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Performance Principles™
Performance Principles is an e-letter written by Eric Herrenkohl that focuses on creating the business you want by building the organization you need. This is copyrighted material. However, you can copy, reprint, or forward these newsletters in their entirety so long as any use is not for resale and the following copyright notice is included intact: Copyright © 2010, Eric Herrenkohl, Herrenkohl Consulting. All rights reserved. www.herrenkohlconsulting.com, 610-658-9790.
The Circus Fleas
The author and speaker John Maxwell once told the story of the circus fleas. These fleas had been trained to jump just to the rim of the open glass jar that they lived in, but no higher.
“How did you train those fleas to stay put?” someone asked the flea trainer.
“Simple” he responded. “For a week or so, we kept the lid on the jar. The fleas would jump and slam their heads on the bottom of the lid. Pretty soon, they realized it was a lot more comfortable to jump to a point just below the lid. They still got to jump, but they did not get their little heads bashed in. Then, we just took off the lid. The memory of hitting the lid was enough to keep them in even when the lid was gone.”
Performance Principle: The circus fleas got content with making smaller jumps because it hurt less to do so. As leaders, we are responsible for identifying changes in the environment that allow our people to achieve goals today they could not achieve yesterday. Sometimes our environment has changed, but out behavior has not changed along with it. If you recognize that the ‘lid’ that once kept you down has been lifted, you may free yourself to jump higher than you have been. Challenges that used to be too difficult for you may now be in reach.
Questions to consider:
- What problems proved too difficult to overcome one year ago?
- Has the situation changed today?
- Are you assuming there are limits on your performance that no longer exist?
Vince Lombardi and the Purpose of Preparation
Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, was similar to other NFL coaches in the countless hours he spent preparing for each game. But the results of his preparation were unique. Other coaches used their time to design a play for every conceivable situation. It was not unusual for one of Lombardi’s contemporaries to carry 100 pre-designed plays on the sidelines. Lombardi, in contrast, never had more than 20 offensive plays for one game. He used his preparation time to identify the minimum number of plays needed to respond to his next opponent. Each play had slight variations that the quarterback could call and the rest of the players could execute. The smaller number of well-selected plays improved the Packers’ ability to execute their strategy on the field.
Performance Principle: The purpose of preparation is to create a simple set of strategies that are easy to understand and that work in a wide range of situations. Don’t try to create a solution for every problem your business faces. Instead, use your preparation time to identify the root issues that cause these problems. Then, work with your people to design a strategy that overcomes the root issue. This strategy becomes one of your organization’s fundamental plays. People can then execute it in different forms and flavors to fit their particular situation.
Here are two questions in designing your own playbook. Are you trying to create a play for every possible situation? Or, are you creating strategies that people understand and can apply in ways they judge best?
For more on the life of Vince Lombardi, see When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss. Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 1999.
Stop the Turnstile Jumpers
New York City and its subway system had horrific crime rates in the mid-1980s. Robberies, rapes, and murders were not uncommon. By the late 90s, New York City was the safest big city in the US. Yet in this period, the New York economic recovery lagged the rest of the country, and the number of males aged 18-24 (who perpetrate most violent crimes) grew. So why did crime decrease?
Part of the answer was a new head of security for the New York Transit system, hired in the early 90s. He looked at the mayhem in the subway system, and decided to start by attacking the problem of turnstile jumpers! The police would catch people jumping the turnstiles, handcuff them together until they had 10 people in a string, and march them up to the street. There, they were booked right on the sidewalk. A customized RV served as a mobile police precinct office.
No one was surprised that this led to a decrease in turnstile jumping. Almost everyone was surprised, however, that this helped to turn back the wave of violent crimes in the subways. It was a testimony to the power of context. Small changes in environment can create big changes in behavior. Cracking down on small problems eliminates signals that disorder and chaos are accepted. As a result, people with destructive tendencies are less likely to believe that their behavior will be tolerated or accepted. In this way, forcing everyone to buy a subway token created a more law-abiding environment that inherently discouraged more violent crimes.
Performance Principle: First, stop the turnstile jumpers. Put an end to the small but blatantly obvious performance failures that can sour an entire team. Send a message that bad behavior won’t be tolerated. Then, in parallel, dig into diagnosing and solving the underlying issues that are contributing to poor performance.
Questions to Consider:
- Do you have a few people who are bringing your entire group down?
- Have you confronted their poor performance and/or bad attitude?
- What one change can you make today that eliminates the impression that negative or destructive behavior will be tolerated?
For more on the power of context and the concept of tipping points, I highly recommend The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2002.
