bcg blog

Standard Operation

If you’ve never read the book Legacy by James Kerr, you’re missing out on one of the best insights into excellence and elite culture that’s ever been captured. Kerr spends over a year fully engulfed in all aspects of the day to day culture of one of the most successful sports teams in history. 

The New Zealand All Blacks are a professional rugby team that has won nearly seventy-seven percent of their matches, known as tests in the rugby world. They’ve also captured three World Cups. Since 2003 when world rankings were first introduced, the All Blacks have held the number one ranking eighty percent of the time the. 

They’re the gold standard of team performance. 

For over one hundred and twenty years the players have changed, the coaches have changed, the circumstances have changed but the performance on the field has remained consistent. Game after game, season after season, decade after decade the All Blacks have out-performed the opposition. 

Many point to the lopsided win-loss record or the numerous championships as evidence of their gold standard status. While it’s impossible to deny those public achievements do not highlight the greatness of the All Blacks, they fall short of being the standard. 

This desire to cite outcomes as the standard illustrates our lack of a true understanding for what a standard is. A standard is not a result. It’s not championships, acquisitions, or cases won. 

A standard is a behavior, not a thing.
It’s something you do, not something you get.

Why Should We Care?
Operating as if achievements express a certain standard is dangerous because it furthers the narrative that our outcomes are the primary measurement of excellence. Achievements often reflect the standards we operate by but not always, especially early in the process - when struggle and failure are most present.

Standards must refer to behaviors rather than achievements. How we choose to act when we face adversity, how we choose to act when we experience success, how we choose to act when we are treated unfairly, how we choose to act when interacting with people that can not help us, how we choose to act when we feel slighted, how we choose to act when we don’t feel like doing what we need to do, how we choose to act when excuses are valid and available … The list could go on and on.

The standards of the All Blacks is not their wins, it’s their behaviors that have allowed their wins to take place. How they prepare, how they compete, how they treat teammates, how they win, how they lose - these are their standards.

As leaders, we need to think about establishing standards around the behaviors we desire rather than the results we’re trying to achieve. This is not a complicated process, but it does require a high level of intentionality. Once a vision is set, we simply consider the behaviors that must take place on a daily basis for that vision to become a reality.

The challenge is staying true to those behaviors day after day, moment after moment.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
The draw, of course, is to conform to society and view our achievements as the standard. It’s easily measurable. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, our accomplishments - or lack thereof - are not fully within our control. Our standards, however, are. They are clear choices that we either make or don’t make. 

Here are a few behaviors to consider building standards around for your team:

• Body Language 
  
  • Our body language screams. It expresses our attitude and mentality long before others get to know us personally. Body language is a choice all the time. And, it’s absolutely, without a doubt, a precursor to excellence. Think of the last time you witnessed someone perform at an excellent level with poor body language … exactly.
    

• Work
  
  • Our mentality and willingness to embrace work is a hallmark of excellence, both individually and within a team. Hard work must be a cornerstone regardless of the field we are in. And, the advantage is always found in the extra - extra time, extra reps, extra calls. How we view and approach work is a clear standard those we lead will recognize and follow.
    

• Gratitude
  
  • Showing love and appreciation for those we interact with is an outward expression of our humility. It’s not enough to feel gratitude, we must express it. A willingness to share gratitude also shines a light on our ability to embrace the strengths and weaknesses of teammates. It's a standard that serves as the foundation for all high functioning teams.
    

Standards are not benchmarks, accomplishments, or rankings. Standards are behaviors that drive performance. Maintaining a focus on behaviors, not outcomes, is the only way to consistently drive excellence. We don’t get what we want. We get what we accept - those are your standards.

Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!