Is the bar high enough?
A recent conversation made me think – is there ever a time to say that the bar is high enough? I am not talking about the individual 1:1 performance convo’s – I’m talking about the top leadership reflecting on the overall productivity of their entire work community or their department. In these days of article-after-article talking about the lack of engagement in today’s workforce are we unintentionally overlooking the existing high-engagement? Have we as leadership learners become conditioned on the merits of ranking and the belief in a normal curve – and now we fail to see optimal realistic performance levels? How many people work on teams or companies large enough to see the effect of the law of large numbers come in to effect with regard to human performance? As leaders we read about a lack of engagement and as employees we read about burnout. Connection? Like so many themes – it’s time to look past the theme and be deep thinkers.
I have tended to be one of those people who always believes the bar can and should be higher. That we can push ourselves to a different limit. I believe that there’s no such thing as perfect, but the pursuit of perfection is always there. Growth. More. (Personal note: I have yet to run a marathon)
The reality is that every business has finite resources including time and dollars. There really are only 24-hours in a day. We can get more efficient but want to be careful as to not become less effective. There certainly are companies that need to push engagement that results in high productivity and smart innovation. It is the 80/20 rule – but in reverse. Really there is 80% of highly committed, engaged, passionate, and productive people and continuing to push the bar higher becomes a zero net gain or worse – a demotivator. So, when should leaders pause and simply be grateful? How do you know where that final bar should stay, if just for a bit?
I suspect many answers might be when we attain our goals and achieve our plan, but that answer rests in realistic planning and having a crystal ball that was correct on all of the predictions on market forces. In athletes we know there are times where muscles are built and we know there is also need for rest and recovery or you risk injury. Trainers and often the athletes themselves know it, but some don’t know when to call it. The result – disengagement, injury, and burnout.
Ultimately, I think the key is to keep intensely (not superficially) listening and putting the health of your company on your list of things to watch. Subjective? Yes. Important? Yes.
There are so many gems of companies out there – so many in the purpose driven/employee owned space who know that watching and managing this dynamic is important and this may be one of the keys to employee owned companies outperforming the general market.
Like in the athlete metaphor, the line of maximum performance is a fine one. Pushed over, results are lower from overuse. Not pushed enough you are under-using an asset.
In this conversation that I am reflecting on – I think it’s time to figure out the recovery phase. That’s not to say there’s 2% or even 20% that aren’t max performers, but it is quite possible that there are only 2% at the mediocre level. I am in no way suggesting that any company should rest on their laurels. I am suggesting that there may be a time to let your community recover for just a little bit and then begin a new routine and set a fresh game. Celebrating success is great too, but recovery is a different practice.