I don’t know about not believing in excellence but stressing that without all the practices needed to identify, design, and implement it may be counterproductive. Employees intuitively want to find better and smarter ways to do their jobs and leaders should support and facilitate their efforts. Start with including them in discussions that affect them, their workspace, and their responsibilities. Ask them what they think and listen to their ideas – implement the good ones and help them to work on those that need improvement. It’s a great way to get them engaged in things that matter, in the overall process of continuous improvement, and to see that their ideas and efforts matter. We can’t complain that they’re not engaged if we don’t give them meaningful ways to participate. Stop thinking that you’re the only one who can see or design change – that top-down thinking often makes employees feel left out. And don’t scoff at what they suggest – they’re there on the front line and you’re not. The highly paid designers who planned the front desk at Mirage got it all wrong – the employees had to turn around or go to another room to get the forms and materials they needed. When one of them brought the problem and a simple solution to management it led to a redesign that worked, and a changed management mindset about should participate in workplace design. Do yourself a favor – ask employee what they think will help promote excellence today.
Tom Peters (born 1942): American writer on business management practices, best known for In Search of Excellence.
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