The cardinal factor that separates one man from his fellow men in terms of achievement and success is his greater capacity and intensity in taking action on ideas. It pains to see men and women, boys and girls, with special abilities, contributing little to their own success, that of their employers, and communities. On the other hand, I see others who are less gifted, but accomplishing and achieving more. I have, thus, come to the conclusion that it is not age, height, looks, pigmentation, or qualifications that produce results but the right action on the right ideas.
Two weeks ago, I attended a workshop in Kunduchi on leadership - coaching for results - organized and run by Mikono Speakers in collaboration with Uongozi Institute. The speaker challenged and tipped us on various leadership issues. But for me, my takeaway was the illustration that the speaker painted on a deceptively simple but powerful question, ‘. . . why do some people and teams perform better at work than others given the same allocation of resources?’ I gleaned good lessons, which I would like to share with you. Today.
In trying to clarify that neither qualification nor age nor pigmentation makes one an elite achiever, the speaker like most leadership coaches usually do, performed a demo. He brought into the presentation room two teams - six pupils from a nearby kindergarten and six Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduates, working at Kazi ni Kwako Hotel. He gave each one of the teams the same set of instructions while allocating the same amount of time and resources. Instructions were that they should compete to build the tallest structure in 30 minutes with the following materials - a pack of playing cards, one meter of nylon string, one roll of cello tape, a glue stick, a pair of scissors, one box of matches, thirty pieces of ten-centimeter plastic refreshment drinking rods and marshmallow.
The kindergarten pupils commenced putting up the structure immediately. They did not take time to discuss nor agree on a strategy, nor did they examine the materials or share experiences. It seemed they did not have any plan in place. Typical of young kids, they talked to each other in spurts, ‘. . . put it here.’ ‘. . . oh no, this side.’ ‘. . . remove that piece.’ ‘. . . cut here.’ ‘. . . look at this one.’ ‘. . . bring me a rod.’ ‘. . . good one.’ They kept on cheerleading each other, celebrating wildly, every time a fellow brought forward a brilliant idea that increased the height of their structure. You could see them high-fiving each other – celebrating progress. Their small hands looked busy collecting and putting materials together. They were simply following instructions as issued by the speaker – to build the tallest structure possible. They were making good progress. Every member of the team was enjoying the task and experience. There was good camaraderie among the kids. They stood close to each other and above all, they kept reminding each other to look at the stop-watch.
The other team of MBA graduates approached the task differently. They did not rush into the task. No one went to work at the outset. They looked thoughtful, tossing ideas and questions at each other; examined the materials thoroughly; and made notes on yellow legal pads. They put on the table several options. Some members suggested that they should build a structure akin to the Eiffel Tower of Paris, others suggested a pyramid type of structure, and others preferred a quadrangular sort of structure. Their approach was impeccably professional, strategic, rational, and promising. After a long time of debating, and analyzing the material and methodology, they settled on one strategy – to build a pyramid kind of structure with a wider base and a narrow sharp top. They divided the tasks up and started putting the structure together.
After thirty minutes, the speaker ordered the two teams to stop working. It was time for results. Who do you think won the challenge? Your guess is as good as mine.
I know, most of you picked the MBA graduates due to their level of qualification, analytical skills, experience, and maturity. Your choice is wrong. The kindergarten won the challenge.
This is the way you and I tend to think about group performance. We, more often than not, presume that people with lofty qualifications, long on-job experience, and extroverts, when brought together, as a team, produce the best results. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The opposite is true. Empirical evidence has proved that such a combination sabotages individual and team efforts. Gallup research revealed that instead of the members looking at issues and solutions objectively, they mull over personal status more than the problems at hand. They exhibit an ivory tower mentality. Snobbish attitude. They spend too much time managing status, ‘. . . will I be criticized if I bring forward my proposal?’ ‘. . . how do I fit in this team?’ ‘. . . who seems to be in charge of this team?’ ‘. . . what are the rules here?’ ‘. . . let me see how far they will go without my contribution.’ These are the sort of questions and ideas that crowd their mind. By the time they go back to the actual problem and try to find a solution, time may not be on their side. Such people suffer from what psychologists refer to as paralysis analysis. Too much analysis. Little action.
Teams and individuals that do not rely on qualifications, on-job experience, and other status-related indices, more often than not, stand for each other, are synergic, work for the common good, and have a shared vision. They are agile in bringing work to speed and producing high performance. Dear reader, this posting is not a manifesto against academic or professional qualifications. No. Of course, high performers have high qualifications and experience, but they do not rely on them for performance. They understand that a degree is just a piece of paper. True education and qualification are seen in behavior and performance. They are nick-named as misfit, maverick, maharaja, maharishi.
Turn around and look at companies that are led by misfits. History, too, is replete with successful companies led by mavericks. Think celebrated former CEO of GE, Jack Welch. Welch was not a business administration degree holder from Havard Business School. No. He belonged to a science laboratory. He was a chemist. But he was a dynamo in business management and leadership. Consider co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs and Microsoft owner, Bill Gates - they were college drop-outs. Think of Mahatma Gandhi - he was not a leader of any political party but he commanded a large following and changed the political landscape of India. Mother Teresa – a poor nun of Calcutta addressed the United Nations General Assembly and was awarded the Nobel prize. Think of Paul Kagame - third-term president. Kagame transformed Rwanda into a middle-income country. Kigali is the cleanest city in Africa.
Author of Human Nature, Robert Greene put it better than I could when he said, “. . . what kills creativity is not age, qualification, lack of talent, but our own spirit, our own attitude. We become comfortable with the knowledge that we have gained. We grow afraid of entertaining new ideas. We reach a limit in our field and lose control over our fate because we become replaceable.”
As I live and grow older, it has become clearer to me that what separates elite performers and high-performing teams from decimal performers is not qualification, age, pigmentation of their skin, extroversion or introversion, level of ideation, visualization, imagination, or prayers but the ability to think and agility to act on ideas persistently and obsessively. Observing and reading about high performers over the years, I have noticed that these elite performers do not just ideate, analyze, conceptualize, and pray for situations in the boardroom, they also spend time in the mailroom taking action on concepts, ideas, and prayers with gusto. Just thinking about goals is not enough. We must take action to fulfill those dreams and make them a reality. Do not spend the rest of your precious life stringing and unstringing the instrument. Sing your song. Your life and mine are like a book. What we choose to do with our life dictates whether it is an adventure loaded with success or a blank page.
Lester Chinyang’anya | General Manager – Operations | Minet Malawi
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