234. The Real Cost of Mediocrity

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Welcome to another episode of at the Table with Patrick Lencione, where everything we talk about is related to organizational health and the world of work. I'm your host, Pat Lincione, joined by the full crew of Tracy, Bo and Cody. I'm going to ask you guys, because we were on a hiatus for a month. We're back in August. How are you guys doing?

Really well.

Everybody's good. Matt's producing. Karen is actually on vacation on her way to Norway. So she's not with me today. With us. But, Cody, what are we going to talk about?

The real cost of mediocrity.

That's right. We have talked about mediocrity in one way or another, either by name or roundabout, in a number of episodes over the years. But there's something new that I've come to realize that we were just discussing that we want to talk to people about, and that is that there's something about mediocrity that I never really understood. And by the way, let's talk really quickly about that word. I think that might be one of the most painful words for many leaders to hear about their organization to say, I think your organization is kind of mediocre. You know, it's like in the Bible, what it says, being lukewarm is worse than being better to be hot or cold. And something about mediocrity is really painful for many leaders to hear. I've often heard people say the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. Cause indifference just feels like you don't care. And so what's the real cost of mediocrity in an organization? And I don't think it's financial primarily. Certainly profit and revenue are gonna get impacted by it, but that's not the real cost. The core cost, another one would be, you know, productivity goes down. Again, I don't think that's the core. I think the real, most painful and important to understand cost of mediocrity in any organization is what I would call it leaves people feeling depressed or sad. You know, excellence provokes joy. Sometimes a really bad customer service experience or a bad product makes people kind of angry, both the customer and the employees and everybody. But mediocrity leaves people kind of sad or without hope for the future. And people just start to settle in and say, well, I guess that's as good as we can do. And there's something really depressing both among customers and among employees. And an organization that stays mediocre ends up with only customers who don't care. And Employees that don't care. And that's sad.

Yeah. The word that comes to mind when you talk about mediocrity is that it's been accepted. Yeah, we just kind of accept that we have mediocre coffee. We just kind of accept that we have poor customer service. Yeah. We just kind of get our product isn't as good as somebody else's. Whereas if you say it's poor, it's like, well, we might have even abandoned ship on that. But it's mediocre because you just kept accepting that there was this low standard or that you weren't going to be bringing your best.

Yeah. And. And it's really. And it's when you experience mediocrity as a customer. And I think I've been realizing this. We were on vacation a little bit, and when you go into someplace that's really great at service, it really raises your spirits, and you can see that the employees are excited. And I don't just mean a retail establishment, but when you're doing business with any kind of company where people have high standards, there's this kind of elevation of everyone involved. And then you go someplace that has poor service and where people don't care. And. And it really makes me kind of sad because it makes me feel like, oh, that person doesn't care about me. They don't care what I think of them. They don't really like their job. And I always assume, I guess, the owner of this business just doesn't care. And that's depressing.

Yeah. You know, I love the nuance of the conversation because so much of what you're describing is. Is the idea that, like, mediocrity might be a bigger enemy than actually being bad at something. Like, if a company is outright deficient or bad or really poor service, there is this. You have to get better. There's this moment where you have to face it and say, we either will get better or we will fail. We will cease to exist. But the mediocrity is just acceptable enough that they get by the phrase that, as you were describing a. A waiter in a restaurant or something. It was like when you start to press into, like, why don't you make this a little better? The phrase that comes to mind is like, I just work here. You know, it's not like, there's a lack of care and passion and the idea of, like, we gotta make this better, and it might be a more sinister and, like, subversive enemy than even just being outright bad at something.

Yeah. You know, I started this whole topic came about because I've been doing some work with churches lately and. And there are some churches that seem to survive even when they're not doing a very good job because they're big enough or enough people have been going there for years. And it's really sad because everybody's impacted by that. But I realize this applies to businesses, too. And this is why oftentimes it's very sad that there's mediocrity in government or like the dmv. Cause you go, I don't think they're ever gonna go out of business. And so nobody has to try. But a business that's really awful has to decide, let's either take this on and get better or we're going to lose it all. And that is actually a motivator for change. So mediocrity often exists in large companies that have an installed customer base or in an organization where there's tenure or whether there's a guaranteed ability to stay in business. And that's why it can be so miserable to work in those places and to expect service from those places.

