Good Enough Is Just Not Good Enough

The older I get the more I expect excellence from my own life, from those who work for me and from those who work around me.

Where would McDonalds be today if they let 15 year olds flip a burger any way they’d like, without the systems and without the training?

The major reason we fail to see consistent excellence in businesses and organisations is because there is often a failure in the systems area. Quite often it’s not a people problem. It’s a system problem. And that means that there is a leadership problem.

Fix the system, train the people to use the system and excellence will remain constant. Continue to review, analyse, check that system and you can expect only one thing – and that is excellence.

So many leaders blame their followers for the problems that occur, but I’m a firm believer in the fact that ‘the buck stops with me’. If something’s not working down the bottom then there is something that needs to be corrected at the top.

And one way to make sure all is well is to conduct surveys – to allow your staff or members to communicate without fear of recrimination.

I’ve been known to ask my staff….’Give me the good, the bad and the ugly…’ and when the ugly has been delivered we have set about immediately to turn the ugly into beautiful. If my staff win, I win and we all win. There is no room for ego here.

But getting back to surveys, here’s one I handed out to my staff recently..

Do you believe that your current role in OE Design fits your strengths? If so how? If not, how could we help you with this?
Do you feel that you are given enough liberty in your role to be creative and innovative? If so how? If not how?
Do you feel that the systems in place for your role in the company are working? If so how? If not how?
Do you have any suggestions for what would help you do your job better?
Do you receive sufficient support from the leadership within the company? If so how? If not how?
Do you have any suggestions that would help your department do their job better?
Is there something that really bugs you at OE Design? If so, please offer a solution that you feel would help us squash that bug together?
What do you love about working for OE Design?
Do you feel that you have received enough communication throughout the year so that you can take ownership of the vision for OE Design – The Web Designers? Or can we help in anyway to make you feel more part of the team?
If there was one thing that could help you do your job better and make your job more satisfying, what would it be?
Do you have any other things that are not covered in the above 10 questions that you would like to suggest or raise?
The responses were awesome and now I’m armed with great material to help my people become even better at what they are already doing.

Good enough? No we’re heading for OUTSTANDING!

From Peter G. James Sinclair