Own the Outcome

My take this week is that very few people take pride in their work anymore. America was built by hardworking people that wanted to make a better life for themselves. After generations of comfort and excess, American exceptionalism has become a rarity. Nowhere is that more prevalent than quality of work. Quality of work used to be an American mainstay, one of our core values as a nation. Maybe I've just had a few bad experiences in a row or maybe I'm prematurely morphing into my curmudgeon Clint Eastwood final form, but it's so prevalent.

For example, I get BLOWN UP by LinkedIn sales messages and cold calls. Very rarely do sales people actually research what I do. If they spent even 2 minutes looking at my LinkedIn page or my website they could nail a customized pitch for their product. I put everything out there. Another story, I recently had cabinets put in the house. I felt like I needed to play the foreman during the entire process. The first section was out of plumb and the second section the drawers didn't pull out. After two large mistakes on a supposed job done, I just didn't trust the contractor's ability to deliver.

It's not all bad out there though, I called 苹果 support a few weeks ago and had a remarkable customer experience. The person on the line spoke great English, understood my problem, made me feel heard, and solved the problem. They owned the outcome.

I'll never forget this, I was 5 years old and we drove to my grandpa's to trim this HUGE tree in his front yard. It was a 4-guy all day affair. All of these guys, besides my dad were boomers. My sheltered existence up to that point had never seen 8 uninterrupted hours of hard labor. No one grumbled, no one cut corners, and the job was done properly (by my expert estimation). That's all these guys knew was hard work done the right way. When someone did a job in their day, they took pride in the end result; they agonized on the details and felt accountable to do their best. The older I get, the more I see that the art of having pride in your work delivering your absolute best is being lost.

You can't manage what you don't measure right? Recent statistics back up my take. Over the last 20 years, worker productivity and quality of work have been on the decline. A study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that between 2000 and 2021, labor productivity growth in the United States averaged a mere 1.3% per year, compared to 2.1% per year from 1947 to 2000. This decline has been felt across most industries, manifesting in the form of lower-quality products, delayed services, and unfulfilled promises.

Even more concerning is the fact that the Gallup Organization's State of the Global Workplace report found that only 33% of employees in the U.S. claim to be fully engaged in their work. This means that a staggering 67% of the workforce is not fully committed to their job or putting in their best effort. When employees don't give their all, it has a domino effect that ripples through the entire organization, affecting productivity, quality, and ultimately, the bottom line.

Leaving the data and entering the realm of subjectivity - I think the rise of the gig economy and the shift towards remote work (y'all know how I feel about that) have also contributed to this decline. While these changes offer flexibility and work-life balance, they've led to a disconnection between employees and their work. The lack of face-to-face interaction and the absence of strong company cultures can make workers feel less accountable for their output, leading to a dip in performance.

So, what can we do to reverse this trend and reignite the passion for excellence in our workforce?

1. Employers gotta invest in their employees' growth and development, providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed. We also need to recognize the importance of cultivating a culture of accountability and pride in one's work.
2. It's crucial to set high measurable expectations and challenge people to rise to the occasion. By setting ambitious goals and providing support, leaders can inspire their team to push the boundaries of what they thought possible.
3. Lastly, we need to celebrate wins! Like actually get fired up when people receive good feedback or ship a deliverable flawlessly. Doing a bang up job is something worth celebrating! When employees see that their efforts are recognized and appreciated, they will be more inclined to go above and beyond in the pursuit of excellence.

In a world where mediocrity is becoming the norm, it's up to each of us to take a stand and demand more from ourselves and those around us. A life worth living isn't handed to us on a silver platter, but rather, it's earned through hard work, determination, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.

I think a lot about this quote from the late great Vince Lombardi: "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." By embracing this mindset, we can help turn the tide and create a workforce that takes pride in their work, strives for excellence, and isn't afraid to go the extra mile.