Leadership
If Ain’t Broke then Improve IT!!
9:20 PM
Something I use to hear all the time, especially in ministry, is that if its not broke then don’t fix it. It’s crazy when you think about it. When you take a step back and look at companies like Apple v. Windows. You can easily see the issue. Window fixes things based on approval rating and necessity, but Apple is continually making things better and critiquing what they do and how they do it to make them better. This sets their product up for LONG TERM success. This is why Apple will one day rule the world.
I see all the time where leaders push themselves to a certain level and then become satisfied with their results and stop trying to constantly improve. If you wait until something is broken to fix it then you have already messed up. You have already ruined someone’s first experience or frustrated the people who work and lead alongside of you. People do not buy into to perfection they buy in to vision, goals and consistent progress.
In my time I have developed 3 questions to ask myself so that I continually work toward improvement not emergency maintenance!
If I had unlimited resources what would I do in my environments – if money and manpower were no issue what would be the dream. Them from there let God lead you to what should be next. Sometimes those steps are very obvious. Others take a lot of thought, dialogue, and reflection. Dream as though you have a blank check and then trust God and the people around you to find a way.
If someone else took my job what would they change – Consider yourself new everyday. Always try to filter through the things you see as though you were looking at them for the first time. Sometimes if we stare at something ugly enough we get use to it. Hopefully the mission and vision of your organization is important enough to see things from the visitor / customer perspective.
What do the people around me see – This one can be tricky. If you haven’t developed enough of a relationship with the people who work with you to hear the tough things then this will be an issue for you. I’ll be honest at times this is a struggle with me. You have to constantly push your people to be honest with you and reward them when they do. One of the biggest mistakes I see leaders make is to ask for honest opinions and evaluations and then get upset or be defensive. This will not reinforce the behavior you are shooting for.
This is just what works for me.
What are some of the questions you ask in your Organization?
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