When I was visiting my family, I observed an interesting exchange between my dad and stepsister. She was saying that she didn't really care if the US was number 1 in the world when she was a grown up and my dad was noting that this is a common thought with the folks that are about 10 years behind me in age. I think I agree but I think that this negativity (or perhaps more precisely this not wanting to be the best or not searching for the best solutions) is a huge problem right now! And not just with a particular age group. Not sure what is causing it, but I have experienced twice since this time someone not seeking to be the best they can be. The most recent happened in a meeting today when someone who is doing some planning for our department said that he couldn't come up with a perfect solution. If you begin a process by thinking that, isn't your outcome just going to be mediocre? The other was with someone looking to change jobs and instead of trying to be the best, he was just trying to fit a perceived limitation instead of what he said he ultimately envisioned.
This goes back to another conversation that I had with my dad about goal setting. He tells a story similar to this in a class that he teaches and I'm debating including it in my class in the future. The story goes something like this. In the Business School at Harvard, there was a survey done years ago about the goal setting of the students. It was determined that out of the class of ~450, there were 15 students that were considered to be goal setters. All of the students were followed after graduation and in the subsequent years the salary of the goal setter fraction (15/450 or 1/30, which is ~3%) was compared to the remaining 435. It was found that the goal setters as a group earned more than the other 97%! This was surprising to me. But I forget that there are people out there who are not goal setters like myself.
My opinion: Set out to be the best, it just might happen! If you set goals, it's probably more likely to happen.
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3 comments:
I've been mulling your post over in my mind for the past week or so. Somehow, even though I don't know the "there's no perfect solution" guy and I don't know what problem he was trying to solve, I feel like I need to defend him.
After 10 years in two jobs where I am the interface between users and programmers, there is rarely a perfect solution. A seemingly perfect solution to a problem can make 100 people happy and leave 20 users completely raging. And that rage does not go away. It lingers and rears its head at unexpected (and expected) times.
Or perhaps it's the definition of perfect that needs clarification. Is "perfect" the best solution for all involved? What meets the expectations of everyone, not just the people who need the solution and those with the tools to implement the solution?
It's too difficult, and in fact impossible, to please everyone. There are some people who will find fault with any change. Or is "perfect" what satisfies the majority?
Also, some perfect solutions are not attainable due to the framework that's set up for solution-making, such as budgetary or resource constraints. Usually changing the framework is outside of my scope of power.
I understand what you're saying--if you start out defeated, then how can you do your best? But in my experience, it's not always possible to find the perfect solution. It can be frustrating for me. I push for the best possible solution with solution-makers who don't always agree with me or want to hear what I have to say. Sometimes the solution happens; sometimes I'm shot down. Many times I commiserate with my users. When I tell them why the solution can't be done and how I'm frustrated too, I am usually met with a smile of understanding.
Thank you for posting this entry. It's really made me think and reevaluate if I'm doing the best I can for user support.
Oh, and I'm a big list maker (and usually those lists are goals). Short term lists, I make them all the time. But long term lists, that's like 2 or 3 times a year. And always at the start of the year. Except for this year. I haven't made my list of goals for this year yet. :) But I will. soon. Especially for sewing.
I agree Kyle. There is not always a perfect solution. In that case, there has to be some compromises. This is a balancing act. You want to make the 100 people a little less happy while moving the 20 people away from their crazy rage. And sometimes, no matter what you do, there is going to be someone who disagrees or is in a rage about the solution.
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