WHAT IF Your Performance Is NOT Bad BUT Putrid?

 

WHAT IF your performance Is NOT BAD BUT PUTRID?  IF there is one thing so obvious anywhere in this global village, to the extent that we have unconsciously ignored it because it seems normal more than anything else, it is our human tendency to settle for mediocrity.  BTW, this is NOT unique to any culture, any calling OR any of the strata in society.  Even at work, people on the outside looking in have always [wrongly] mistaken that the most common problem of us managers is poor performance.  NO sirrrrrrrs.  It is mediocrity and NOT that lackluster performance OR that major boo-boo at work [because those are outliers].  I have to admit, though, that from a management standpoint, mediocre performance is insidious and YES, it's subtle📗📙📘

Admittedly, many times in the past, that gauntlet has been thrown back to us managers quite many times.  WHY?  Because UNTIL and UNLESS we resolve the issue of performances that may NOT be bad BUT putrid enough, that issue of mediocrity creeps endlessly until it kind of becomes like an infectious situation that keeps engulfing areas hitherto pristine and untainted.  YES, that seems to be the path of least resistance💥💥💥

Admittedly, for anyone of us WHO should be 'policing our ranks' WHEN those symptoms of mediocrity would creep in, it is all too easy for us to look the other way WHEN something is NOT a flop BUT far from great.  The not-so-raging debate is that performances of middling quality is NOT a recipe for a disaster BUT on the other hand, it CAN'T scale-up to the level of high excellence.  And sadly, they will end up falling into that quite murky gray area.  YES, you can get by with it [and that exactly is our problem, ouch]💚💛💜

BUT frankly, here's the thing.  WHO wants to court conflict?  Generally, the school of thought is, IF YOU CAN AVOID IT, then by all means, AVOID IT.  And in our management space, I have to admit that the path of least effort is simply to avoid it and you will end up NOT dealing with it.  BUT here's the catch though.  There is huge yet unseen downside to such avoidance.  By NOT addressing that mediocrity issue, effectively, we are tacitly accepting it, condoning, tolerating things.  Frankly though, once we make an issue of something, that could invite pushback, right???

Our takeaway:  WHILE there are paths we travel in life WHICH are safe enough, it helps if we challenge our own selves and ask if that is the best path and best performance we can churn out?  And WHAT IF YOUR PERFORMANCE IS NOT BAD BUT PUTRID???