My co-worker dropped a great one liner the other week. She mentioned that you need to, “under promise and over deliver.”
I couldn’t have agreed more at the time. It encompasses a positive view of expectations. If you get someone to set low expectations and you proceed to blow them away, the person will be shocked, amazed, and grateful. In addition, by under promising, you are casting the safety net. If you can’t seem to deliver, it’s okay because you never promised that much to begin with.
– – – – –
Part of the statement here needs to be revoked. While I still hold to the attributes I’ve stated, I completely disagree with one part of the statement to under promise and over deliver.
Eliminate under to create the saying “promise and over deliver.”
If you need to under promise something, then it’s likely that it’s best you don’t promise anything to begin with. Promising something that you’re worried you can’t deliver, or fully deliver, is not a smart promise. Smart promises is what gets us places. Smart promises say exactly what you will do with the guarantee of it being completely done.
If you’re interested in progress though, if you want to move up the ladder, if you want the recognition and admiration from the people who you fulfill promises for, then you need to promise and over deliver.
Before any skepticism is launched, let me say without any wiggle room, that there is always a way to over deliver. It’s this performance of searching for a way to over deliver, and then following through with it that creates progress. Self delivered progress for you through over delivering on promises for them.
Stay Positive & Who Knew Progress Was So Easy
Garth E. Beyer
