NATO
One of the most useful pieces of advice ever given to me by a golf pro is “NATO” – a devilishly counter-intuitive philosophy that lies between me and any hope of scoring below 85. NATO stands for Not Attached to Outcome – when I swing the club I’m just swinging the club, not thinking about what I want my score to be on this hole or for the round. I think something like the same advice always holds for leaders. If you focus on the hole or on the round, you’re going to get frustrated. This frustration will alter your swing – alter the mechanics of your day-to day-leadership behavior as a leader. This will decrease your score and make you more tense which will further change your leadership behavior. The risk of this cycle is pretty clear – you will get too frustrated to be effective in your role (or the organization will get too frustrated, which is the same thing), which is rarely what we want. For a few focused weeks, concentrate on the swing – the mechanics of the actual conversations that make up your day. If you are swinging the club right, you will score well. You still might not win – there are unpredictable elements to the game that rule out guarantees. But you will absolutely maximize your chances of winning – which is the best we can ever realistically hope for.
Reader Comments
I think NATO is a very interesting application of a philosophical idea to management/leadership. The notion that the process of carrying out the task is the end in itself is new to leadership/management. The reason I am saying this is that the most frequently used “Carrot” to motivate people is the promise of an outcome. “If you deliver this project/execute it well, you can get a promotion or you will get great visibility” is commonly heard in conversations with your superior. Everyone is subconsciously driven by the fruit of the task rather and are motivated to carry out the task as best as they can with the outcome in mind (I am not talking about the goal of the task, but the benefit to the doer).
While I agree that this is a noble thought, I see the nobility as the problem! This requires a radical change in self motivation process. I am sure there is enough supporting material in the eastern philosophy to support this and I would like to see those material discussed in the context of leadership and management in modern corporate world. After all, everyone is motivated by the dream of highest recognition in whichever area they chose; To de-emphasize the outcome in favor of process is a big think-shift!