the packet of coupons on the table.

C’est la vie!

Reflection time

Think about your own current project. Are you doing your job OR are you making sure that you are taking bigger responsibility to deliver the impact your piece was designed to deliver?

You know the answer for this and if you are not happy with the answer, you have the power to change it!