Explaining Things

From my earliest days as a consultant and CEO coach – going on 50 years now – I have been intrigued by how any and every shortfall of performance can be explained away. All you need is someone who will buy the explanation.

It seems that people get better and better at excusing themselves, while less and less competent at delivering the expected performance. “Customer service” people do a pretty good job of apologizing for the failures you report, without ever understanding the problem. They want you to, “Have a good day,” by making it almost certain that you can’t. At a restaurant a few days ago, the waitperson forgot part of my order. She said, “I’m sorry.” I thought, “Is that something I can EAT?”

As you know by now, I grew up on my grandparents’ small farm. The “boss” was, simply put, reality. I suppose the farmer could have explained to Mother Nature that he intended to get the seeds in the ground in time to have a summer harvest (I never saw anybody do this). Nature was unforgiving. You had to do what had to be done, or the consequences might be dire. That was a healthy way to live. Today, not only can shortfalls of performance be routinely explained away to an indulgent boss, but people seem to be forgiven in advance these days. There are no consequences. Talk becomes a substitute for any reality.

That strikes me as an unhealthy way to live.

Too many people grow up today having as their primary competence that of finessing excuses for their failure to perform. If so, are we not then moving exponentially down one path when we should be moving down the opposite one? Your thoughts?