“God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen”

My four year-old grandson said that prayer Saturday before we ate lunch. It’s a fine prayer for a four year-old boy, but it’s pretty feeble for a forty year-old man.

A key reason why most four year-olds don’t grow up to be forty year-old prayer warriors is the same reason why most people and organizations fall short of their maximum potential … the soft bigotry of low expectations. A person devoted to his/her own opinion and prejudices with no intended plan to inflict harm … a soft bigot … can have a negative impact on people and organizations.

Unfortunately, examples of the bigotry of low expectations abound in our personal and professional lives. A list of bigoted statements that communicate low expectations includes:

• “Your vote won’t make a difference.”
• “You’re an accountant. There’s no way you can help us create a sales and marketing plan.”
• “I don’t expect you to make straight A’s like your friend.”
• “Don’t ask him. He’s too busy to lead the United Way campaign.”
• “I don’t want to offend anyone, so I’ll keep my belief in God to myself.”
• “The union workers on the shop floor can’t understand Activity Based Management.”
• “She’s just a housewife.”

Bigots hold themselves in high esteem. Non-bigots lift up others. There are five steps to eliminate the bigotry of low expectations and raise the results of others:

• Don’t be arrogant… Arrogance is when we rely solely on our own strength, knowledge and intuition. Excluding others is a form of bigotry. Management consultant Jim Seybert (JimSeybert.com) says, “Far too many business leaders would rather rely on old knowledge than admit they need to learn more about their audience. ‘We know what our customers want’ is one of the most arrogant things a leader can say. The alternative should be ‘We are constantly asking our customers what they want, and providing it.”
• Don’t be threatened …According to research presented in Jim Collins’ best selling book Good to Great, organizations with a genius and a thousand helpers are destined for failure. “In this model, the company is a platform for the talents of an extraordinary individual. In these cases the towering genius, the primary driving force in the company’s success is a great asset – as long as the genius sticks around.” (1) Great leaders expect great results when they surround themselves with even greater people. A question asked each man considered to serve as elder in our church is “Would you feel comfortable confronting the pastor?” It would be foolish to surround a leader with a group of people who are always expected to say “yes”.
• Don’t assume they’re too busy … Assuming busy people are unavailable to help is a form of soft bigotry. In his new bookThe Volunteer Revolution, mega-church pastor Bill Hybels tells a new staff member, “During the next few months you’re going to meet people who stand at drill presses, ten hours a day, five or six days a week. When they go home at night, few of them sense the pleasure, meaning, and purpose of life they’ve heard advertised in commercials for beer or computer systems. They’re godly, conscientious people, and they feel thankful for their jobs. But they don’t find satisfaction for their souls at the drill press.” (2) When offered the opportunity to help accomplish meaningful activities or projects, busy people tend to rise to the occasion. In 1997, Velma Goertzen, general manager of Health-E-Quip, faced a 25% reduction in Medicare reimbursement rates. Velma implemented Activity Based Management (ABM), handed the reports to her busiest employees and asked for significant process improvement ideas. They ably met the challenge. Now facing another 10% cut in 2005, Velma told me this week that she knows exactly who to look to for improvement ideas … her busy employees!
• Don’t be the sage-on-the-stage … Low expectations are communicated to your audience if you continually rely on teaching and telling them what to do. According to education expert John Holt, “Most of the time, explaining does not increase understanding, and may even lessen it.”Training expert Bob Pike says, “Instead of being the sage-on-the-stage, be the guide-on-the-side.” Raise expectations by asking people thoughtful questions. For example, distribution consultant Bruce Merrifield (merrifield.com) recommends holding conversations using Activity Based Cost (ABC) reports to encourage next-level thinking. “Because it is hard to get people to adopt a new idea through coercion, legislation or promotional exhortation, we decided to experiment with a strategic conversation.” To spark discussion and improvement ideas from a management team, Bruce recommends preparing a monthly “5-5-5 report” coupled with a list of questions, e.g. “What should be done to make sure we don’t lose this customer?” The 5-5-5 report is an ABC-based profit & loss analysis of the Top 5 most profitable, the Top 5 least-profitable and the Top 5 most promising customers. (For more information on ABC customer profitability analysis, go to www.icms.net/gross-margin-profiling.htm)
• Don’t be negative … Negative attitudes divide and destroy. Positive attitudes combine and build. Denying employees access to a copy of Using ABM for Continuous Improvement(3) or their department’s Activity Cost report gives them cause to be down on what they’re not up If they don’t understand it … whatever “it” is … they’ll be against it. A 1996 implementation of ABC product costing at the Ford Motor Company radiator manufacturing plant in Plymouth, Michigan was floundering. Because most employees, including the plant manager, didn’t understand ABC, resistance to the project was high. ICMS was called in to quickly train factory workers how to read, interpret and use their ABC reports. After two ½-day workshops, the United Auto Workers presented the plant manager with $250,000 of cost improvement ideas for approval. Because we showed faith in them by providing the workshop, the factory workers proved themselves up to the challenge. (To see the workshop agenda, go to www.icms.net/trainci.htm)

The opposite of bigotry of low expectations is openness to high expectations. When I look at my grandson as possibly being the next Billy Graham or my customer as a future Bill Gates, it gives me good reasons to raise my level of performance to help them be the best they can be. None of my grandsons or customers may be a Graham or Gates, but I can help them positively impact the world by simply holding them up instead of putting them down. And as for you, I have high expectations for you too!

(1) Good to Great, Jim Collins, Harper Business, 2001
(2) The Volunteer Revolution, Bill Hybels, Zondervan, 2004
(3) Using ABM for Continuous Improvement, Tom Pryor, 2002, www.ICMS.net