First Among Equals: Effort or Attainment

I have mentioned this in one of my previous posts … I do not cease to be impressed by the kids these days. They are intuitive, articulate and down right smart!

. My 12 year daughter and I are out on our scouting/hiking trail over the weekend, the Singapore sun was beating down on us but fortunately the breeze was holding – so it was okay! Before she could get into one of her teen tantrums on ‘how the weather sucks’, I decided to engage her in conversation. She loves a spirited chat and I reckoned it was the best way to keep her mind off the heat!

. “What is more important, effort or attainment?”, she blurted out. She went on to say that her projects in school were being graded on those two parameters. I chided her on what she thought was more important and she said, “effort definitely. If the effort is in place, attainment will follow.” What better way to set expectations with the term results due just round the corner!

. I reasoned with her but did finally agree that in a learning environment, I would rate ‘effort’ higher than the immediate ‘attainment’ at least in the very short term. Very often institutions of learning are too focused on grades rather than the actual learning process. This makes the whole process very mechanical and sadly exposes students to developing that behavior I absolutely dread in the workplace – “doing without understanding why they are doing what they are doing”! (See my other post on this topic). Consequently, I also agree that with the right level of effort, intellect and disciplined application, attainment is bound to eventually show up.

. In my career, I have faced similar dilemma while judging employee productivity, performance and development. I have seen many ways in which performance is mapped and measured. While the usual ratings – Top, Strong, Solid, Needs Development & Manage Out or derivatives of these are quite common, I have in instances used a broader framework in judging employees within these categories i.e. the ‘What’ and the ‘How’.

. The ‘What’ actually alludes to the ‘Attainment’ while the ‘How’ alludes to the ‘Effort’ that my daughter was talking about. Usually the Top and the Manage Out categories are ‘absolute categories’ while the other three intermediate categories have a ‘What’ and ‘How’ flavor i.e. we rate the individual’s performance with an emphasis on ‘What’ results he achieved and ‘How’ the result was achieved.

. In a typical workplace, What and How are both crucial but considering the fact that the primary goal of the business is to generate shareholder value – the What (Attainment) shows up as the first among equals!

. Before we get too ahead of ourselves, the How (Effort or the right kind of Effort) is not far behind! Results at any cost where the How defies the prevailing strictures and governance is definitely a no-no with definite longer term ramifications. We are all seeing plenty of these instances in the midst of the current financial crisis!!!

. So we rounded off the conversation unanimously agreeing that school might be a better place for learning and experimentation where ‘Effort’ deserves a slight advantage. Workplace on the other hand is far more exacting, demanding and impatient. Experimentation is fine and even encouraged in some places but needs to be maturely managed so that it is not at the expense of ‘Attainment’ of overall expected financial or operational results!

. As she flirted with another topic I just wanted to have a last word on the school before my daughter could forcibly move me on – ‘Just ensure that your grades show up good! ‘Effort’ wins when you are in a class session, but ‘Attainment’ sure comes tops on exam day – I am learning fast on how to set my expectations clear with this smart kid walking beside me – she gave me a quizzed look, but I bet she knows what I meant. Never too late!