Why, “Do More with Less,” is Stupid
“Do more with less,” demotivates employees. It’s code for work harder. If they’re already working hard, they think,
“The more I give the more they want. I’m giving less.”
“Do more with less,” disengages and demotivates those giving most.
Those hurt most by, “Do more with less,”
are the ones doing most.
Alternatives to, “Do more with less,” include …
Asking:
- How does management hinder you? Managers and leaders don’t ask this because they don’t want to know. Perhaps, that’s central to the problem of poor performance?
- What’s important today? If the answer centers on tasks rather than mission, everyone missed the point. Mission connects people. Tasks isolate; they’re often completed alone.
- How could you be better equipped to do what’s important?
- How can we end meaningless activities that steal your time?
- Who on our team loves doing what you hate?
- How can we prevent interruptions? Research consistently shows the value of spending blocks of time focused on priority tasks. Multitasking doesn’t work.
- When someone supports you, what are they doing?
Giving:
- Attention to suggestions. Say, “Let’s try that,” instead of, “We can’t.” This point follows the seven questions listed above.
- More clarity on the big picture and less instruction on how to get there.
- Daily feedback.
- Praise, honor, and recognition.
Don’t lower standards – raise support.
If you expect more from people, pour more into them.
How can leaders stop hindering performance?
What increases your performance?
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Excellent!
‘How can I help you?’ is much better than ‘You’re not helping me’.
Wisdom reminds us to serve one another – starting top-down.
Thank You Mr Rockwell!
Thank you Ted.
The fundamental leadership shift is from I to you or us to them. It’s one we keep learning.
Hi Dan, managers don’t know what to increase other than money so they must command their direct reports to do more with less. Perhaps there are far too many managers who should not be managers?
Thank you Bob.
Or, maybe we need to realize that there’s more to money when it comes to engagement and productivity. Cheers
Doing more with less can also be a direct result of not doing enough with what you have. Those of us in healthcare are finding out that there are a lot of things that have to change, especially the closer we get to 2014 and the full roll-out of healthcare reform.
There will be some huge changes on this front, as hospitals everywhere will start asking this question. The problem is that no one wants to make the hard decisions to begin with, and so many organizations start spinning their wheels.
Thank you Colby.
“Doing more with less can also be a direct result of not doing enough with what you have.” I love sentences like that… you made me chuckle, not because you’re wrong but it’s so true. Best!
Wow! It’s almost like your last two posts were written directly to the management of my workplace. There is probably at least a 5:1 ratio of negative feedback to positive feedback, and ‘do more with less’ is a well known motto by the employees I’ve worked with for the last 15 years. Maybe I should forward these posts to some of my bosses:) Love your blog and the clarity/honesty it provides!
Darryl
Thank you Darryl.
One of three things will likely happen if you forward my posts.
ONe, they won’t get it. Being out of touch is something we all fall into.
Two, they will get ticked.
Three, someone will explore the possibilities…
I wonder what would happen?
“When someone supports you, what are they doing?” I think this captures the problem. I wonder if people know what support really is? For example I often want to say – if you want to support me leave me alone!
Jo
Thank you next.
That question is one of my personal favorites. Sounds like support is easier, in some cases, than we think.
Great stuff Dan…..AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March must be your month cause you been on a roll.
I feel for me what I can do to stop hindering performance is look in the mirror, get my own house in order.
Get my stuff right, or as right as it can get as I am a work in progress.
Do the BEST I can with what is RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. To heck with all that other gobble-di-gook! It will still be there after the attack!!!!!!!! LOL
When I knock that out of the park WHATEVER it is, find the next thing to bang out of the park. Swing swing swing ALL DAY long and then after a long day when I am at my breaking point……stop, rest,
eat, get some sleep and BACK TO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All I can do is what I can do but THAT has the potential to be SPECTACULAR! My choice!
The view of the lead dog is, you know just more pleasant. Isn’t it? You tell me isn’t that a better view?
I can choose to LEAD and show others what wins look and feel like and hope they want to feel like me when I win! Learning to love being on the battle is pretty cool to! I LOVE swinging for the fences, so what if I miss! I do it enough times and WHAMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WINNING!
What increases my performance, only ONE THING, listen up this is important(how is that for humlity? hehe)
Drumroll………………..what to increase performance? The only way I have figured how to do that is MASSIVE ACTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the company I work for they get a giggle out of saying, “The Great Scott….ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Came from Patton when he told his folks when they were not sure what to do……..ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok I got to get back to attacking and off this blog!
Hope everyone has a GREAT DAY!!!!!!!! Now quit reading and go find what you can ATTACK!
SP OUT The Dude…you know he Abides.
Thank you Scott.
Tom Peters would love you. He’s the champion of Just Do Stuff! Talk less do more.
Here’s to a great week.
