“If they knew what our world looked like they would understand why we’re not successful.”
Don’t believe the malarkey. We live in the same world, with similar conditions creating nearly identical pressures. Authors Jim Collins and Morten Hansen1 report that top performers are no luckier than the average achiever. They don’t have different circumstances – they have different behaviors.
Let’s take a closer look at the elements necessary for high performance. As you review the list, consider your reaction to these events:
– Mistakes
– Conflict
– Lack of resources
– A customer saying, “No thank you.”
Teams destined for mediocrity are seduced into thinking the above situations only happen to mediocre teams. They experience these situations and then point fingers and throw their hands up, relinquishing their ability to discover the magnitude of the opportunities in front of them.
Everyone knows the list above; we’re all being tested. High-performing teams galvanize themselves with a mindset that filters these circumstances, spending less time in frustration and more in inspiration:
– Mistakes . . . are accepted and seen not as trial and error, but trial and learn.
– Conflict . . . is welcome, as team members may debate an idea, but not fight with each other.
– Lack of resources . . . is an excuse that has no merit; the “dilemma” is the genesis of innovation.
– A customer saying, “No thank you” . . . inspires us to question our biases and listen for clues to growth.
There is a myth that high-performing teams never lose, everyone on the team likes each other, and team members have a lot of extra time and resources. In reality though, they’re just like you.
Long Lever Questions:
– To what extent and in what important ways do we have the mindset for high performance?
– How do we get better at modeling a high performance response to the challenges we face?
– What challenge are we currently facing where we can better apply our mindset for high performance?
