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The Law of the AverageChances are that if you are reading this paper you are average. It is not because only average people read, and that exceptionally gifted people don't need to because things come to them easily. It is rather that exceptionally talented people are rare. There are but a handful of people in History that can be separated out of humanity because of prodigious talent. Several may jump to mind as being the best of their kind: Einstein, Lincoln, Michelangelo, John Paul II, Yeager, Jordan, Woods, Armstrong...but there are billions of individuals that cannot be named or identified with outstanding feats. Yet, it is these relatively average individuals that must be counted on to produce in order for there to be progress.
It is probably unnecessary to claim that every leader or manager would at times like to escape their dependency on the nominally talented and would like to fill his team with only the superbly gifted, highly motivated and extremely productive. Some leaders in particular industries have attempted to reshape or even transform this dynamic on occasion, but this has most often not achieved the desired results. Why? There are several reasons 1) superbly gifted workers cost too much 2) superbly gifted workers are not easily led, and related to this 3) superbly gifted workers require special treatment that oftentimes is not consistent with company policy and methodology. The easiest examples of attempts to rewrite the rules can be found in the sports world where it is most often found that too many superstars not only shrink profit margins, but more importantly tend to disrupt the chemistry required for a team to reach the top. Even more poignant is this; to look closely at any team, even those that have an inordinate amount of extremely gifted personnel, is to find that there is an inescapable fact - success is dependent upon maximizing the contributions of the average person. Take a look at the recent champions in professional sports: the Patriots, Red Sox, Spurs, Team Discovery ...while they have their odd superstar they are comprised of mostly undistinguished members. The teams that increase the performance of their "Average Joes" are the ones that succeed. The challenge that leaders face in all areas of production, from science to sport to business, is to find and implement a strategy that develops the skills of every individual that they are dependent upon. This is a seemingly daunting task for it is known that there are too few hours in a day, too few dollars in the budget, too many action items on the 'to-do' list, not to mention too many disgruntled workers that don't seem to be worth the investment. The good news is that a well thought out strategy will help alleviate many of the woes of this present business climate. It may not be able to add a twenty- fifth hour to a day, but it will present the best chance of making the fixed hours more productive. Success is achieved from the top down, with leaders and managers that are willing to invest time on the front end by developing a thoughtful course of action. This plan should take into account all of the atmospheric conditions, be built for sustainability through any change, be repeatable for equipping the average, and be committed to as a consistent practice. The increase of attention and finances to a strategic training plan can be easily justified, for the return on this will be simply put - results. If you think that extensive efforts to make an employee with average ability better is settling for less, think again. Better yet, take a look at the organizations whose average individuals, whoever they happened to be at the time, outperformed all others. These organizations learned that tailoring a plan to "the law of the average" is the surest way to the top. |
