Rick White breaks down performance problems using one equation: Performance equals Ability times Motivation times Focus. If someone's underperforming, one of those three is broken. He walks through how to diagnose which one and fix it, from matching tasks to strengths to protecting technicians from constant interruptions.
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Good morning, my name is Rick White from 180 Biz. We're a coaching and training company for the independent auto and truck repair shop industry, and this is my Just One Thing. So we're going to talk about performance today. This is a big deal. Now, this is going to be where you are outside of bottleneck issue. In other words, we know that the issue that we're having is a people issue, not workflow, communication, etc. issue. This is where you know that it's a people problem, okay? Now, the problem with people problems is a lot of times there's some emotion dealing with you dealing with this, and you end up in a situation where you're coming into it from a blame perspective instead of a solutions perspective. So what I want you to be able to do is step back. I want to give you something, 3 questions, a simple, simple framework that's gonna help you isolate where the issue is and point you in the direction that you need to go with when you're talking to your team member. So I want to give you a performance equation. It's super, super simple. And it works every single time. When we're looking at the performance of an individual, ready for this? Listen to this carefully, write it down, okay? It's ability times motivation times focus. So think about this for one second. If you have any kind of performance issue with somebody in your job, It is literally going to come down to one of those three areas. You've got to understand that it's either going to be an ability issue, it's going to be a motivation issue, or it's a focus issue, or some part of that. Okay, so by being able to step back and understand what those are, it makes a big difference. In other words, it basically is super, super simple. When I'm not getting the performance that I want, I'm basically gonna step back and simply ask 3 questions. First question, is it an ability issue? Is it an ability issue? In other words, does this person not have the training or the equipment or the knowledge, the skillset to be able to do this job? And for those of you that understand, that want to, you know, kind of dig into this a little deeper, think about giving a check engine light to the tech that just came out of trade school, right? Or somebody that's just learning the basics of an automobile, and you're throwing them into an electrical diagnostic situation that is way above their pay grade. It's above their ability. And because of that, your performance is going to suffer. So the issue is, if it's an ability issue, then you've got to learn to dispatch the strengths, number one. And then number two, you've got to be able to get them the training that they need, identify the areas together, come up with a plan together, and then implement the plan where you can see marked improvement on and with their ability. That's part 1. Part 2 is motivation, right? This is where they know what to do and they just don't want to do it. Okay, this is a motivation issue. This is attitude. There's something going on. There's so many different things that affect motivation. It could actually be something that's outside of work that's draining the motivation. Regardless, you've got to be able to step back and say, is this a motivation issue? Do they know what to do? And is there an issue where they're not completely bought in? If that's the case, don't push. See, the worst thing we can do as owners or leaders or mentors and coaches is to push somebody. When you push somebody, their natural reaction is to push back. But if you're coming into this curious, you're coming into it with questions, now all of a sudden it changes that dynamic. It's like, hey, help me understand. Help me understand what the issue is here. It seems like you have a problem or where you're not really in tune with this or on board with this. Can you help me understand? Maybe they had an experience where this was a form of manipulation or something from another shop, at another shop, and they don't like the way it feels. It triggers them. Them that way, you know. But if you don't, if you just push and they push, it's going to escalate into a place you don't want it to go. Third thing is a focus issue. I really want you to think this through for a sec. Is it a focus issue? You can have someone that has great ability, they have great motivation, but if they're working on 30 different things or pulled 15 different ways— I've got my top tech, he's working on a job, I got 3 other techs that are pulling them away to do, help them with their stuff. This is a bigger issue, okay? This is a focus issue. Now, the problem here is if you look at these 3, and please share this video, people need to hear this. It's a simple equation. If I've got somebody that's having an issue, a lot of times as owners, we immediately go to a motivation issue. It's something they're doing to us, it's something they're doing, or whatever the case is. It's hardly ever that. Most of the time, probably 80%, 85% of the time, and I read a statistic greatly that said 85% of all statistics are made up, but I'm going to tell you that the majority of the time, it's either an ability issue or it's a focus issue. Now, on the off chances that there is something where it's a motivation issue, Just understand what's going on. That's really what it is. So 3 questions. Number 1, is this an ability issue? Number 2, is this a motivation issue? Number 3, this is, is this a focus issue? What I love about this is each one of these components, we don't add them together, it's multiplication. And as we bring these 3 things together, it's exponential growth. Everybody, thank you so much. And if you need some help with this, you want to reach out, rick@180biz.com. I'd be happy to sit down, talk with you, see what's going on in your shop, and if there's any way we can help you out. Until next week, everybody, I just want to say God bless, have a great week, and go make some money, everybody. We'll see you next week. Take care. Bye-bye.
