Continuous Improvement

There are few intolerable consequences for settling for good-enough performance. Risking the pursuit of greatness isn’t for everyone. It comes at a cost not many are willing to pay. In most professional endeavors, good enough is good enough. Why, then, do some people, some partners, some teams, and some organizations reach for the sky?

Building a dream team involves both design and maintenance. In the design phase, gather a unique collection of personalities who share a common goal and diverse paths to attainment. In the maintenance phase, catch early warning signs of vulnerability and repair proactively. Whether anchoring the team’s infrastructure or tweaking performance, consider these guideposts and engage in a continuous gap analysis of opportunity:

If the norm is mediocre, average performance will always be good enough. Good enough is sufficient in many endeavors. Some commitments, however, require a devotion to excellence and continuous improvement. Elevating good to great and great to greater taxes the system before it fuels. It’s easier not to stretch yourself when the immediate reward is not visible. In a culture that prefers good, great is a threat. Consider these ways excellence gets punished:

The holiday season brings time for reflection. Why squeeze your resolutions into the first week of January? Each day of the year offers a chance to grow. Consider more frequent assessment and reassessment of your direction. What questions might you ask?

Whether you’re a part of an organization, a team, a relationship, or engaged in a staring contest with a mirror, poor choices and mistakes create the secret path to evolution. Despite the elusive goal of perfection, true beauty lives in the flaws of being human and, thus, a work in progress. The goal is not to become the ideal. It is to follow our struggles as guideposts for growth. What is your personal strategic plan?

A long time ago, I was running a distance race on college track team when I noticed my shoe was untied. The only reason I became aware of the problem was because my shoe was slipping at the heal and slowing me down. Buried in the middle of the pack, I had to decide whether to “make a pit stop” and tie my shoe or finish the race with the impediment. If I stopped to tie my shoe, I would fall behind. If I fought the slippage, I would have to perform at less than peak ability. What would you do?

Here we go – one more time around the cycle. Traditions and celebrations will mark the coming weeks as we take stock of a year gone by and prepare for the year ahead. Other than turning the page on the calendar, though, what will really be different? Consider these 4 easy steps:

The six members of the leadership team entered the conference room looking preoccupied with the activities they abandoned to come to the team assessment debrief session. The team leader commented that the day had been like one fire drill after another.

It seems odd to be grateful for a mistake. When we make mistakes, the typical physical responses kick into gear: the pit in the stomach, the heart sinking, the flushing face, the “oh $#%!” moment of “WHAT DID I DO?!?” The alternative is achieving perfection. But is perfection a worthy goal? Do we learn if we’re perfect? Or should we protest perfection and thank our mistakes?

“How are we doing?” “Fine, why do you ask?”
“How are we doing?” “Well, since you asked…”