A Matter of Intangibility
Whether talking through individual or team performance issues, challenges around navigating transitions, or getting clear on effective leadership development, these growth journeys share some common ground.
Becoming and contributing your best in all of these areas can fall into one foundational definition of performance: “Performance is measurement of developmental growth and contribution potential reached by an individual or team.”
Moving well beyond hitting the highest score on a team, pulling in the top sales numbers, or climbing through layers of promotions, the best measure of performance is gaining ground expanding contribution and impact. There are plenty of top scorers, sales plaques, and updated business cards out there but performers that drive true value and make things and others around them better are more elusive.
To be brutally honest, many organizations, leaders, and managers struggle to enable this version of performance for two primary reasons. First, the elements of contribution and growth-based performance are not built into common postindustrial age business and management models and consequently are not incentivized, let alone understood. Second, this approach is more difficult to measure and consequently more challenging to observe or reward. It takes focusing on the intangibles that amplify performance instead of the direct external indicators.
Below is a working framework that can be used to bring this approach closer to the surface for the practice of designing and building environments that activate around contribution and growth driven performance. Give it a try when working through leading and managing people, teams, and organizations and see if it changes the depth and quality of performance across your sphere of influence.
6 Elements of Performance
Current State
How are thing currently going?
Orientation
Is the path forward clear?
Opportunities
What is the ease or difficulty typical experiences?
Optimize
What are the ways to become better?
Enhance
Where are the additional areas for contribution?
Future
Where can there be growth towards something new?