The Wall Street Journal Madness of “Doing Less”

Only a journalist could come up with such a dumb idea. A few days ago, The WSJ posted and article that doing less is actually a way to do more. Huh? https://www.wsj.com/lifetyle/workplace/try-hard-but-not-that-hard-85-is-the-magic-number-for-productivity-6b5aa875?page=1

I really don’t know how that math works, although the journal cites experts and data that supports it. I don’t know about you, but if you are a CEO, you really want your team to give you more. Why? You can bet your competition isn’t sitting around trying to figure out a way to do less. Do you think your competitors really think that amping down to 15% less is the way to beat you? They are constantly working at ways to eat your lunch. I would love it if my competition started doing 15% less. I hope they follow the WSJ advice.

I once took over an organization that was known for being slovenly and sub standard in its performance. The first thing I did was call them together and explain to them that I expected 110% effort. You read that right. Not 85. Not 100. But 110%. They were shocked that I would ask for that. One even asked me why 100% wasn’t good enough. I doubt this group was even giving 50%, let alone 100%. I told them I would support them with whatever resources they needed to do that. But I also explained that giving any less than 110% would result in dismissal. And sure enough, before too long I fired one of them. Guess what, the rest of the team got the message in a hurry.

Let’s face it. Is it all that unreasonable to expect your people to give you 100% effort? Of course not. After all, you are paying them for 100%. And if you tell them to give 15% less, do you think they would be happy if you paid them 15% less? Of course not. And if the 15% less plan results in 15% less profit, then what do you do? Once you go down that crazy path, you cannot get back.

The whole proposition is journalistic madness gone wild. In the international dog-eat-dog world of business, as a CEO, it is your job to find a way to get more. More productivity. More inventiveness. More creativity. More. More. More. Sorry folks, that is the way the world works.

Asking for more doesn’t mean nose-to-the-grindstone overtime, weekends, and holiday hours. It means giving your people the tools, techniques, and motivation to be more productive. Give them a reason to want to do more. This could be in the form of incentives, or simply recognition for doing a good job. Sometimes simple recognition goes a long way. Here is an example. Not long ago I commended someone in my factory that was working very hard. She seemed stunned by my comment. Later she emailed me how much she appreciated what I said. She apologized for her reaction, writing that she so seldom received a positive comment that she didn’t know quite how to take it. Words of encouragement can go a long way toward motivating people. It doesn’t always have to be money or promotions. So always keep that in mind.