When I was working on a global Process Design and Management initiative, I received some comments that I found really strange while developing standards. “You really take this work seriously, don’t you?” Or “Oh I would never be able to do your work, so boring!” And “Standards, pffff, they make the work so predictabl; no more room for your own ways.” Also “This must be the least creative job out there. You must be one of those blue people.” Later I found out that the color blue is part of some personality test. I am blue/red for the record. By the way: those tests are all scientifically debunked. Hah.
Did it hurt my ego? Yes. I am a human being. But as usual, when my ego gets hurt, I stay with the feeling and try to understand it. Why was this so hard for me to hear? The first thing that came up was anger. I am not boring! I can do an eight-shaped turn on a heavy motorcycle. I have been scuba diving in a cave and I snowboard. I have worked all over the world for years. Your Honor I would like to bring exhibit XYZ to the stand to prove that I am not boring! A great mature response of course, very impressed with myself.
Investigating it further it got me confused. How do people think that achieving goals works? For me, standards (and/or consistency) create a foundation for common understanding, for safety, they allow you to track performance (try tracking performance on an unstable process I dare you), to start collaborating, improving, setting new standards that provide even better results. All the things in life that are worth achieving require consistency.
Do you think that Jason Statham’s character in that movie became the strong muscular fighting machine overnight? t’s a pity that he got wrongfully discharged from the Navy Seals (or Commandos or something), but with his consistent self-improvement, he is able to save the girl!
If you want to lose weight, start a business, learn a skill, improve your way of working, be a more present leader, drive an open and collaborative culture, ensure your company has a place in the future, stop accidents at work, and more of that good stuff, you do not need a fancy one-time-fix that make you look cool. We do not need your creative personal ways of doing things (unless you’re a painter or something), thank you very much! You need consistency. Even a painter needs to work hard every day, build their skill. Every day, you work towards your goal. Every day, you do what is required, even if you do not feel like doing it. Motivation is a fluke. Just do what you agree with yourself. If you need to rest, rest. If you have energy, stick to the plan.
Now that we are on this path of understanding that swooping in and saving the girl requires consistency and hard work, let’s talk about success. Success is not what some people think it is. It is not a magical place (on a deserted Bounty-Island, with said girl) that you somehow end up. Once you achieve something, you will probably move the goalpost. So it is more important to understand what the daily things are that get you to achieve your goals and keep consistently applying them.
This also applies to improving processes and performance in business. How much you as a leader might hate the idea… You have to stick to routine and to standards. Drive the skill of setting standards, monitoring performance every day by the hour, have your routine accountability meetings, do consistent coaching on the shop-floor, build the skill to consistently do root-cause analysis and problem solving, keep working through project tollgates, check standards together with your direct reports on a regular basis, keep providing the same training on the standards, keep doing your 5S routines and audits. It is not a fancy thing you do once a week. But it gets you the results, guaranteed. Because if it does not, it is easier to identify what works and what does not, and change it.
And if you find the thought of that boring, if you want to be the cool fire-fighter, swooping in, saving the day, knowing more than the rest, flex your muscles and leave everyone in awe… Trust me, they are not in awe, but more likely unable to fence for themselves, more prone to work in a unsafe way, less likely to take controlled initiatives to improve, less motivated and maybe even personally hurt… Maybe you should check your ego too.