Stop focusing on results

The Daily Drip

There's a certain kind of manager who only grades employees by their results.

At first, this doesn't sound like the worst thing. I mean, what matters? Results, right?

The trouble is that this manager doesn't really think too far into how the results came to be. This means that if an employee made a decision based on a 50/50 chance and got lucky, they get praised.

Do you remember being a kid? Do you remember someone telling you that it's the effort that counts? That it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but it's how you play the game?

What happened to that?

There are things in our control and there are things outside it. If we only focus on the outcome, we fail to look at our own efforts objectively--which obscures our ability to introspect and improve our methods.

Yes, of course, we all like to win.

Yes, of course, we all like it when good things happen.

Just don't forget that little saying about how you play the game. It's adapting and improving how you play the game that will yield the long-term results for which we all strive.