Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

One of the better solutions to a difficult problem is simply to trying harder.

I was 17. I was a high school senior. It was baseball practice. I was the senior, the guy who knew stuff. The underclassmen were looking at me. I was supposed to teach them how to turn a double play.

My only thought was, “You need to move your hands faster. Concentrate on moving your hands faster. Focus on that. Do that.”

In other words, “Try harder.”

The advice worked on some of them. Some others rolled their eyes.

If you want to complete a task at work in less time, one of the better things to do is focus on completing the task in less time. Forget process improvement and management seminars and all the rest. Try harder on that one area. It might be what works. In my experience, I see it working often.

If you want to complete at task at work with higher quality, one of the better things to do is focus on completing the task with higher quality. Try harder on that one area.

I could go on with examples from my past and different tasks at work. Often, I simply had to try harder. Simple. Not always easy. Harder is the opposite of easier. I find it unfortunate at times, but this works.

Careful how this advice is given. It is easy to hear the big, mean, old boss saying, “You are lazy. You aren’t trying hard enough!”

Instead, try, “I am not managing this work well. We are failing in speed or quality or something. I want to focus on speed or quality or something. Let’s try again.”

We can do better.