Watch the YouTube version of this episode HERE
Are you looking for a quick hack to measure performance? In this episode of the Maximum Lawyer Podcast, Tyson introduces the "15 Minute Mile Concept" as a metaphor for evaluating employee performance.
The 15 Minute Mile Concept can be used to determine if an employee’s performance has improved and if so, if they are still a good fit for your team. It is important to not consider a slight improvement enough to keep someone on a team if there are still other aspects that are not great. Tyson shares the importance of looking at aspects of your life where you only highlight one good thing but ignore other areas. It is important to take the time to work on areas of your day to day life that need improvement, both professionally and personally.
Take a listen!
00:24 The metaphor of the "15 Minute Mile"
2:13 How slight improvement doesn't equate to meeting performance standards
3:13 The danger of exaggerating small performance improvements
Tune in to today’s episode and checkout the full show notes here.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Run your law firm the right way. This is the Maximum Lawyer Podcast. The Maximum Lawyer Podcast. Your hosts, Jim Hacking and Tyson Mutrics. Let's partner up and maximize your firm. Welcome to the show. [MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome, everybody, to another Saturday episode of the Maximum Lawyer Podcast. This is Tyson Mutrics. And today, I want to talk to you about this idea that popped into my brain as we were in the middle of this hot seat. And I'll call it the 15-minute mile concept. And so we can't talk about the details of what we talk about in the hot seat. So I'm going to make up another scenario. So let's say that you are considering terminating an employee. And so let's call her Susie. So Susie has been performing badly for quite some time. Not doing great. And then all of a sudden, you see that there's a bump in her performance. She's still well below average, but she's improving. So you're thinking, oh, you know what? Susie might be on the way up. Susie might be on the way up. So we should give her another try. She kind of stays at that for a while. But you're thinking, hey, she improved. She's good. And so I kind of think about it like this. If you, for anyone that doesn't know about running a mile, I'd say a decent time is probably like eight minutes. And I'm talking about people that run on a regular basis. Really, really good. It's six minutes. There's the four-minute mile. Those are elite runners, kind of a thing. But 18 minutes is pretty bad. So let's say that you've got this person. Let's call another person Susie. Let's say Susie runs an 18-minute mile regularly. And all of a sudden, she starts running a 15-minute mile. That's a pretty good improvement, right? From 18 minutes to 15 minutes. So that sounds great when you're talking about the improvement. But the reality is is that Susie's still running a 15-minute mile. And she's terrible. You wouldn't put her on your track team. You wouldn't put her on your track team. Because she's absolutely terrible. She's running a 15-minute freaking mile. That's bad still. That's really, really bad. And so sometimes I think what we do is sometimes our employees are running an 18-minute mile. And then all of a sudden, they run a 15-minute mile. And this could be anything you can think of. Doesn't that be employees where you see a slight improvement? So you see a slight improvement. And what you do in your mind is you exaggerate that improvement to think it is this massive improvement. And reality is, it's still bad, OK? Susie's still bad. Susie should no longer be in your firm. But what you've done is you've exaggerated the improvement. And in your head, she's good now. But in reality, Susie's still bad. Susie is still running a 15-minute mile. And Susie should not be on the track team. So that's the concept of the 15-minute mile. Think about all the other things, other other areas in your life. Or maybe you've done that, where you've seen a slight improvement. You then ignore all the bad. And you think, oh, we're good. So look at those areas. See if you can improve in those areas. See if there's things you can stop doing. And maybe that'll help you out. But that's all I have here for you today. I want to remind you to make sure you shoot me a text. Love to hear from you. Always do. It's great to hear the feedback you're giving me. And it helps me shape the episodes that we're doing. So make sure you keep them coming. Because that's how I know what to do. If you don't like something, that's probably more important than if you do like something. But I do want to know that we're giving you the right content. So make sure you let us know. 3, 1, 4, 5, 0, 1, 9, 2, 6, 0. Also, give me-- if you give five services on the podcast, I would greatly appreciate it. If you don't like something, just text me, please. We'll fix it. Don't give a one-star review. And luckily, I don't know where they would come from. But we do have one or two, one-star reviews. There's no comment on them. It's just a one-star review, which kind of is aggravating. But if you don't like something that I talked about, I would actually love that you send me a text about it. We could talk about it. And if I'm wrong, hey, I'll do a podcast about it. It'd be great. If you want to come on the podcast, I'll talk to you about it. But if you are liking it, the vast majority of you are based on the feedback I'm getting from you, which I love to hear, if you give us a five-star review, I'd really, really appreciate it, especially if you'd mentioned the Saturday episodes. That way, we can kind of differentiate it. It is really, really helpful. But that's all I have for you today. Make it a great day. Have a great weekend. Until next week, remember that consistent action is the blueprint that turns your goals into reality. Take care, buddy. [MUSIC PLAYING] Thanks for listening to the maximum lawyer podcast. Stay in contact with your host and to access more content. Go to maximumlawyer.com. Have a great week and catch you next time. (upbeat music)
