The Three Laws of Performance by Zaffron & Logan
I’ve recently finished The Three Laws of Performance and give it a huge standing O!. This is a book based on personal accountability, commitment and moreover – ACTION! Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan give us a simple framework to live towards. A framework full of action, commitment and results. Read this book only if you want true transformation.
As a consultant working with groups and individuals seeking results, the concept of “not fixing anything” was a bit a challenge to get my head around. However, as they explain, this mindset creates a some-day future that is never really attained. We aren’t broke. Our organizations don’t need to be fixed. What we truly need is to understand our comfort of living a “default future.” This is the future that is going to occur if we continue doing the same things that have gotten us to this point. We must DO something different. And it doesn’t involve fixing anything. Puzzled? Let’s keep going.
Here are the 3 Laws we must understand:
- How people perform correlates to how situations occur to them.
- How a situation occurs arises in language.
- Future based language transforms how situations occur to people.
from the Appendix in The Three Laws of Performance, Zaffron & Logan
The book shares some great stories where it might occur to you, or I, that true transformation had no chance for success. A Japanese business where the founder sudden dies, a mining town in Africa, and a fledgeling shoe company that took on Nike. These stories are true examples of transformation – they are gifts of inspiration. If an organization or a community can practice these laws then surely I too should be able to practice them.
The next couple days posts, I want to write about a couple of my own personal examples where practicing these three laws have created a new way of being, it’s created a different way in which the world occurs. And maybe more importantly, it’s created results!
Is there something in your life that you’re willing to put at stake and create something other than the “default future”?
