“When everything is said and done, a hell of a lot more is said than done” Murphy's Other Laws
I was having a meeting the other day with a friend who was lamenting that multiple projects at his work was in various stages of disarray. The primary cause, he said, was that his company is filled with too many people with low Say-Do ratios.
“Say-Do”, I asked?
“Say-Do”, he said.
So he went ahead to explain that the Say-Do ratio is the equation between the things a person say they’ll do and those that actually get done. If people would only consistently do what they said they were going to do things would run a lot smoother, projects would get done correctly and on time, budgets would stay, well, in budget, and people would probably sleep better at night.
Say-Do ratio.
There are many reasons people don’t do what they say they will. Some certainly are legitimate and can’t be helped. Many are due to inexperience, bravado, ego, irresponsibility and simple stupidity.
Driving home I started calculating my own Say-Do ratio. I’d probably be OK in a Pass-Fail situation but I’m not sure I’d care for my actual percentage grade. Yet another personal improvement goal but one worth paying attention to.
So, how is the Say-Do ratio of those you work with and for? How about friends? Family? How much better would life be if all those people had a high Say-Do Ratio?
I was having a meeting the other day with a friend who was lamenting that multiple projects at his work was in various stages of disarray. The primary cause, he said, was that his company is filled with too many people with low Say-Do ratios.
“Say-Do”, I asked?
“Say-Do”, he said.
So he went ahead to explain that the Say-Do ratio is the equation between the things a person say they’ll do and those that actually get done. If people would only consistently do what they said they were going to do things would run a lot smoother, projects would get done correctly and on time, budgets would stay, well, in budget, and people would probably sleep better at night.
Say-Do ratio.
There are many reasons people don’t do what they say they will. Some certainly are legitimate and can’t be helped. Many are due to inexperience, bravado, ego, irresponsibility and simple stupidity.
Driving home I started calculating my own Say-Do ratio. I’d probably be OK in a Pass-Fail situation but I’m not sure I’d care for my actual percentage grade. Yet another personal improvement goal but one worth paying attention to.
So, how is the Say-Do ratio of those you work with and for? How about friends? Family? How much better would life be if all those people had a high Say-Do Ratio?
By the way, how's yours?
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2 comments:
Interesting posting. Small comment. You mentioned higher the better. Isn't it low say:do is better? For example, person says he will say two things, but do only 1 thing then ratio is 2:1 where as if he says 1, but does 2 then ratio is 1:2. So, 1:2 is better than 2:1 for us.. isn't it?
Raju, my company uses this term constantly and the misuse you pointed out really drives me crazy. For a company full of engineers to not catch this, it's no wonder we don't get stuff done.
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