Oxthink

Too few of us have the drive to give our all; to do the best we can in our endeavours. Too often, we will do just enough to get by.

Why would we want to overdo it? Why would we want to do more than we have to?

And if we can get away with doing less, then we will:

• Leaving things for others.
• Shirking off when nobody’s looking.
• Operating at a slower pace.
• Excusing ourselves from the job we should be doing for some other, more appealing task.

This lacklustre attitude may be even more pronounced if we feel underpaid or undervalued. Why should I do my best or fully commit to something when my efforts are not properly appreciated?

It’s a reasonable challenge.

We may also be acting out of laziness, a desire to get one over on the system or merely because, most of the time, we don’t want to be doing what we do. Quite often, we’re doing a job, which means we’re only doing it because we have to. That’s why we just do what we need to – the minimum effort for the maximum return.

And yet, for others, this lack of enthusiasm and half-heartedness is incomprehensible and alien. It’s counter to their very instincts. When observed in others, it is frustrating, dispiriting and annoying. For such more committed and zealous individuals, it can be so exasperating when people do not strive to get a job done, when things take longer than they should, when they only do half a job, or when they complete a task to a standard beneath their abilities.

The contrasting mindset of the enthusiast is that we should – so long as it is within reason – take pleasure and pride in working hard, giving more, and doing our best.

Unfortunately, too few of us can sustain such drive and keenness merely by taking pride in what we do or by delighting in any feelings of satisfaction and achievement. And so we have to be regularly stimulated and encouraged to make such efforts. As such, people can be motivated, cajoled or coerced into performing better through:

• Incentive – If I deliver this, then I will receive a reward.
• Challenge – People don’t believe I can do this. Well, I’ll show them.
• Chastisement – If I don’t do this, then I’m going to get into trouble.
• Threat – I’m scared of what might happen if I don’t do this.
• Building a team ethos – I will do this because I don’t want to let my colleagues down.
• Having a sense of responsibility or authority – It’s my job to get this done.

It is through these persuasive methods that we can create an environment where working harder or delivering better results is considered good and beneficial for the individual, with self-interest usually the primary driver of improved performance.

If people have a strong motivation, they’re much more likely to produce.

In most individuals, enthusiasm, energy and engagement have to be nurtured, which is why, when we find these qualities lacking, we should not necessarily blame the individual but, instead, look to their managerial and organisational overseers. It will be they who have not created the environment or motivation to get the most and the best out of people.

Significantly, even though we can see the damage that it does, we can still be too accepting of poor or underperformance. We will – too often – let people get away with things, not picking up on lapses or finding excuses for people’s failings. And we know what happens then – if people can take advantage of something, then they will. It’s that slippery slope to declining standards.

The danger to any organisation – whether it be a business or to society as a whole – is when that organisation “carries” too many people, when too many people aren’t doing their job properly. But equally, organisations will suffer if they also have too many people not doing what they are fully capable of – taking as much as they can but giving as little back as they have to. These people have no ambition to better either themselves or the organisation that they belong to. In such circumstances, potential is unrealised.

The exclusion of indifferent, work-shy people from an organisation is why the most important criterion in a recruitment process is not qualifications or experience; it is attitude. Recruiters want committed people with a positive, can-do, will-do, want-to-do attitude. They are seeking out people who will do their best.

Unfortunately, society lacks a selection process. It has an established population. It cannot choose whom to include or exclude. It has to work with what it is given. Society must therefore focus on motivating its members through the various methods described earlier. Society must engage with its population to get the best out of it.

Ultimately, though, for all organisations, it can be extremely difficult to gauge how much effort someone is going to put into a task and to motivate someone to give more than they have to.

Some people will do their best in everything that they do. They can’t help themselves.

Others will embrace certain tasks but then show less interest elsewhere.

And then there are some people who are half-hearted in everything they do. They, it seems, can’t help themselves either.