Okay, Pat, so you talked about the leader of a mediocre business a minute ago. I'm curious. What is that leader thinking? If somebody is leading a business and they know, yeah, our customer service isn't up to snuff, or our product isn't that great, or the services we offer, they're just kind of limping along, what's going on in the mind of that leader? Do they know that it's mediocre and what are they thinking about that?

Well, that's a great question. I think there's. It's one of two things. I mean, either they know and they in fact have accepted this, and the mediocrity is coming from them, which is truly depressing. I mean, I've seen businesses where you. Because we've consulted to organizations and somehow I don't know why they would bring us in. But where you realize, oh, no, you're okay with it being like this. Excellence isn't really a. Something they're pursuing. And most, most companies that are like that don't bring in table group consultants or talk to us about that. But sometimes you realize, oh, I just don't think the person at the top cares. Okay, so that's a real bummer. That's a real bummer. And I've seen that. But in most cases, you see a leader that's painfully aware of and doesn't like the fact that there's mediocrity and they're not addressing it. And I've come to the conclusion this is. And I came to this conclusion by working with churches, but I'm absolutely convinced that it happens in all kinds of organizations. And. And that is the reason why mediocrity persists in an organization where they don't want it is because the leader does not want to have an uncomfortable conversation with the people that are permitting mediocrity, and they're looking for any way to fix it without having to have that difficult conversation.

They can see that things are not the way that they should be, and they might even see moments throughout the day or in a product process or with their customers, but they don't want to have to confront it again.

It's usually about turning to one of their peers, one of the people that reports to them, and saying, you're allowing this to happen and it has to change or something's going to happen. And I really do think that most times leaders are looking for any way to fix something. I was talking at lunch today with somebody, and she said, I think that they just don't know what to do about it. And I said, actually, I think they know what they need to do. They just don't want to do that. It's like, I have to cross this river, and there's a bridge there. And this woman said, yeah. And they're saying, but can't I get across it without walking across that bridge? Because that bridge is. I'm going to have to have some really uncomfortable moments with people. And I would. I would do anything. Can't I swim across it? Can't I just wade across the river? Can't I do something else? But the bridge is right there. Just talk about it. And they're like, anything but that.

I love what you said there, Pat. I think you hit the nail on the head. I don't think they listen to this podcast, so this is relatively safe. But we have a coffee shop. The only coffee shop in our area, Immediate area. Right. Which. That can breed mediocrity in and of itself. If you're the only Popsicle stand in town, it's kind of like that's the only place we get our coffee, whether we like it or not. But we have had some bad experiences there where we're waiting too long. They didn't get our online order. They're slow at the register. They're. They're business. You know, it's all of these things, like the personnel that they've hired and all of that is all on the table for much needed improvement. Now, they're not terrible, and that's actually not serving them really well, because if they were terrible, this would be the conversation that they would have right now. So here's a. Here's a real life example. Pat, I love. I love what you just said. It's like sometimes it's not just that they. It's certainly that they don't want to have the uncomfortable conversation, but they distract themselves with other things. So here's the solution. At our nuke, at our coffee shop down here, they're building a $30,000 sign in front of the coffee shop to make sure people see that it's there better. And I literally am talking to someone, a mutual friend who knows the owner. And I was like, they would be better off burying $30,000 on the property and telling people it's there to get people there. But that's not the problem. They need to solve the root of this problem, which is having very uncomfortable conversations with the shift manager about how quickly these coffees are being made or having really uncomfortable conversations with the people serving the customers there. And unfortunately, they will literally do anything, include, build an enormous sign to avoid having to address the real problem.

You know, here's an example of mine. There's a hotel that I've. I've gone to many times, and I. I try to avoid it now whenever I can because it's. It's depressing to go there. And it's an upscale hotel, and it's. I think it's a very, very beautiful property. But. But I went there fairly recently, and I was. I needed to get in quick, and I. So I dropped off my car at the front, and they said, no, you have to park it over there. I said, is there not a valet? They go, no, we don't have a valet anymore. And, like, somebody to pick it up to, park it. And I said, oh, how come? They go, we just don't do that anymore, and it's an upscale hotel. And I was like, well, why not? And the guy said, we just don't do that anymore. I said, yeah, but did they tell you why? And finally, after asking four times, he mentioned the word pandemic. And I thought, you mean to tell me an upscale full service hotel doesn't do that? And you're still citing COVID 19 as your reason why. But the truth is, and I've seen this in a number of areas in the hotel, they just really don't care. They're like, we just do what we do. We're the only upscale hotel around here. We're going to stay in business. And it was like there was no sense of like, I want to help you or we want to make this better. The people who go to that hotel don't seem happy. The people that work there don't seem happy. And it really. I don't go there because it doesn't uplift my spirits.

