THE ZERO EFFECT

The other day I got into a discussion with a good friend of mine about the difference between “making an effort” and the focus on “getting results”. While we weren’t talking about business, the conversation did get me thinking that way.

Personally, I am a results-driven individual. I set goals. I make the necessary effort to accomplish those goals. But, I measure success (business success) by results, not by simply "putting in my time".

I know you can’t achieve results if you don’t make an effort. And, I applaud effort. But effort, without quantifiable results, seems like…well, wasted effort.

For example, let’s say your job is to secure 10 new placements a week. You make the necessary efforts to secure those new placements. At the end of the week, regardless of your efforts, you only make 2 new placements. Can you consider yourself a success?

I think not.

My friend tried to convince me that the “effort” is the important part. I believe the exact words were, “if you focus on the efforts, the results will happen.”

I’m sorry, but I don’t buy this argument. Instead, I believe “effort" without the desired result is…well, hope.

If you focus solely on the effort, without any thought to the results, you are wasting your time. You need to show effort, but that effort has to achieve some result. If the efforts you make are not achieving the desired results, change your efforts.

As someone much smarter than myself once told me, “Effort is the process. If the process is flawed, or if your industry is dynamic, requiring constantly changing processes, you need to focus on results. It’s the results that pay the bills, not the process.”

What do you think? Are the efforts made, more important than the results achieved?

Bonus Question:

I was not a big fan of Bill Pullman, until I saw him in the movie, Zero Effect. His character Darryl Zero, an eccentric (to say the least) investigator is hired by Gregory Stark (played by Ryan O’Neal) to find what object? And, where did he eventually find said object?

(Never saw the movie, or can’t remember? Don’t worry. Click here for the answers…)