Low Maintenance, High Yield

When I close my eyes and think of Brighton, Utah, I see a grove of evergreen trees with a forest mat of rich brown soil next to a glistening mountain lake. It’s a real place, and whenever I’m there in person, I marvel at how this beautiful spot seems to need no maintenance. No one is pulling weeds or watering, and no human sat down and planned out the beauty. This stunning piece of earth richly feeds my soul and takes nothing back from me in return. It just gives.

I marvel at how hard I work on my yard, how many hours I pour into it, how much I spend on water, chemicals, and equipment, only to occasionally feel like I’m getting anything back from it. As much as I’ve loved some of my yards, I’m ready to give it all up and move into a condo.

Over the years, I’ve had employees who remind me of Brighton. They show up to work, find creative ways to contribute, and while they, of course, take a paycheck, they hardly ever bring personal problems.

A high-maintenance employee is not hard to spot. They don’t like the desk that was good enough for the person before them, they get too hot or too cold, and they’re the first to pick up and spread a rumor. In short, they’re a black hole that sucks all the energy around them and gives little back.

Somehow, farmers know how to raise kids who work hard and ask for little in return. When I was building shooting ranges, we were always on the lookout for good employees. We learned that if someone listed growing up on a farm, we should hire them. I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I’ve found that those who did work hard and don’t need a lot of attention. They’re high-yield and low-maintenance.

Do you know someone who makes you tired just by being around them? Someone who drains energy out of a room?

Some employees know how to produce and get a lot done, but they come with the burden of being high-maintenance. It’s not enough to be high-yield alone. If you’re high-yield and high-maintenance, you’re not worth it.

None of this means that we can’t have a meltdown from time to time. Even low-maintenance people deal with reality and have real needs. In fact, there is little as satisfying as serving someone who is truly high-yield and low-maintenance.

High drama and high maintenance are interchangeable.

Think you might be high maintenance? Here’s your test:

You might be high-maintenance if…

• You can’t solve the temperature being too low or too high yourself.
• You love rumors and can’t wait to juice them up before spreading them along.
• You think you deserve a special deal, even if the rest of the world doesn’t.
• You need to be at the front of the line.
• Before you reach the 5th floor in the elevator, everyone knows about your latest accomplishment.
• Everything is urgent. You get someone’s attention by demanding that the sky is falling and insisting they stop what they’re doing to fix it.
• You can’t let go of the one time, 100 years ago, when you were wronged.

If you flunk the test, your first step to recovery is to admit it, and the second step is to knock it off. Just stop. The next time you want attention, forget about yourself and turn the attention on someone else. If you feel like complaining—get over it. Hear a rumor you want to spread—stop it dead and replace it with a compliment.