It\u2019s an easy trap to fall into.\u00a0 We get seduced by a great work ethic.\u00a0 \u201cLook at Johnson over there . . . salt of the earth, I tell ya.\u00a0 He\u2019s in early, stays late, doesn\u2019t complain, and you never find him goofing off.\u00a0 I wish I had a hundred just like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actually, no you don\u2019t.\u00a0 In fact, a hundred Johnsons would sink you.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because Johnson is task-oriented, not results-oriented.\u00a0 All his activities throw off so much smoke and dust that they may obscure the fact that he\u2019s not getting the results we need.<\/p>\n
For more on this, please read below.<\/p>\n
Judge by results, not by effort or activities.<\/p>\n
With apologies to mothers everywhere, there\u2019s an old saying, both crass and inappropriate, yet very descriptive: \u201cDon\u2019t tell us about the pain, just show us the baby.\u201d\u00a0 The Johnsons of the world don\u2019t buy that.\u00a0 They believe that solid effort and hard work should be their own reward and should deliver to them the keys to the kingdom.\u00a0 And sometimes we may be inclined to agree with them.\u00a0 After all, who doesn\u2019t like a guy with a nose-to-the-grindstone approach to his work?\u00a0 But in the end, all the long hours and hard work only count for something if we\u2019re getting the outcomes we expect.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a flipside to this.<\/p>\n
Some years ago, I was talking with a business owner who was angry because one of his sales people spent most afternoons on the golf course.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d like to play golf too,\u201d he fumed, \u201cbut
\nno-o-o-o, I\u2019m stuck here in the office trying to keep this business going!\u201d\u00a0 I asked if the salesman was on his numbers.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, in fact he\u2019s way over them, but that\u2019s not the point!\u00a0 His behavior sets a bad example for everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he sets a bad example for the other sales people who aren\u2019t making their numbers?,\u201d\u00a0 I asked.\u00a0 The owner said nothing.\u00a0 \u201cIt seems to me,\u201d I said, \u201che sets a very good example for his colleagues.\u00a0 He\u2019s showing them what can happen when you produce results.\u201d<\/p>\n
The point is, it makes no sense to begrudge our high performers just because they make it look easy.\u00a0 It would make more sense to hold them up as role models for everyone else.\u00a0 Likewise, it makes no sense to reward our under-achievers just because they\u2019re working at it so darn hard.\u00a0 While it pains our sensibilities, if someone tries really, really hard but can\u2019t produce the results we expect, the kindest thing we can do may be to let that person go someplace where his or her hard work can lead to success.<\/p>\n
In the best of all worlds, determination and hard work would always guarantee success.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t.\u00a0 Not always.\u00a0 We want to see good work habits, particularly among new employees who are just learning the ropes, but ultimately, our focus needs to be on the results they achieve, not on the methods they use or the effort they put forth.\u00a0 Be a results-oriented company by making sure everyone . . . from the front office to the loading dock . . . understands and is focused on the results they are expected to achieve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s an easy trap to fall into.\u00a0 We get seduced by a great work ethic.\u00a0 \u201cLook at Johnson over there . . . salt of the earth, I tell ya.\u00a0 He\u2019s in early, stays late, doesn\u2019t complain, and you never find him goofing off.\u00a0 I wish I had a hundred just like him.\u201d Actually, no<\/p>\n