Systems by their nature seek consistency. They seek to block the noise that may compromise the outcome the system was built to produce. They are developed to produce outputs that meet spec. A continual turning of the ratchet to eliminate waste. Ultimately, they are designed to produce outcomes that are average by their very definition.
Our culture has done a great job of optimizing and further optimizing systematic processes. Lean six sigma. Just in Time manufacturing.
However, the problem with this systematic industrial mindset occurs when we try to apply it in other contexts without questioning if the system helps us achieve our desired outcome — or an outcome that is in our best long-term interest, which often can be two entirely different objectives.
Too many companies apply this systematic thinking to their talent and development process. They have systematic programs that create managers like a machine. A formulaic approach to produce the desired outcome. An approach not very different from Henry Ford’s assembly line. And the reason this approach exists is because it’s easy. It makes it easy for us to ignore people. Easy to not care. Easy to not have to make exceptions for someone that makes our life a little more difficult.
Want to see this in practice?
Go to a McDonald’s. Buy a milkshake and a Big Mac. Eat half the Big Mac. Drink half the milkshake. Put the other half of the Big Mac in your milkshake. Walk up to the counter and say to the employee: “I can’t drink this milkshake. There’s a Big Mac in it.” He will give you your money back. Why? Because it’s easier for McDonald’s to give someone $3 than it is to train and trust the person at the cash register to be a manager. To act like an owner.
If your default as a business leader is to rely on the system to produce the best talent, you’re setting your business up for mediocrity at best. Formalized programs ignore the standouts. Ignored standouts go to places where they won’t be ignored. The underperformers get lost in the shuffle. Leaving most organizations with an average group of people that will inherently produce average results.
The key is to realize that everyone is on a spectrum. Average is an illusion and merely laziness. To be effective one must embrace the fact that no one is average. Systems built for the average only maintain the status quo. They breed mediocrity.
However, as individuals with aspirations to be managers and business leaders, if we want to insist that we are different — that we are not average, not just cogs in the wheel — we must take ownership. We must show up. Show up and keep showing up.
The wanting to not be average part is easy.