I was talking the other day with someone who works in a place where teams consistently fail to deliver on their commitments, and leadership doesn’t seem to care. Someone else recently shared with me that they had been assigned to a project, but they were told that they shouldn’t worry about completing it because nobody really expected that project to succeed.
Low expectations like these can be demoralizing. Today I want to share four things that contribute to low expectations and four things you can do to overcome them.
1️⃣ Sometimes, the goal seems impossible. Maybe it’s something no one in your organization has ever succeeded with. But if you want to succeed anyway, consider the impossible task of going to the moon before the end of the 1960’s. The key there was an inspiring goal that drew people in, rather than a fear that drove people. Find the inspiring goal that your team feels drawn to achieve.
2️⃣ Sometimes the resources aren’t available. One possible response as a leader is to raise the red flag and request more resources for your team. Another possibility is to see the resource constraints – combined with the autonomy you have by not depending on more resources – as a drive for creativity. Focus on the desired outcomes more than the expected outputs, and see how you may accomplish the real goal in an innovative way. Recall how Chinese AI engineers responded when access to high-end GPU chips was not possible. DeepSeek is what happened with their resources weren’t available.
3️⃣ Sometimes accountability is too uncomfortable. According to “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni, avoidance of accountability often stems from the absence of trust, which comes from a fear of conflict, which is the result of a lack of commitment. Consider which of the dysfunctions your team is facing, and work to overcome those.
4️⃣ Sometimes it’s just your own personal expectations that are low. Maybe you haven’t faced serious consequences to your own lack of success. You can choose to raise your own personal standards. Set some personal habit and outcome goals. Invite a friend or colleague to hold you accountable for those goals.
Living in an organization with low expectations can feel disappointing, depressing, and demoralizing. Regardless of the reason, you can take steps to raise those expectations and introduce energy into your work. If you’d like some help thinking about what steps may work for you, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk for a complimentary conversation.
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