A Performance Secret

by Neil I. Clark

Getting something done requires three basic components: ideas, actions and results. That’s a pretty bald statement in itself, but nonetheless true.

In order for anything to happen, there have to be some ideas or concepts to underpin the activity. Ideas are the start point of any job. When you take on a new position, there is usually a job description of some sort that outlines what the job is about and what you are supposed to achieve. Other ideas come from the experience of a previous incumbent who may have worked out ways to do it easier.

The actions, obviously, are the things you do in order to produce the results. You can have the most wonderful ideas in the world, but if you never implement them, who cares? You’ve probably seen people who are stuck in their ideas. They talk about them all the time, but never seem to get around to doing anything about them. Years later, they are probably still talking about all the great things they plan to do. Unfortunately, ideas alone are not worth much, unless you are one of those rare people who live in some "ivory tower" where it is actually their job to think up the ideas that others will put into action. For the rest of us, ideas are worthless unless we implement them.

But some people also get stuck in the action component. All they see in their job are the actions they have to perform. They don’t understand where it’s all supposed to lead. They just "do their job". In the extreme, these people think they are supposed to produce actions, instead of results. If you asked a Sales Rep what they have produced this week and they tell you they got their call rate up to 16, they’ve just told you what they DID, not what they PRODUCED. This person thinks they are producing "calls", whereas they should be producing "sales".

The way you use this "secret" is simple.

1. Break your job down into the three components. Concentrate on the ideas first. Get out the job description, or talk to someone who knows the job well, or simply jot down the basic concepts yourself. Then make sure you understand them clearly.
2. Once you have examined the ideas associated with the job (and here’s the "secret"), the next thing you should do is flip directly to the results component. Skip the actions for the moment. Just concentrate on how the ideas relate to the results to be achieved. Get that down firmly before you look at what actions are needed to accomplish all this.
3. Finally, look at what you have to do to make it happen. You may be surprised, sometimes, to find that a few of the actions you thought you were supposed to perform actually contribute nothing to the results you are meant to achieve. Better put a really big question mark over those actions.
4. Then, as an ongoing philosophy, keep your eye on the results and always concentrate your actions towards those objectives.