Companies don’t need to be better than their competition, they need to execute better. You don’t need to be better than your coworker, you need perform better. Your team doesn’t need to be better than another team, it needs to do better.
Make sense? Simple, right? Not at all.
When we use the term “better”, we’re implying that someone or some entity is superior in some way to others like themselves. The other person or entity may be smarter, stronger, tougher, faster or cooler. I’m arguing that you don’t need to be any of those things to be better. (They all help, but none are mandatory for success.)
The one thing all of us must do to be better is execute reliably and consistently. Forget the excuses. Focus on execution. There will always be someone who is smarter, stronger or better looking. It doesn’t matter. You need to execute better than that person.
We see it all the time in sports. The best team (statistically) doesn’t always win. The fastest race car doesn’t always cross the finish line first.
In business, the company with the best product doesn’t always capture the biggest market share. The product using the best technology doesn’t always sell the most units.
The principles of agile software development and Scrum in particular support the concept of executing better. Amazing results are achieved with teamwork and collaboration among technical and business people. Here’s what you need to do:
- Tell others what you’ll do, and do it (even if you don’t want to).
- Deliver on your commitments (even if it hurts).
- Treat others with respect and dignity (even if you don’t mean it).
That’s it. Make sense? Simple, right?