four reasons we need to abandon work expectations and focus on standards

My life, and I suspect that it may be the same for many of you, has been a constant stream of expectations: sometimes they are met, sometimes they are not. When my expectations are met, I feel a sense of fullness; when they are not, I feel a sense of dissonance.

Either way, as is human nature, I approach almost all situations I face with a sense of expectation and longing to meet my expectations. Unfortunately, not the situations when my expectations are met or exceeded that dominate my sense of understanding of my past and my memories, but when my expectations were not met.

For example, I have seen hundreds of movies that I was pleasantly surprised by or truly enjoyed, but the one movie that fell miraculously short of my expectations is the one I remember most. To this day, I give my wife a hard time for making me watch “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

This seems even more true regarding our interpersonal relationships, especially in work situations. Our work satisfaction and effectiveness are impacted by the expectations violated by those we work for, work with, and work for us.

The problem is that we naturally expect people to behave a certain way or achieve certain things. This comes from our past experiences, promises, and commitments. Yet, I would guess that we can list dozens of instances when those expectations have been violated off the top of our heads.

These instances of violated expectations can build up and taint our view of what we do and who we do it with. But what if we put expectations aside and focus on something different? Standards.

#1 - expectations are individualized - standards are objective

Have you ever been in a situation when you felt the expectations placed on you were greater than on a peer? That feeling kind of sucks. Expectations are, by nature, individualized; standards, however, are not centered around one person. A standard to strive for that is external to us increases community and effectiveness.

#2 - expectations are intrinsic - standards are extrinsic

Expectations have a habit of being very intrinsic - they are focused on what is within us. For instance, I have very different expectations of my kids than a stranger would. That is because they are my expectations (and thus are mine to be violated). Standards exist outside of individuals; if a standard is made known, it is not up to me to evaluate others based on my expectations but the standard we all strive towards.

#3 - expectations are arbitrary - standards are concrete

Your expectations of others are based on your experience, desires, needs, and other personal inputs. And to be honest, they generally are not fair to others. When expressed in easy-to-understand terms, a standard is easily understood by all. What would your organizational culture be like if everyone understood your operational standards and worked towards them together?

#4 - expectations are fleeting - standards are enduring

My expectation of my wife changes from circumstance to circumstance. And so do your expectations of everyone around you. It is unfair to my wife or anyone else to hold her accountable to those expectations when they change so fast that I cannot articulate them. However, when we set a standard and point ourselves towards it, neither life circumstances nor situations can change that standard. It endures when circumstances do not.

Just having a standard, however, is not enough. It needs to be an appropriate standard for your organization, it needs to be articulated, and it needs to be attainable. Spend the time setting that standard, teaching your team about it, and embracing it as the way you evaluate individual and organizational effectiveness. Do this, and you can radically change the atmosphere of any organization.