Can delivering exceptional results ever be routine?

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“You can’t write that Harvey,” my friend said. “It doesn’t make sense.  The two ideas are contradictory.”

What I’d written was, “exceptional performance delivered as routine”.

To me, it made sense but, as he explained further, I could see his point.

Stepping back, it became clear that we were thinking of two different meanings to exceptional.

While exceptional fundamentally means “by exception”, there are two ways to interpret this.

Firstly is the sense my friend was taking, where it has a sense of much better than normal, so inherently not routine.

As an example, take the rare occasions I go ten pin bowling.  I’ll put lots of effort and concentration in, yet will only very occasionally get a “strike”.  I’ve delivered an exceptional performance for that one ball.  Can I repeat it consistently?  No way!  My “routine” performance is highly variable and my typical scores way lower.

Yet the best professional players will get strike after strike after strike.  Their scores will be consistently high.  What for most would be exceptional performance is, for them, routine and achieved with relative ease.  A low score is an exception, usually because something unexpected happens.

So what for the whole community of bowlers would be exceptional performance is, for them, a matter of routine.  They’ve put in the hard work of understanding the “process” of bowling well and practising to achieve a consistent throw, time after time.

This takes us to the second meaning of “exceptional”, where it refers to something “out of the ordinary.”  Top class bowlers, or other top sportspeople, consistently deliver performance that is way above the norm.  They are exceptional in their field.

The same can be true of companies.  People can put in huge amounts of effort and yet still only occasionally achieve great results.  Performance can vary hugely from day–to–day without them really understanding why.

Compare that to world–leading companies like Toyota and BMW.  Like the best sportspeople, they’ve put in the work to really understand what is needed to produce what for most would be “exceptional” results, day after day after day.

That’s what I call “high performance with ease”.  Built on my long corporate career with BMW Group and 20 years as a consultant I’ve come to understand how to create that way of working in all types of organisation.

Based on these experiences, I have developed a set of core foundational elements that, appropriately applied, can transform any organisation willing to put in the effort required.  While each element may seem straightforward, putting them into practice requires critical examination of much of the underlying thinking and practices in the organisation.  This will lead to a better understanding of why the organisation is as it is today and, from that, how and in what sequence the various elements identified should be applied.

It can sometimes be challenging to undertake this sort of evaluation .  A fresh pair of eyes can help to see things that may not be so obvious from the inside and to ask the uncomfortable questions necessary to get to the root of things that need to change.

However, the results can be worth it.  Energy levels and engagement in teams can be transformed, leading to a “step change” in team performance and results.

In a few short weeks under Harvey’s guidance, the team established a simple, daily discipline that helped them to prioritise and focus their activity and achieve significantly better results.  It was a joy to see the team grow in confidence and capability in such a short time. The transformation in the team manager through Harvey’s gentle coaching was remarkable and equipped her to make a stronger contribution to the organisation.

John Middleton, Deputy CEO newham University Hospital

If you would like to know more about this approach, I’ve summarised  the basis of the foundational elements in my e–book “5 foundations for high performance with ease”.  If you would like  copy, simply call, drop me an email or click on the “Contact” link below and I’d be delighted to send it to you.