Lunging Lessons
The process is only as good as the results it delivers.
How many times in meetings and discussions have we spent a great deal of time discussing how something was accomplished? These time-consuming process discussions can overshadow the achievement of outstanding results.
Willie McCovey was an outstanding major league baseball player. He is 20th on the all-time list for home runs, was selected National League Rookie of the Year in 1959 and National League Most Valuable Player in 1969, and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Willie was known for his classic swing. It was the type of swing that batting coaches could film as an instructional video for teaching young players how to become good hitters. Willie had a sub-par performance year in 1960 when he hit .238, not exactly a Hall of Fame performance.
After the 1960 baseball season, Willie’s team, the San Francisco Giants, obtained Harvey Kuehn through a trade with the Cleveland Indians. Harvey Kuehn was an outstanding hitter with a lifetime batting average over .300, the threshold for being known as an outstanding major league hitter. He won the American League batting title in 1959 and was frequently among the annual top hitters in the major leagues.
Harvey Kuehn was practicing his batting during spring training with the Giants in 1961. Willie McCovey and the Giant’s batting instructor, Lefty O’Doul, were observing Harvey as he took his practice swings in the batting cage. Lefty shouted to Harvey:
“You have to stop lunging at the ball when you swing!”
Willie, pondering his .238 season and Harvey Kuehn’s lifetime .300 record, remarked:
“I guess I’ll have to get some lunging lessons!”
Discussions of process at the expense of focusing on outstanding results can be futile. These discussions can lead to overlooking an excellent accomplishment and the need to modify processes. Factors that can lead to these types of discussions include:
- Lack of confidence by individuals presenting the results.
- Close identification or association with the process by individuals participating in the discussions.
- Tendency of some individuals to use meetings as platforms to demonstrate their knowledge of the process.
How can we deal with these factors?
Being confident can be challenging, especially early in our careers or when we join a new organization or assume a new role. That is natural. Confidence grows as we establish an excellent performance record and gain knowledge. An executive who headed an organization to which I belonged helped me overcome the confidence challenge. In my first 2-3 presentations to the executive, I spent a great deal of time explaining how I achieved the results. The results that I achieved were outstanding. I wanted to prove that I had accomplished the ETR factor (Earned the Right). I wanted to emphasize my competency. After one of the presentations, he said to me:
“Linwood, you do not have to tell me how you achieved the results. If I did not think you were capable, I would not have hired you. If you stop delivering results, I will fire you or assign someone else to fill the position”.
That cured my case of Confidence Deficiency Syndrome (CDS). We should not forget that we are hired because of our competency.
We will thrive and our confidence grows as we use what we know and learn to deliver results.
Process owners or subject matter experts are part of the backbone of organizations. Processes drive efficiency and sustainability by ensuring consistency. However, there are times when changes in processes and procedures can drive higher levels of results.
Prior to the 1968 Olympic Games, the “correct” (or generally accepted) technique for the high jump was to jump over the bar from a sideway position.
Dick Fosbury invented the Fosbury Flop in which jumpers performed a backward flip over the bar.
Jumpers using the Fosbury Flop went on to set world records in the high jump.
Individuals can engage in unending discussions of the pros and cons of different processes and approaches. However, results speak for themselves.
We are all proud of our knowledge, especially when we are recognized as a process owner or the subject matter expert for the process. Some of us have the tendency to be vocal or very willing to demonstrate our knowledge. We should keep in mind that results are the evidence of organizational success. We should remember that there can always be a better way, a Fosbury Flop.
Following are suggestions that you can use to avoid overshadowing of the outstanding results that you have achieved.
- State the results at the beginning of the presentation or report. As I stated earlier, results speak for themselves. Rational people do not argue with success.
- Review the approach or the how at a high level. Avoid getting into details that will shift focus from the results. Provide an appendix to the report covering the approach. If you are presenting, use back-up slides to cover the approach. Inform the audience that you will cover the approach after ensuring that everyone understands the results and the benefits. If time does not allow the discussion of approach, send information on the approach to participants after the meeting. Inform them that you will be willing to discuss the approach with them and will be open to discuss modifications to the process.
- If you are presenting results that deviated from the standard process, discuss the approach with the process owner before presenting the results. Acknowledge that individual’s position as the process expert and explain why the deviation was taken. You may also consider discussing the change in approach with the expert during the execution to get his/her input. People are more prone to accept changes if they provide input into the decision for making the change.
I once solved a problem that had been quite an organizational challenge. One of the executives commended me for solving the problem. Ed asked me how was I able to solve the problem that had eluded a solution several times. My dialogue with Ed went like this.
Linwood: “Ed, do you like sausage?”
Ed: “I most certainly do.”
Linwood: “Do you know how sausage is made?”
Ed: “Great job, solving that problem.”
The process is only as good as the results it delivers.
Have you achieved the ETR Factor (Earn the Right) in your organization?
Do you have CDS (Confidence Deficiency Syndrome)?
Are your achievements overshadowed by your ability to find better ways to deliver outstanding results?
I invite you to share your comments, experiences, and suggestions. This helps me provide information that may help you address your career opportunities and challenges.
Linwood Bailey is a career coach and the author of The Business of Me: Your Job … Your Career … Your Value. The Business of Me provides a career management process and information designed for today’s business professional. Since 2008, Linwood has enabled business professionals to manage their careers. Linwood, the been there coach, enables business professionals to increase their effectiveness by leveraging his 34 years of experience managing functions in multiple industries, regions, and corporate cultures.
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