When my daughter texted Nicole and I to say she had gotten a 98% on her final presentation, we were ecstatic.

But before we could respond we were met with a flurry of follow up texts squarely focused on the remaining 2%.

Which was ridiculous, but also incredibly familiar.

Leaders of all stripes fall into a similar trap. We forget to celebrate the 98% and find ourselves fixated on the 2%.

It’s not that looking for opportunities to improve is a bad idea, it’s that we let that pursuit of improvement absolutely decimate the opportunity to take joy in something that actually worked quite well.

There is a massive difference between trying to improve when you’re running at 60% effectiveness and becoming the grim reaper of joy because 98% effectiveness is close, but not quite.

You know the difference, so don’t treat these circumstances the same.Instead, celebrate that things went well, assess for reasonable opportunities for improvement, and implement new behaviors or accept that this outcome is as good as can be practically expected.

TRY THIS: The next time you find yourself unhappy with the gap between the performance of your team and “perfection” ask yourself…

“What would need to be true to close the gap?”
“Are the resources required best invested in closing the gap?”
“If closing the gap required us to focus less on other pursuits, would that make sense?”

If closing the gap is worth the effort, get to work. If not, celebrate the victory and move on.
My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results, without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets