#performance gap

And there is the problem. We need to solve it.

Every business in existence has had a problem. Each one of the problems detour performance from optimal or desired results. So, what do we do – try to solve the problem by some means. The approach we use can be the beginning of success or potentially failure. I am confident in this since I am going to make a broad assessment – each of us have…

Why Don’t Green Buildings Deliver on Promised Energy Savings?

by Richard Conniff/Yale Environment 360

Not long ago in the southwest of England, a local community set out to replace a 1960s-vintage school with a new building using triple-pane windows and super-insulated walls to achieve the highest possible energy efficiency. The new school proudly opened on the same site as the old one, with the same number of students, and the same head person—and was…

Most persons would agree that to generate value a strategy needs to be successfully implemented rather than just exist. Generally, things do not work out when a culture (society/organisation) promotes technical and cognitive skills above applicative, creating a performance gap. As a process implementation involves idea exchange, interpretation, adoption and enactment which are affected by two types of concerns; (i) those related to the process and the (ii) organisation's capabilities to execute the strategy. The first type is connected to technical and cognitive skills (role differentiation) while second type looks at the potential to "fit the pieces together". Regionally, a divergence exists between the availability of good ideas and those successfully implemented. Therefore it is my aim to highlight the main issues for persons in leadership position to consider during implementation at all levels.

The Performance Gap: "We know but do not do"

Within the Caribbean we need to increase our understanding of how focusing on role differentiation impacts strategy implementation. Successful implementation is linked to the performance gap which is the disparity between what people know to say or do to behave successfully and what occurs in the moment. Reducing the performance gap is as much organisational feat as it is addressing the underlying mind-set and capabilities of the persons involved. As the level of difficulty increases technical and cognitive abilities become negligible and application is the determining factor of successful implementation. We should encourage a culture of applicative skills using innovation and collaborative mind-sets that guide what is actually said and done to influence others

When we hear about challenges, our minds tend to gravitate toward finding solutions.  Instead of asking questions -- hopefully the right ones -- and listening thoughtfully to what is being shared, our thoughts become clogged with things we want to say. We interrupt the speaker and eagerly rattle off our opinion and offer solutions.  Can you identify?

When it comes to identifying performance gaps, we would do well by listening, asking probing questions, and listening some more.  The foundation to employing a systematic approach to improving performance is this: DO NOT JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS or ACT PREMATURELY.  Systematic approach dictates that we conduct a root cause analysis -- what are the real causes for the performance gaps? We hunt for a range of possible causes without prematurely making judgments for each identified cause.  The data we gather will help us consider the degree to which each cause contributes to the performance gap.  As you can see, solving the problem isn't the goal at this phase.  Rather, we're trying to find out what is really going on.  

Lastly, a systematic approach considers the work environment -- poor lighting, poor job design, outdated equipment, processes that were established many years ago, but no longer applies in the current environment, resistance from managers, etc..   Mangement owns this and it must take steps to support job success enablers and remove the barriers.