Accepting mediocrity in our teams
Sometimes the ability to accept mediocrity in one aspect of performance can allow us to actually pursue excellence in another. Photo by Inês Ferreira on Unsplash
I was recently working with a team and some members expressed feeling frustrated that they were not delivering to high enough standards. As we discussed it, one person emphatically stated that "we shouldn't put up with mediocrity".
It seemed to feel good for them to say - it felt important and it felt true.
In the weeks since, I have been reflecting on the statement. The fact is that I don't think that it is true and, perhaps more importantly, that it is not very useful. That concept will challenge a lot of leaders and teams.
Sometimes the ability to accept mediocrity in one aspect of performance can allow us to actually pursue excellence in another. We each have limited Energy, Attention and Time. Choosing to invest wisely in the most important activities is what great leaders and teams are able to do. One alternative is spreading our efforts equally across a range of tasks. That means that they are all reasonable without any of them being exceptional. Another possibility is that we expect unreasonable levels of performance across all aspects of our work - which will lead to disappointment and/or exhaustion.
If you and your team don't know what is most important, you won't know what needs to be excellent and what can be acceptably mediocre. Ironically, that's a recipe for mediocrity.
Some questions for you to consider this week:
What have you and your team been overinvesting in?
How can your team get clearer on what the most important aspects of their work are?