While we may not always realize it, we are responsible for our results. In an organization, its achievements are the results of the combined effort of each individual.
Who wouldn’t want a quick fix or a silver bullet to help us achieve better results? These would certainly make things easier. Sadly, as well all know, there are no secrets to success. Accomplishment comes from effort, care and attention.
Often overlooked is the importance of how the small things can have the biggest impact on results.
One Extra Degree
Significant progress, big successes and meaningful results “require a little more,” says Sam Parker, author and co-founder of GiveMore.com, an organization that help others create better results, better relationships and more opportunities. “That final push makes all the difference.”
A keynote speaker at the recent PPG 2015 Spring MVP Business Solutions Conference, which focused on helping companies involved in the collision repair industry improve their businesses and profitability, he elucidated on this theory saying, “At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. With boiling water, comes steam. With steam, you can power a train.”
This simple analogy, he explains, reflects the ultimate definition of excellence – the one extra degree of effort that can separate the good from the great. Expending the extra degree of effort can help a person achieve success in both business and in life.
Examples
Parker offered several examples of 212 – the extra degree of effort:
- On almost any sports field or court, the difference in scoring or defending against a score is just one-half step – one way or the other.
- In professional golf, the average margin of victory over 25 years, across the four major tournaments, came down to just over two strokes. The winner took home 77 percent more in prize money than the second place finisher.
- In the Olympics, it is often a fraction of a second between winning a gold medal and not winning anything.
In life, it’s the same thing, he maintains. “A little more effort, care and attention can mean everything to our results, with our relationships and with the opportunities we are given.
“How many opportunities do you have every day to exert more effort?”
Resilience
Frequently, that extra effort, care and attention comes well before the critical moment, Parkers says. It comes through preparation, experience and, perhaps most importantly, resilience – the ability to bounce back.
He defines resilience as remaining focused on results, minimizing the tendency to make a mistake, learning from mistakes and reminding and encouraging others to do these things. “Resilience is no excuses, no drama and no complaints.”
Leadership
Managers lead by example – one way or another, says Parker.
The 212 extra effort concept can be employed to become a more effective leader, he points out. It can be used “to model the behavior you want to see, to connect with the people you lead and to involve them as much as possible.”
That is the framework for leadership – “the simple, day-to-day, in-the-trenches formula for creating that special team of people,” he explains.
Beyond that, he recommends:
- Adding a few extra hours monthly to one’s professional development.
- Making one extra contact each day.
- Rethinking one assumption every month.
- Thinking about how to improve things each month.
- Complaining less once a day and smiling genuinely more.
- Eliminating two potential distractions each day.
- Being alert to the world and “not always having your head in your phone.”
Inches Matter
“Inches make the champion,” says Parker, quoting accomplished NFL coach Vince Lombardi. “Where can you turn things up that one extra degree? At home, at work and with those people who are most important to you.
“It’s your life,” he says. “You are responsible for the results. It’s time to turn up the heat. Reach for wonderful, and be 212.”