Yeah, there's something about when you're with the wait staff or. Or the person selling you car tires, whatever it is, when they are fully engaged and present with you, it's an enjoyable experience. But when they're phoning it in or they are communicating that they just don't care, it is depressing. It is like you don't want to go interact with or do business with those people. At one point when we were talking about this, Pat, I thought we might title this the Rise of Mediocrity because it feels like it's more and more common, that it's just accepted that things are going to be below snuff. But for a company to just decide, we're going to try, we're going to put effort, we're going to be present with our people, we're going to do our best, can distinguish you very quickly. And I have a question about that. When you said the leader looks at the bridge going across the water and just won't cross that bridge. Tell me about the role of the leader, modeling the way of the leader, saying, well, I'll be the one who's fully present with our customers. I'll be the one that shows up to work early. Is that enough? Or would that get things started at least in an organization, or is that still not gonna be able to hold water?

Well, it certainly has to start with the leader. Obviously, that has to be the. That's the cure. That's the beginning of the cure. That's the antidote. But because, Tracy, you talked about before how mediocrity takes over in an organization.

Totally. You know, mediocrity, I think service is contagious. And when someone serving you and they're just mailing it in, it spreads like wildfire. It's crazy how it spread. Like, Pat, you said you get depressed when you go into those organizations. It spreads, and I find it fascinating. It can spread in communities. Pat, you and I happen to live in a community where mediocrity has set in and it's dangerous. It's sad.

Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting because I'm leaving California in a few months. We're moving the table group to Tennessee. We'll have a small office here still because we can't all leave at once. But I was thinking about why and people are like, is it the taxes? Is it what? What exactly is it? And there is a feeling that California has kind of settled into this. Like the roads are getting worse, the services are worse, people aren't very happy on the street. I mean when I go to other places, people are like happy to see you and greet you. And I noticed this just this weekend because I've been gone on vacation and I walk through my neighborhood and people don't make eye contact. And I really do think there is something going on in California where people go, well, this is probably is as good it's going to get. We have good weather and access to things, but don't expect people to be happy or friendly or to serve you or. And I notice it when I go into businesses, whether it's that hotel that doesn't have a valet or when I go get donuts that people don't even say hello when I walk in. And then I go to other parts of the country and they're like, hello, how can I help you? And I think there's a malaise that is just depressing. I think if you talk to most people who are leaving California, they would say they want to go someplace where people are more joyful and aspiring to something greater and they have a sense of hope. And we're just not finding that to be true in California like it used to be.

And here's something I've observed about myself is are there times where you don't want to give your all? Where I don't want to give all of my effort? Of course there are. Of course there's times where it's sort of tempting to sleep in or not give your best. But then I watch my kids and my kids are involved in summer sports and I'm so glad when they have a coach that pushes them, when they have a coach that challenges them towards excellence in their attitude and their effort because not because I care actually that my 13 year old daughter's soccer team wins, but because I know that that's good for my kid. I know that they will experience more joy, they will love their work better when somebody is challenging them towards excellence. So to bring it back pat to your picture about crossing this river, don't we need more coaches? Don't we need more leaders who would look at the people around them and encourage them to be able to do more to be able to be more excellent. And the result of that is people will enjoy their work more. Your customers will enjoy the experience of being around your company more.

Yeah. And it's not about being grumpy and going to somebody and going, hey, you're not excellent. It's about saying, hey, I know you can do more. I know you probably want to do more, and I want you to experience that. I want my custom, our customers, too, but if you don't want to, that's okay, but it can't be here. But I think you're going to be really happy. It goes back to Alan Mullally and Ford, how he. I think people want to be held to a higher standard, and if they're not interested in that, they can do something else. But we have to have that difficult and I would even say loving conversation.

And you know what? That, Pat, that's free. It's messy, but it's free. And rather than spending $30,000 on a new sign, have that difficult conversation.

