We all want to be the best we can be at work and in our personal life. Charles Wang, CEO of the world’s third largest independent software maker, Computer Associates International, has come up with his theory on what it takes for companies to become the best that they can.
When I read through his seven steps (below) I realized that these steps not only applied to my workplace, but I could adapt a few of them to my personal life as well.
Sync or Swim: Seven Steps to Being The Best ~ Charles Wang
1. Benchmark to determine the work standard. Some organization has to be the best, why not yours? Find the world champion in every process that you measure. Do the benchmarks to determine how your performance compares. Recalibrate your goals accordingly.
2. Map your process. Break activities down into processes. Identify the inefficiencies. Reinvent. For each step, ask whether customers, if given a choice, would pay for it.
3. Get your people focused on an external reality. The issues are customers and competitors. Define a clear vision that creates a sense of urgency. Insist that people accept responsibility for their own behavior.
4. Start with the hardest part. Distinguish what needs to be done from how hard it is to do it. The most difficult steps are generally the most important. Model the attitude that if something really needs to be done, the difficulty of doing it is irrelevant.
5. Set the goals high and then double them. Your people will rise to the challenge if you support them properly. Set the goal, but don’t tell them how to do it. Their ideas will be better than yours. If people fail to reach the goal, don’t punish them, adjust your support.
6. Let go and watch. You can’t do it alone so kick back and enjoy.
7. Wave laurels; don’t rest on them. When you’re on the top of the mountain, it’s natural to want to relax. Take a few minutes and enjoy the view. But hang on. It’s windy up there. You won’t have privacy for long. Your competitors bench-marks, in hand, are within hailing distance.
What step spoke to you the most? Can you implement it at your workplace?
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