Is this some radical, new therapy?
I had an interesting conversation with one of my business classmates the other day. We got to talking about employee management and work ethics when a very intriguing topic popped up. It all started when he said, ”I’ll do my best. And I want them [his employees] to do the same.” It sounded simple and innocent enough… until I realized how that was the problem. I’ve heard that phrase too often, I think. My response was probably not what he expected. Tell me if this sounds weird. In more eloquent words than these, I told him that his “best” is not enough… and I feel strongly that he should also expect differently from anyone who’s performances he would be responsible for.
I realized that his intentions and work ethics were quite honorable. Stay with me for one minute. Let me explain.
Although the desires for himself and his employees to “do their best” are fine, I still don’t believe it’s a practical approach. The best of anything seems seldom achievable. More often than not, when my goal is to do my best, I’d fall short. “Well, at least I did my best” and “it’s done now, no use sulking over it”… that’s what you’d hear me say sometimes even when I’ve clearly procrastinated, lacked preparation, or just been plain lazy. For me personally, I use it as an excuse for mediocrity. Maybe sometimes it is just me escaping from having to contrive a plan of action. I’d say I did my best but, really, I could’ve done better. The truth is that we can’t be driven and passionately devoted to our endeavors all of the time. In my experience, setting a goal of doing “my best” is to prop myself against failure. Therefore, promising to give my 100 percent just doesn’t seem a very logical solution when things need to be done.
“Well,” you may ask, “is close to your best good enough?” Not as often as I’d like to say.
All that being said, I still think one should try. I just don’t think that it should be your benchmark. It should definitely not be the goal of your company. You wouldn’t hire employees to just do their best any more than you would you hire them to be a person that looked nice. You’re paying them to get things done. In a business, like much of the rest of the world, there are deadlines, requirements, and quotas that must be met.
A wiser man than me once said,
“Baby steps get on the elevator. Baby steps get ON the elevator… Ah, I'm on the elevator.”
In other words, set attainable goals, work to reach them, and see how satisfying it can be to accomplish what you’ve set out to do.
I believe that you should establish sets of goals. In each set there are 3 kinds of related goals: short, medium, and long. The three parts are equally important. Along with those goals, set a reasonable time frame. Then plan a course of action. These should be crisp and clear cut. That roughly completes one set. Anything outside of this frame is more so a desire and should not be considered a goal. A goal is something to strive for and not just something you “would really like”. There is a huge difference between, “I would like to read my bible more” and “I have established a set of goals to read through my bible.” Similarly, wanting to do a good job is not the same as deriving a plan and actually doing a good job.
On the flip side, there is much harm in setting a goal that is too hard and too far to reach. Doing so will only breed complacency… and contentment with failure. Yet some people still advise to do so. It makes as much sense to me as to say that I will walk to Seattle. Wouldn’t it be great if I walked from here [Ruston] to Seattle? How cool would I be? Others have trekked cross country. This is only half way. I can totally do this right? What do you say if I pick a direction (that is northwest, right?) and I’ll be there… someday. Let’s be for real. What makes me think that I can walk to Seattle? I’ve never walked to Grambling. Other people did it… that’s all I know. But really, I don’t know if I could make it if I even attempt at all. I don’t know my own potential when it comes to trekking cross-country.
It would make more sense to take baby steps to Temple Baptist Church in Ruston… baby steps to the next exit… to Grambling, and so on. Once I get there, who will say I can’t make it through Simsboro to Arcadia. Then, with all those small goals achieved and all those successes in my pocket, I’ll be on my way to Shreveport.
I truly believe that if more people start off small, working their way up - setting achievable goal while still stretching their potentials – there would be less people having such unrealistic and unhealthy views of themselves. Less people will find themselves trickling into depression with such low self esteem. Others would have a more honest, down-to-earth, sense of themselves and would be less likely to get in over their heads.
Setting manageable goals, reaching them, and pocketing those successes build real confidence. And that not only gives you a step ladder to get things done, but it provides the drive to press further and be great at it. Rather than being one who tries his best, I’d say it’s better to be able to tell people, “I set goals, I meet them, and I am driven to excel at what I do.”
Then, you’d be sailing.
posted by Nguyen @ 11:33 PM
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