Flying Under The Wires – A Performance Principle on Managing Risk
In a PBS special, a friend of Charles Lindbergh related the story of his flying lesson with the great pilot. Lindbergh and his friend were in a two-seater plane at a very small airstrip. The friend eyed the path for their takeoff, and noticed wires hanging over the spot where they would lift off. Lindbergh instructed his friend to take the stick. He thought the wires made a takeoff unnecessarily risky, but the famous aviator insisted. Following his command, the man pushed the stick forward, and the plane moved faster and faster down the airstrip. The wheels left the ground and, a moment later, cleared the wires by a few feet. After landing, the friend asked Lindbergh how he knew they would get over the wires. “I thought we could get over them”, Lindbergh answered. “But I also knew we could fly under them if we needed to.”
Performance Principle: Effective risk takers, like effective pilots, try things others would never attempt precisely because they know what to do if things don’t work out as planned. They always have a Plan B.
A Question for You: What would you like to attempt but don’t, because the cost of failure seems too high? Reduce your risk by understanding how you would fly under the wires if necessary. Create a best case plan, but also a Plan B if it becomes required. And then, most importantly, give it a shot. The worst thing that can happen is you successfully fly under the wires.
My best to you over the coming month.
Eric
Action vs. Analysis
In his book The Million Dollar Consultant (New York: McGraw Hill, 1997, page xv)
consultant Alan Weiss describes an experiment in which a researcher placed both bees and flies in a glass bottle, with the bottom of the bottle against a sunny window but with the top left open. The researcher’s hypothesis was that the bees, because they are more intelligent than flies, would be quicker to find the open end of the bottle and escape.
Instead, just the opposite occurred. The bees, ‘knowing’ that heading toward the light was the best way of escape, continued to bang against the closed end of the bottle. They ultimately all died. The flies, however, flew randomly around the bottle until one by one, each happened to fly out the open bottle top and escape.
Performance Principle: Sometimes action is better than analysis. When facing a chronic problem, one that is particularly resistant to being solved, it can be more valuable to try several new approaches, even if they don’t seem particularly clever. Just acting differently may help you see the situation in a different light. It may clear your head, give you a different perspective, or help you to understand the problem from a different angle. And, maybe you will just get lucky and fly right out of the bottle!
Questions to consider:
- Are you overanalyzing your current problems or challenges?
- Are you insisting on doing things “right” instead of trying new approaches to old problems?
- Instead of trying to figure out the perfect solution for a problem, can you try a bunch of different solutions quickly and see what works?
- Is your pride at being an expert getting in the way of admitting that you need some new ideas for solving the problems that you face?
Don’t Be Ridiculous!
Jim Clarke, the founder of Netscape, was once asked how much money would be enough for him. He replied, “I want a little bit more money than Larry Ellison (the Chairman and CEO of Oracle). “How about Bill Gates?” the interviewer asked. “Do you want to be wealthier than him?” Clarke looked at the interviewer incredulously and said “Don’t be ridiculous!”
This story is about the pursuit of wealth, but the principle applies to any kind of goal setting: sometimes the best way to achieve truly monumental goals is to first set goals that stretch you, but that don’t overwhelm you. Today, Bill Gates’ wealth is overwhelming even for a rich man like Clarke. The goal of being wealthier than Larry Ellison is a big stretch, but it is conceivable – it challenges Clarke without overwhelming him. Setting his sights on Ellison rather than Gates is a calculated effort to set a goal big enough to be challenging, but not so big so as to be discouraging. If he were to eclipse Ellison in net worth, there is then only one place for Clarke to set his sights.
Performance Principle: Don’t be ridiculous. There is such a thing as a goal that is too big. Have the confidence to discard a goal as being ridiculous for where you are today. Set a stretch goal, but not an overwhelming goal. When you achieve it, you’ll be ready to set your sights on even bigger game.
Questions to consider:
- What goals are you setting for yourself and your organization today?
- Are you being realistic?
- How can you set small, achievable goals that taken together will create a major improvement?
Doing What You Cannot Do
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso
I have a friend who lives in the U.S. because she and her family had to flee their home in Bosnia during the war there. Just a few weeks ago, she left her job in the mailroom of a major bank to take a job selling furniture in a retail store. She made this move despite the fact that she still struggles with the English language. “There are only about 20 English words or phrases that are unique to selling furniture,” she said to me. “I just started using those words and phrases, even though I didn’t know exactly what they meant. Over time, the words will begin to make sense.”
I am amazed by her courage and persistence. To thrive as a refugee, this woman has had to do many, many things before she understands exactly what she is doing. It is the only way for her to thrive. She intuitively understands that the most effective way to do something new is to begin doing it, even though you don’t exactly know how.
Performance Principle: To get ahead, we often have to do what we cannot do. This principle is a powerful one for us – if we put it into action. It can be tempting to hold off on a new job, a new product, a new business because we still have a lot to learn. A basis of knowledge is necessary before we act. If my friend spoke no English, she would never have gotten her new job. But once we have a basic knowledge, only ‘doing what we cannot do’ will give us the understanding we need to excel.
Here are some questions to consider:
- What is one thing you want to do or achieve in the next year that is outside your comfort zone?
- How can you break this issue down into small, doable steps?
- What are some small steps you can take right now toward this goal?
