Test and Trust

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"No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher." ~ Mr Miyagi

There is a lot of talk in business about motivation and how the 80 / 20 rule applies. ( 80% of results comes from 20% of the people). Consequently managers focus on the extremes. Rewarding and developing the top and cutting at the bottom. Ok but what about the middle? What should be done about those average players. Those who are not good enough and not bad enough at the same time? How do we move them? Like Mr Miyagi - You test and trust. What did Miyagi have his young student do? Wax on and Wax off. He gave a task - an innocuous, seemingly unimportant task to his young charge and let it serve as a test. Moving people is all about momentum. You can't stand still in business. Your people can't stand still. So move them with simple tasks. If they perform the task as expected they move up in trust. If they don't they move down. No questions. It's a trust thing - can people be trusted to do stuff. It's at the heart of business and indeed life. Want to move people? Ask them to wax on and wax off.

Test and Trust based on how they respond.
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