Under Promise, Over Deliver

I'm a gigantic sports radio fan (see Appreciation For The Radio).  I enjoy all the sports talkers, but for years Erik Kuselias of NBC Sports Radio has been my favorite.  A few weeks ago before the US National Soccer Team took on Ghana, EK shared his view that it's prudent to "under promise and over deliver."  At the time, he was vocally supporting Coach Jürgen Klinsmann who wasn't very optimistic about our team's chances of getting out of the 2014 World Cup 'Group of Death.'  Coach Klinsmann explained that he was looking four years down the road and people were less than excited about his seemingly unenthusiastic cynicism.  But Erik loved the coach's approach and passed it on to listeners like myself as good advice for life:  'Under promise.  Over deliver.'

Days later, the Miami Heat lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and that had me thinking of Erik's explanation.  The Heat have been dominant the last 4 seasons since LeBron James hit South Beach; four conference titles and two league championships.  Not bad.  Pretty great really.  However, LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh had promised a lot more.  Not one championships, not two,... eight.  Lead by LeBron at a 2010 pep rally in Miami, they'd pumped up the crowd with a bold prediction of a historic run that would clearly be a sports dynasty.  The day after they lost to the Spurs, folks started piling on and Dan Patrick pointed out on his show that people had enormous expectations because they'd loudly shouted, "Not one, not two, ... not seven."  They over promised.

So back to the Erik Kuselius' advice/point;  under promise and over deliver.  I totally get this.  It's pragmatic.  It makes sense.  As a rule I don't make a lot of brash predictions about the impact my renovations will have.  I hold off on saying, "This condemned house is going to be transformed from the least valuable home on the street to the most valuable."  I have high personal expectations, but I don't shout them from the rooftop.  I just enjoy my newest challenge as I start making things better.  I simply love the process, making the most of what's there and dealing with the deficiencies.  I'm able to accentuate the property's assets and correct the issues/liabilities.    Outlandish promises can be a major distraction and over delivering is practical.

So consider Erik's point as exemplified by Coach Klinsmann and all this excitement about the USA Soccer team in the World Cup.  Set your goals high and really get after them, but under promise and then... hit it out of the park. 

Trent

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