To Get More Results . . . Stop Focusing On Results!

by Neil Dempster

If you are like most people, the title of this article probably had the desired effect – it almost caused a corporate aneurism! As a professional speaker, I often find myself in front of large groups of managers and leaders, all looking to me for the answers that will make their particular business unit more successful. So when I suggest that we need to stop focusing on results, I am usually met with a collective look of disbelief. Why? Because it flies in the face of everything we are told to focus on . . . and expected to get! Although I may have said it for "shock value," it doesn't change the reality . . . our exclusive focus on results is actually getting us less results because we are losing sight of the activities and behaviors which make the difference between mediocrity and peak performance. Many of our employees are lulled into a false sense of accomplishment simply because they think they are doing "good enough" or "better than the next guy." Our organizations will never reach their full potential if we don't start "behaving" the language of results. In this article, I will attempt to offer two crucial perspectives on this performance imperative. The first perspective concerns the issue of "work ethic." I often have people tell me value systems have changed significantly – that people entering the work force just don't have a work ethic any more. But when I ask groups, "Where does work ethic come from?", typical responses include, "they learn it at home," or "it comes from school," or "it's all about their upbringing," reflecting a lack of understanding of how behaviors are formed. Although there is a certain amount of truth in their responses, the actual answer to the question is – work ethic comes from . . . WORK! Let me explain . . .
With very few exceptions, on the first day of a new job, people show up on time, come back from their breaks on time, and do what is expected of them on time – on the first day. It's the second day where we see the change start to occur because when she shows up on time and looks around and sees that other people don't come to work on time – something changes! Or when he comes back from his breaks on time and sees that other people don't come back on time – something changes! Or when she does what is expected of her on time only to find that other people don't seem to care about meeting deadlines – something changes!

What changes is this thing called "work ethic." Work ethic can be defined as the level of effort a person sees as appropriate or necessary for a particular work environment or situation. If you think otherwise, ask yourself "Why did the person show up on time the first day?" Because he or she knew it was right! It was our work environment that told this person what to do next! That means our accountability – no, our management imperative – is to start communicating the Behavioral Expectations™ we want through our behaviors NOT through memo, e-mail, or policy manual.
The second perspective concerns the issue of acceptable performance. As a result of our previous (possibly current?) management practices, measurement systems, and coaching/feedback models, employees have formed an incorrect opinion as to what is considered acceptable performance. So when we communicate that we need more production, better quality, faster service, or simply present the dreaded "do more with less" speech, it is no wonder that employees think we are never satisfied, and that we expect more production for the same pay.
The easiest way to overcome this obstacle is to never let employees form this opinion in the first place! One way to deal with this situation is to make the first line in every employee's job description "To be incrementally better tomorrow than you are today" and be consistent in supporting that initiative. This conveys volumes! Why? Because one of the Behavioral Expectations™ we want is continuous learning – so think of it this way – if employees are learning something new every day (and in today's workplace it would be impossible not to be!), and applying that new knowledge/skill/ability on a consistent basis, better results will occur without an increase in their effort! In essence, all they are doing is applying the same effort as they did yesterday, but now they have some new knowledge, or know-how, or wisdom which allows the task to be performed more efficiently, allowing them to produce "incrementally more than they did yesterday." It would be difficult to deny the logic in this formula.
Since we all know that the learning never stops, no matter what job function an employee has, a Behavioral Expectation™ of continuous improvement makes perfect sense. The outcome is a work environment where incremental improvement becomes the norm, instead of the "flat-lining" (the same results month, after month, after month) that is more typical. An additional benefit of this approach is that the employee will now see coaching feedback as developmental feedback instead of seeing it as criticism.

Copyright Clearview Performance Systems

Neil Dempster is a professional speaker, author, master motivator, and self-proclaimed business alchemist. You can reach him at: Neil@NeilDempster.com.