Success comes from taking the initiative and following up... persisting... eloquently expressing the depth of our desire. What simple action we take today could produce a new momentum toward success in our lives.

You are essentially who you create yourself to be and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making.― Stephen Richards

Time is neutral and does not change things. With initiative and courage a leader can change things for the better. When we believe in what we are doing and use our imagination and initiative, we can make a difference. There is always room at the top for those who deserve to be there. 

Each of the employees in the following narrative was assigned the same task. Each one completed the job but with different degree of initiative.

Employee "A" in a company walked up to his manager and asked what my job is for the day? The manager took "A" to the bank of a river and asked him to cross the river and reach the other side of the bank.

"A" completed this task successfully and reported back to the manager about the completion of the task assigned. The manager smiled and said, "Good job!"

The next day, Employee "B" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task as above to this person also. The Employee "B' before starting the task saw Employee "C" struggling in the river to reach the other side of the bank. He realized "C" has the same task.

Now "B" not only crossed the river but also helped "C" to cross the river.

"B" reported back to the manager and the manager smiled and said, "Very good job!"

"The following day Employee "Q" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again. Employee "Q" before starting the work did some home work and realized "A", "B"  and "C" all has done this task before. He met them and understood how they performed.

He realized that there is a need for a guide and training for doing this task. He sat first and wrote down the procedure for crossing the river, he documented the common mistakes people made, and tricks to do the task efficiently and effortlessly. Using the methodology he had written down, he crossed the river and reported The manager said, '"Q' you have done an Excellent job!".

The following day Employee "O' reported to the manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again. "O" studied the procedure written down by "Q" and sat and thought about the whole task. He realized the company is spending lot of money in getting this task completed. He decided not to cross the river, but sat and designed and implemented a bridge across the river and went back to his manager and said, "You no longer need to assign this task to any one."

The manager smiled and said, "Outstanding job 'O'. I am very proud of you."

What is the difference between A, B, Q  and O????????

Many times in life, we get tasks to be done at home, at office, at play….. Most of us end up doing what is expected out of us. Do we feel happy? Most probably, yes. However, we would be often disappointed when the recognition is not meeting our expectation.

Let us compare ourselves with "B". Helping someone else the problem often improves our own skills. There is an old proverb, "Learn to teach and teach to learn". From the company point of view, "B" has demonstrated much better skills than "A" since one more task for the company is completed.

"Q" created knowledge base for the team. More often than not, we do the task assigned to us without checking history. Learning from the mistake of others is the best way to improve efficiency. This knowledge creation for the team is of immense help. Re-usability reduces cost thereby increases productivity of the team. "Q" demonstrated good "team-player" skills.

Now to the outstanding person, "O" made the task irrelevant; he created a permanent asset to the team.

If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated "team performance" over and above individual performance; also they have demonstrated a very invaluable characteristic known as initiative.

Initiative pays off everywhere, whether at work or at personal life. If we put initiative in whatever we wish to accomplish, we will succeed with flying colors. Initiative makes us the best of what we can be. It propels us higher in whatever we scale in life. Let us analyze how A, B, Q or O acted upon the task and judge our performance in whatever we have accomplished so that we will be more efficient next time we do it.

By Tim Pedrosa


Tim