Our economy has been suffering since the recession due to “Do more with Less” as Wall Street gains and Main Street takes it in the chops! I really enjoyed reading the post! People are tired and need this kind of support!!
Thank you blog.
You remind me of a high profile leader who absolutely disdains getting ahead by laying off and expecting more from whats left.
If there is so much fat to trim, someone hired the wrong people to begin with…
This is dead on…”Don’t lower standards – raise support.” What this communicates to those we lead is “I’m cheering you on. What do you need from me to help you succeed?”
Thank you Brent.
Doesn’t that feel better than thinking of leadership/management as driving people?
Absolutely. And if we’re not careful we’ll end up eventually seeing robots doing the work of the ministry. No heart required…just completing tasks.
Excellent!
Isn’t this true of many other homilies like efficiency, productivity, etc without sufficient insight into what is happening?
Thank you tskraghu.
I think it more with less may work better on process, for example. If we can figure out how to simplify,for example, then we win.
Couldn’t agree more on the issue of leaders making decision without knowing what is going on… cheers
Dan – Great post.
I fully agree with “do more with less” being negative if the context is people.
However, if the context is things I do think that phrase has a common-sense place in business.
Some examples:
– If on a business trip, if a $75 motel room will do, don’t choose a $200 room.
– If you need a computer, get one that will do the job … not the one 3 steps up just because you like it.
– Can we print on both sides and save paper?
You get the idea. So often I hear business owners and managers say “we need more sales”, when the answer to their woes is simply spending less.
This doesn’t necessarily mean using baling wire and duct tape, or going to market looking like amateurs. Moderation and common sense are key.
Brilliant!
Dan – great post which mirrors a conversation on our G+ community, #LeadWithGiants, about management words/phrases that should be banished! Superiors, subordinates, ‘giving 110%’ and ‘lean and mean! were others!
I’m all for people doing the best with what they have … and sometimes they just don’t do this but when it’s applied in management/leadership context, it is meant just as you described it!
Cheers John
I’m feeling like I ” do more with less” and it’s discouraging. Somedays I feel like I should put in less effort because they will just put more responsibility on me with less pay/recognition of my efforts. I’m sure that other people at my workplace feel the same way,
Dear Dan,
Do not lower standard, raise support attracts the key concept here. People need proper reward of their effort. It they are doing more with less, that does not mean, they are happy. This could because of their need or something value addition to their knowledge.But sooner they feel that they are skilled enough, they may not remain here for long time. Management should not assume that overworking in less is employees weakness. In fact it is the circumstance of employees. Management should always maintain equity at workplace.It could be monetary, non monetary, rewards, growth, advancement etc. Unless this equity is maintained, employees may not be loyal and committed to what they do. They might be motivated because of tangible rewards but may not have high morale.
So, leaders should understand the human aspect of employees. Employees need respect, recognition and fairness in all kind of dealings from management. Performance is dependent parameter and the greatest independent parameter is management behaviour practices based on fairness, openness and equity.
Great wisdom in deed. Sometimes shifting your mindset, and asking the right question can make a lot of difference.
As bcstlmo says, perhaps the right way of saying it is ‘Do more without excess’.
I do get what veryone is saying about motivating staff etc. but the simple fact of life is that savings add to the bottom line directly. If you are a business earning a healthy 20% net margin on sales (hard in this day and age), you would need 5 million of new sales forvery 1 million saved on the bottom line.
Therefore staff that can find better, cheaper ways of doing things, are on a £ for £ basis 5 times more valuable than salespeople bringing in new sales.
“Do More with Less” is not stupid, unless it is communicated badly.
Freedom definitely makes my success. When I am not micromanaged and especially when I see the point of what I am doing, I perform like no other.
This is why giving permission to our team, and the organization as a whole, to say no and not yet is so important. It’s bad business to jump at every possibility. You’ll spend your entire day jumping…jumping make me tired after the initial burst of energy.
Agree that a blanket ‘Do more with less’ is a recipe for trouble. You could argue for ‘Achieve more with less’, if you are prepared to re-think strategy and don’t demotivate staff with the implication that the ‘less’ is them.. Either way, it’s a productivity issue that if addressed superficially it will slow things down.
Great post again Dan, thank you for your selflessness.
I have to admit I can’t recall ever asking anyone how I hinder them, but often ask what can I do to help them.
I see now that while my question has a positive intent, it may not be a complete question.
But, it can be risky to ask a negative context question. It can influence people to overly consider small negatives.
If you are able to earn the trust of your team, I have found that people feel able to tell you if you are getting in their way or not giving an idea of theirs due consideration, etc.
And trust can be earned with Q’s 2 to 7 and by practicing the Giving behaviours.
Loved your post today, Dan.
Brilliant post! Thank you. If we can get rid of the wasted time and effort in everyday ‘work’ processes I think we’d be amazed at the capacity that’s freed up. We have to spend time to save time though, and your questions are a great place to start.