Yeah, it's so true. And everybody's looking for, like, at the hotel. I'm sure they'll be like, well, we have to revamp the rooms and we have to change the carpet. It's like, you know, something. You can do all of that, but if there's still a sense of mediocrity here, you're not going to get any return on that investment.

You know, Pat, the last that I have is how much this applies, even outside of business. You know, I was thinking about. I've personally had this experience in my life where, you know, you hear of all these stories, whether it's a. An individual person or a marriage that got that hit rock bottom, and that was the thing that caused them to do the work to make it excellent, you know, and you always hear the story of, like, when you. When it gets that bad, then there's motivation to put in the work and do the right things to make it excellent. But it was far more like me personally, even with my own health journey. I was like, well, you know, I'm. I can play basketball. I can do the things I want to do, but I wasn't maximized. Like, it's almost that enemy creeps into the way we think about our marriages, the way we think about our own health, the way we think about, like, our own lives is we're like, oh, this is fine. You know, I can. I can get by with this. And I love what you said, but we need people around us. We need. If. If mediocrity is Contagious. So is excellence. And if you have people in your life that are saying, like, hey, there's more for you in marriage. There's more for you in your health journey and in the longevity with your kids, like, pushing us to do more. I love the application to business, but it's just as. It's just as important, I think, for us to take this message personally.

And it's not just the outcome of more money and more revenue and more profit, more productivity. It's the very experience of excellence itself is its primary reward. And I know that, like, now there's a minimum wage here in California of $20 to work at McDonald's, right? And yet they're not. Like, that doesn't lead to better attitude. And you can go to other places where people might not be making as much, but they're getting the benefit of enjoying the day and enjoying people saying thank you and them serving others. And now I am totally aware of the economics of life and we need to get paid well and all those things. But independent of that, the experience of serving well and having high standards and receiving that is a wonderful thing. Did we talk about the grocery store yet? We haven't talked about that, have we? So there's a big grocery store chain in California. Everybody knows who they are because they're everywhere. And Tracy was saying, your husband won't go there anymore. One of the people in our office was saying, they don't go there. My wife doesn't like to go there. I went there yesterday to pick up groceries delivered, and it was so depressing. They were so. They didn't care. And we all said, we've stopped going there. And we're finding these mom and pop stores even though it costs more sometimes because it's just depressing to show up. And the people that work the registers aren't glad to be there and nobody else is. And. And you know, these people are trying to figure out new point of sale technology and new coupons and all that stuff. And it's like, how about you just say it really matters how you treat these people and. Because that's going to change their lives for the customers and the employees alike. And I just wonder, does the CEO of that company really, really care?

They need a bigger sign, probably.

There you go. Mediocre coffee here for the last stop for mediocre coffee in 20 miles. Well, now let's do a unpaid ad for a company or a product that we really like. Bo, I think this one's on you. Am I right?

Yeah. So months and months ago, I purchased this product and then I had the chance to use it. We were paddleboarding up in the mountains where there was no cell service, and somebody comes up to me and says, hey, could you help jump my car? Well, their car was tucked away in this kind of corner. Was going to be difficult. And then I remembered I'd purchased this product. It's called a Noco Boost and it's basically the size of a 4x6 index card. It's a little battery that you keep in your car that will jump your car. So instead of having to tangle all the cables and try to get your cars facing each other, you can just hook this thing up to your battery, push a button, and it jumps your car.

Now, what's it called again?

Nocoboost.

I have one also. I love it.

Does it cost $1,000?

It's $100.

Exactly. Why doesn't everybody have one of these in their car?

What a simple solution. Now, I'm not a very tech savvy or car savvy person. I'm sure there are manly men listening to this, going, oh, my jumper cables my grandpa had still worked for me. But I love that this little thing, you just hook it up, there's a little instruction book and it literally, it's hardly bigger than my cell phone.

So I can't believe I didn't know about that. I bet there's a. People listening to this are like, they didn't know about that either. No co boost. Okay, I'm going to get.

I'm getting one, Pat, I'll get one for you too.

Well, thank you, Tracy.

Bo just sold two of them. Way to go, Bo.

Amazing. Alrighty. Hey, everybody, thanks for joining us. It's great to be back. Remember, mediocrity doesn't have to be that way. It's depressing for everybody involved. So if you're a leader, go out there and help people restore their desire for excellence. It's a good thing for everyone. All righty. Thanks, everybody. We'll talk to you next time on at the Table. God bless.