– See all the Leadership Quotes here –
“It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best.” – W. Edwards Deming
Have you heard this leadership quote?
William Edwards Deming lived from 1900 to 1993 and was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Many in Japan believe that Japan rose to becoming one of the world’s largest economies through processes partially influenced by the ideas Deming taught.
It is Not Enough To Be Motivated
If you are moving fast, make sure you are moving in the right direction. You might be travelling quickly but if you are on the wrong train, you will quickly end up in the wrong place.
What W. Edwards Deming is saying here is that if your team is doing their best, at least do them the kindness of ensuring that they first know what to do so they can do it well, but also why they are doing it so they can see the bigger picture.
Google Found The Same Thing
Nearly 80 years later, Google found the same thing in their project called “Aristotle”. In that project they studied more than 100 outperforming teams and found that clarity was one of the most common factors involved with a successful team. Clarity on what to do, clarity on why they were doing it. When a team had clarity then, and only then, could they work hard, travel quickly, and get to the place they wanted to go to – the result they wanted to achieve.
So give your team clarity on the work, ensure they know what to do – and ensure you know what to do too! Then when you work harder, you know you will be moving in the right direction.
– David McLachlan
Get the Leadership Card Deck or the Lean CX Score Book:
View All The Leadership Cards (48)
- or - Have the Leadership Cards delivered for your next meeting
Get "The Lean CX Score" now, and start creating disruptors in your industry that completely annihilate your competition. Oh and good news! You'll be improving the speed, morale and engagement of your teams at the same time. Get the Lean CX Score now.