Are you a Scooper or a Pointer? I’m sure your response is “huh?”
I ask because recently a Rotary speaker asked us the same question and my response was very similar to yours. She shared an interesting story about how dog poop (that’s not one of those seven words, right?) can relate to personal and business success.
The story goes once upon a time a dog pooped on a soccer field early in the morning before any games got started. During the first few games, everyone pointed and complained about the big poop pile being on the field, but did nothing about it and made great effort to avoid the pile. Now later that afternoon, someone simply scooped it up and removed the pile so the playing field was in better shape for the games.
Now, how the heck does that story relate to business? It’s very simple. There are a lot of “Pointers” in the world today who love to point out issues and problems but never do anything to help solve them. There are others, who in this case we call “Scoopers,” who actually identify problems and take the initiative to find and execute solutions. Now be honest, which one are you?
If you’re managing a business, which employee would your prefer? It’s a no brainer but in order to have more Scoopers, you must have the corporate culture that rewards self-initiative. You need to empower your employees to take the ball and run with it. Praise them for their efforts and focus on what they did right, not what might have been done better. If employees aren’t afraid to make mistakes, they will be more likely to take initiative and become a valuable Scooper.
I am personally declaring 2011 the Year of the Scooper. Lets make it happen.
