Years ago, my daughter played in a girls Fall lacrosse league. Her team never won a game and most of the time they got blown out. Allie played a wide range of positions and did really well. She shared time in goal with another girl. The other goalie was terrible (and that’s putting it mildly). I always remember a group of our parents continuing to call out “good try Emma” each time she missed a shot (which was every single one). She seemed to have no skill or genuine interest in playing this position.
In all the years my daughter played youth soccer and lacrosse, there have been those parents who continually yell out “good try” to girls are clearly not talented and motivated.
Just so you know, I’m not one of those overbearing parents either that treat youth sports like life or death struggles and berate other parents or the referees. I also understand the power of encouragement and expectation. I just have an issue with telling someone who is clearly not trying that they did a “good try.”
In my book, you need to EARN your “good try.” If not, then “good try” needs to be rephrased to “start trying” or “Try MUCH harder.” Maybe even “learn how” or “get better.”
I’m not sure the direct correlation from “good try” in youth sports to poor performance in the workplace but I certainly see examples everywhere I go in the level of mediocrity that has become the acceptable standard.
Right about the time Allie was in the lacrosse league I was standing, along with about 40 other people lined up in front of the Lowes in Gaithersburg, MD at 4:45 AM to attempt to buy a generator ahead of Hurricane Sandy’s expected visit. At 6AM when the store opened, there were no generators (promised shipment never happened) but they were expected in a few hours. We asked the clerk if we could do some sort of number system since we all planned on waiting and didn’t want to come away empty-handed since we were among the first in line. The clerk shook her head and disappeared. Fortunately, there was another clerk who told us to wait and then came back with a sheet of labels where he numbered each and gave one to everyone in line. Positionally, I think he was the most junior person on the crew but he took charge and diffused a potentially violent situation. He did a little extra in his job and it made a huge difference. The other clerk seemed to be content with a “good try.”
This week, take a good look at the effort you give at work. Are you truly giving your job, company, or boss 100% of your effort each day? Note, I didn’t ask you if your job, company, or boss reciprocates. You can’t control that. What you can do is set your own standard of excellence high and perform to it. Then and only then will you earn a “good try” and in most cases, you will actually win and won’t need that conciliatory platitude anymore.
I’m going to work on it this week. Will you join me?