Emergency Room Doctors

"Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not,
but we will be judged by only one thing - the result." 
- Vince Lombardi



What is it we reward? Is it activity, being busy? What should we reward? Results?

From Seth Godin:

Emergency room doctors.

 

It's a mindset, not just a job. 

You can pitch them as hard as you like about having them work to persuade their patients to give up smoking (after all, it saves lives in the long run), but I think you'll find that they're a lot more interested in stopping the bleeding.

We need emergency room doctors, no doubt. I just wonder if we have too many of them in your organization. (Editorial from Rick: Or do you perform like one every day and thus promote this mindset?) If all we do is reward fast first aid in what people do at work, is it any wonder we don't have enough attention to the strategy, habits and choices that would eliminate the need for all that running around in the first place?

It helps to know how prevalent the "emergency room" culture is before you start training your people on a new long-term strategy.  

  

All the best,

Rick Wallace