We all know our reaction when things go wrong. We ask why. Why me? Why now? And more similar questions that tend to try to find out the reason behind the unfair treatment we perceive.
In business, when things go wrong, the same thing happens. Your boss asks you lots of questions to find out the reasons of the poor performance. During press conferences about company results, the CEO is always prepared to give all explanations about the cause of the problem. Typically, the causes of underperforming are generally found in challenging “market conditions”: the world economy, the value of the dollar, the price of oil, market oversupply (which by the way is created by the industry itself and is usually the result of overoptimistic planning), etc…
But what happens when things go right? Do we try to analyze the reasons things are going our way? Do we wonder why these good things happen to us and why now? Generally speaking, the answer is “no”. We simply take it for granted and we consider it the most normal thing in the world. Yet, there has to be reasons, just as valid as the ones we find for setbacks. To get back to the example of the CEO during the press conference, great results will rarely be attributed to the world economy, the value of the dollar, the price of oil or a market in short supply. Next time listen carefully: great results generally are the results of a great management team executing superbly a great strategy!
The main problem with our attitude towards good things happening is that we actually do not learn from them, or at least we learn very little. This is quite a different situation when things go bad. As we all know, there is nothing like learning from our mistakes to build experience.
So next time you deliver a better than expected performance, you certainly must enjoy it and give yourself a compliment about it, but do not forget to analyze why it did happen. Find out the reasons within yourself or your organization, but look for reasons in the conditions that played around you during that period. Carry out this analysis with the same thoroughness as when you analyze poor performance, and do not exclude any reason beforehand. Maybe the outcome will not boost your ego as much, but avoiding complacency will help you stay on your toes and avoid making mistakes. The benefit for you is that you will increase the odds of repeating your top performance on a much more consistent basis!
Copyright 2009 The Happy Future Group Consulting Ltd.
Christophe Pelletier
Sheryl Hunter
The Happy Future Group 