Today my son, Mike, send me a text message that says,
“It is no use saying ‘we’re doing our best’ you have go to succeed in doing what is necessary”
Winston Churchill
What a quote. Getting the text made me smile for many reason. The first reason is because it came from my son. Getting that quote from Mike told me that he has been listening. He is actually catching what I am saying.
The second reason the quote made me smile is that I love Winston Churchill and getting a quote from him is golden.
The third and most important reason it made me smile was because of what it meant. It is a home run of a quote. Today’s society has evolved into a culture that gives too little attention to results and rewards effort far too much. Let me state my case here.
“It the thought that counts.”
“I gave it my best shot.”
“We need 110% from you.”
To most people that hear clichés like that and think they are positive remarks. I don’t. I think they are lame and full of excuses. Don’t get me wrong. They have their place in polite conversation. For example when drawing a picture for Grandma “it is the thought that counts” not the quality of the picture. When learning a new hobby or playing a game for fun “giving it your best shot” is acceptable.
Do I like it when my team has dirty uniforms because they went all out? Yes and I expect it. But in cases where winning is what matters it isn’t the team that sweats the most that wins. Idea that “it’s not who wins or loses but instead how you played the game that matters” is another clichés that has run its course. True you need to follow the rules. I don’t believe in winning at all cost if the way to winning is cheating or breaking the rules.
But in the real world it is results that matter. Over time we look at the scoreboard and not the jerseys to see who won the game. In backyard volleyball games at the family reunion winning and losing might not matter but unless you’re the Chicago Cubs or Detroit Lions continually losing will cost those players and coaches their jobs (and fans). You will likely continue to invite all the cousins, aunts and uncles to future family reunions regardless of the final score. You may even continue to have your high school buddy on the slow pitch softball team regardless of his lack of results. But in the parts of life that count we need to make sure we are delivering results.
Let me give you an example.
Do you prefer to work with somebody that does their job as required with a minimum number of mistakes or work with somebody that is trying their hardest but often embarrass the organization with what they produce or make you work harder or differently to cover up for their short comings?
Because at work we depend on winning. When people perform poorly it can result in horrible results for co-workers. Injuries, job loss, and customer loss are all common results from a co-workers poor performance. It isn’t always just the person that makes the mistakes that suffers.
A poor performer actions can result losing a customer and everybody that depends on that customer plus some overhead personal will lose their job when we lose the customer.
My unsafe behavior can result in your injury. (Have you ever been rear-ended in a car?)
Should we try our hardest? Yes. But more than effort we need results. An electrician that works hard and installs 180’ of conduit in a day isn’t has handy to have around as somebody that puts up 240’ with ease. (Assuming the quality is to our standards.)
Let me tell you a story.
When my daughter was in elementary school they had baby chicks in their class room. The chicks need to go home with a student on the weekend. Finally after a few weeks our turn came to host some of the birds.
Our dog wasn’t good with sharing our home with chicks. He didn’t want to leave them alone. So if wanted a break from playing keep the dog from the chicks you had to move the birds to a safe place.
We put them inside the tub in our master bath. The dog couldn’t get into the tub and it meant he had to open 2 doors to get in the room.
The neighbor girl come over and our daughter wanted to show the chicks to her friend so she took her into the bathroom and showed her the chicks.
About 30 minutes later the dog came down stairs with a chick in his mouth.
I raced up stairs to find two open doors and tub full of water. A trickle of water was coming out of the faucet.
The neighbor girl admitted that she had bumped the faucet but thought she had turned it off. The dog took advantage of the fact that the chick was now floating and “rescued” it from the tub.
The Chapin family did everything they could to keep the chicks safe. Maximum effort. But very bad results. The class forgive us for not delivering live chicks on Monday (It helped that another family had lost a chick over the weekend.) But they didn’t send any more chicks with us. We weren’t equipped for the task (mostly because of the dog).
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I realize you might be angry at this blog and be thinking I am too harsh but winning isn’t everything. If that is the case I would love to hear from you.
