150% mindset
Some time ago my wife and I were planning our wedding date. It was early March, and we were debating whether to go with June of that year (3 months’ time) or the next (15 months’ time). Both of us were in highly demanding jobs, and we also had to consider the schedule of approximately 100 guests. Intuitively, we knew what more time would mean. There would be a slight reduction in our stress level, but it wouldn’t eliminate the planning anxiety by any means. We would simply prolong the pressure for another 12 months, and for likely just a marginal improvement in the wedding experience, if any.
We looked at each with cheerful resolve, a sense of foreboding in the air, and agreed: “June this year it is.” Thus began a frantic three-month phase of our lives, balancing board presentations against invitation designs, floral arrangements, and hors d’oeuvres selections. Happily, the chaos concluded with a grand and glorious ceremony. I’m not entirely sure how we pulled this off, but damnit we did.
I sometimes reflect on that phase when I’m going through a particularly demanding period, and this is one of those times. In my workplace, and I know in many, the overarching question is, “How can you operate at 150%?” It’s a question that many leaders are pointedly posing to their teams.
There is a very natural response to this question, and the response is defensive: “150%? Are you honestly suggesting I’m not giving it everything I have right now? You don’t think I've noticed there’s a sense of urgency in the air? Is ‘work harder’ all you can say under these already oppressive conditions?”
I understand this response because it was my first response, too. In an attempt to get past the initial frustration, I remembered one of the main lessons from that strenuous phase of my life: we are consistently deluded about many things, including our own abilities.
In reaching a decision about our wedding date, my wife and I had channelled Parkinson’s Law: the duration of a task expands to fill the time made available. There seems to be a variation of this law when it comes to human potential: the quality of execution rises to the level of aspiration.
We honestly don’t know how good we can be. It’s not something that can be known in advance. The only way to prove what’s possible is to test the limits of our capacity.
Granted, there are limits, but these are usually beyond the presumed parameters of the moment, and forever expanding. It’s time to raise the bar again.