THE VALUE OF GETTING THINGS HALF RIGHT

There’s very little these days that we accomplish by ourselves. Most of the time, we have colleagues, employees, clients, friends and the list goes on with whom we work. And sometimes, our ability to get things done, dependent on their willingness and drive to get things done.

There are times in life when I expect something to be just right. Like when I open the box of my new apple watch, for example. Or when I take money out of the ATM. But in some cases though, I expect imperfect. And when working with others, I think that’s a good thing but not in a dissapointed sense. I’m not suggesting settle for imperfect. I’m advising to shoot for it.

Once we asked to a company to help us roll out a new performance management process. We followed all the rules of traditional change management. We had time lines, communication plans, and training programs. One by one, we dealt with several issues people saw as obstacles. They made their own comments. We responded every comment with the same response; “that’s a good point, so how can you change it to make it work?” By doing so we improved the process and as a result they took the ownership and became accountable for using it. It’s useful whenever you need someone else to take ownership of the process for something. Just get it half right.

Here’s the hard part: when someone changes your plan, you might think the new approach will be less effective. Resist the temptation to explain why your way is better. Just understand and say Great. The drive, motivation, and accountability that person will gain from running with own idea will be well worth it.

This doesn’t just work internally. I may say that it’s also a great way to make a sale. Get the pitch half right and then say... you guessed it.... Why won’t this work for you? Then go ahead and redesign the offer in collaboration with your potential client. You’ll turn potential client into a collaborative partner who ends up buying his own idea and then working with you to make it successful.

Forget about lenghty presentations and long meetings. During economic downturns, when it is critical to get more done with fewer resources, getting things half right will take you half as long and give you better results.

Don’t settle for imperfect. Shoot for it.