Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

I had dinner last week with a friend and industry collaborator who charted a similar career path as mine. During conversation, Ron rattled off one the productivity adages, “Don’t confuse effort with results”.

I think this is a common problem. If someone works hard, they believe their efforts should be recognized and rewarded. However, without clarity of purpose and goals, it is entirely possible to expend large amounts of effort…doing the wrong thing, focusing on the wrong targets and following the wrong set of rules and guidelines, only to miss the mark and fall short.

How does this happen so often and how do successful people and companies get past this conundrum? In a word, clarity.

•clarity with people; getting the right people in the right seats… the who 

•clarity with purpose; what do we do, what do we not do and why do we do what we do

•clarity with process; how we do things. Systems should be aligned with efficient processes to minimize deviation between effort and results. An ideal process enables “plug and chug”. Bring in solid people, align them with company purpose, show them the rules and monitor progress toward required results. Adjust as required.

Easy to document, harder to do.

When performed well and results achieved, there is plenty of recognition and reward to go around.

The desired state … is predictability. Boring, predictable, glorious results.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric