Under Promise – Over Deliver
written by Terry - April 5th, 2011 at 7:46 am
A message from Terry: Sometimes, the best pieces of advice are the hardest ones to follow. Consider the following bit of wisdom from Tom Peters:
Formula for success: under-promise and over-deliver.
For many people, this is simply common sense. But for well-meaning team members with a strong urge to please – (and you know who you are!) – the urge to say “yes” to every request, especially on those hectic days when everybody is working in overdrive, is almost irresistible. In the instant when that “yes” falls from our lips, we convince ourselves that we can deliver on our promise. In the moment, we feel like a super-hero, flying in to save the day.
But what happens when minutes fly by, duties pile up, interruptions multiply, and the moment of reckoning arrives…only to find us empty-handed? We’re quickly demoted from hero to zero, and the crisis gets worse instead of better.
Next time (and there will always be a next time!), avoid tumbling into the trying-to-please trap. How?
By breathing.
When someone asks you to add an extra task to your stack, remember to take a deep breath before you reply. Instead of an automatic “yes,” make a quick mental review of your existing commitments and deadlines. Then, if you are confident that you can accomplish the task in the time allotted for it, step up and take it on. But if you don’t think you can, admit it, right then. In the end, it will be kinder and more helpful than making an empty promise.
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