Potential versus Production
The NBA just doesn't interest me. I watch the playoffs, but little else. Maybe if the Cincinnati Royals (predecessors to the Sacramento Kings) still existed things would be different.
Even I, however, didn't miss news of the NBA megatrade that was finalized last week. The Cleveland Cavaliers pick up Kevin Love, a somewhat lesser light to LeBron James, but a superstar in his own right. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers each get multiple players.
Here's where it gets interesting to me. In early August, former NBA coach Karl George, anticipating this trade, said he would take production over potential any day - Cleveland gets production, Minnesota and Philadelphia get potential
It's easy to see why in a league where the emphasis is always on winning this season or next you would opt for production over potential, but is that a standard that transfers to other arenas?
Do you have a preference when it comes to potential versus production? Consider these situations:
1) Reaching clients or customers
Even businesses that require large numbers of customers only need a percentage of the potential customers that are available. The best organizations target their messages to their "ideal" client or customer rather than trying to win everyone. Restaurants have themes and menus designed to attract certain types of people (consumers of fast food versus haute cuisine). Retail stores focus their appeals (Walmart competes on price, Nordstrom's on high-end service). Churches have emphases (Andy Stanley's North Point says that "Atlanta doesn't need another church" before continuing on to say why it needs North Point).
Startups begin in what I term the "desperate" stage where any paying client is ideal, but to survive long-term they need to move to the "hungry" stage where growth continues by meeting the needs of their ideal clients. Businesses that reach the hungry stage only to fail have often persisted into the "complacent" stage where they think the customers will keep coming and they lose their hunger, their edge.
Identify and define your "ideal" client or customer and then build your organization to meet their needs. Focus on production - real end users you can impact today - and not merely on potential.
2) Adding leaders to your team
This can go either way. If you want to bring someone in who can make an immediate difference then you are choosing production. The risks are that this person may expect equal influence and authority, as well as comparable compensation. If the production is sufficient it may be worth these risks.
If you want to build a leader for the future, to mold them in your culture, then you are choosing potential. I've found that a decade is often a good age gap for adding someone who can be your next generation leader. This person won't think of you as a peer and won't expect equal influence and authority. Less than a decade difference and people tend to minimize time-in-the-business when comparing influence, authority, and compensation - especially once they've been with you for more than a year or two.
3) Maximizing your strengths as a leader
Some leaders excel at driving production while others thrive on developing potential. You must know your own strengths and lead accordingly. Of course, you should surround yourself with others having complementary strengths so that your organization can focus on both production and potential, but organizations often develop a culture geared toward one rather than the other.
Do you expect competence today? Are you willing to pay more to produce today? Is your emphasis on the short-term, the measurable, the ROI? Can you refine systems and drive an organization to success?
Do you believe that people can grow significantly beyond where they are today? Are you willing to play a percentage game where many enroll, but far fewer graduate? Is your emphasis on the long-term, the intangibles, the trend line? Can you educate and coach others to success?
At Julian Consulting we help our clients to identify their strengths as leaders and to consider when and how to focus on potential versus production in maximizing their success. Call TODAY to determine how we can serve you in this process.
Cathy Durrenberg was one of those students. A graduate of our seminary degree program, Cathy wrote a thesis about parenting and its relationship to faith. Seeing the potential, I encouraged her to take her thesis and publish it.
