Ability versus Willingness

Once alignment and agreement has been gained on the plan to meet customer outcomes, it is time for the organization to manage performance as it executes on the plan. Since plans are executed by people, there are two factors to consider in aligning incentives to get them to perform: ability and willingness.

'Ability' is a measure of capability to solve problems. It can be and is developed by education, training and experience. In a dynamic world, abilities get obsolete fast and need to evolve rapidly and adapt to new situations. Sometimes abilities take time to identify, formalize and pass on to others. This requires pioneers to excel in adapting to new situations. If abilities are low, provide incentives to develop abilities. Then provide incentives for meeting or exceeding performance targets.

'Willingness' is a measure of determination in the face of adversity. It is a psychological response shaped by many factors like self-confidence and self-esteem. It can be developed by conditioning the body and mind. Low willingness can drag down people with superior abilities (the race goes not to the strongest or the swiftest...). High willingness can overcome deficiencies in abilities (fake it till you have it...). If willingness is low, find out why. Paying someone to be willing is not scalable. Achieving superior performance requires them to be motivated by and enjoy the process of problem solving required to execute strategy.

If you are seeking to improve performance, be sure to first identify which is deficient, ability or willingness. Applying the wrong solution may make the problem worse.