is it really true that when one doesn't have expectation, he doesn't have disappointment?wanna comment on it but she din allow anonymous comment (i dun have an account mah) - curse the spammers for leaving spams on her blog! may the lightning of the dragon prince strike thee's backside! (dun ask me why this exclamation is so, i also dunno!) - so i comment here lor...
but if there's not expectation, how can there be improvement?Posted on 24 May 2006 17:05:52
expectation - noun. belief that something will happen or to be the case. (AskOxford.com)
going by the dictionary definition, naturally if an expectation is not met, it will cause one to be disappointed as what he believes to be the case was wrong or did not happen. if an expectation is met, then he should not be disappointed. meaning to say, an expectation sets the benchmark, the passing score between being disappointed and not disappointed. however does it then mean that he is satisfied?
i think there is at least 3 stages of measuring the level of satisfaction: Unsatisfied (disappointed), Contented (not disappointed), and Satisfied (not disappointed and happy about it). so if an expectation is just met, one will mostly be in the Contented state and if it far exceeds expectation, then one should be in the Satisfied state. this is what i believe to be true from my observations so far.
thus if expectation is set lower or none at all, isn't the probability of attaining the Contented or the Satisfied state higher? i think this is especially true when an expectation is set onto another person, e.g. parents onto kids, couple onto each other etc. so while it is human nature to set expectations, bear in mind that the higher you set the level, the higher chance of you being disappointed in the end.
having expressed so much about expectation and satisfaction, so what is the relationship between expectation and improvement?
improvement is basically about making a situation or the capability of someone or something better. so if there is an expectation for the situation to improve, does it naturally leads to the situation improving? not really.
in fact, i argue that it doesn't matter whether there is an expectation or not. what is required, is actually a goal to achieve improvement, an end point. in order for there to be improvement, there must also be an effort to improve and, more importantly, a motivation to put in that effort.
i think, an expectation is different from a goal. one 'achieves' a goal, he doesn't achieve an expectation; he 'meets' an expectation. when one achieves a goal, there is a sense of achievement and that brings Satisfaction, which is a preferred state of being. the desire to attain the Staisfaction state motivates one to put in effort to achieve the goal. hence,
improvement = goal + motivation + effort
in conclusion, i think expectation and improvement are two mutually exclusive things. higher expectation increases the probability of being disappointed; and for there to be improvement, one should set the goal (instead of expectation) and motivates one to put in the effort to achieve it.
1 comment:
improvement = KPIs identification via balanced scorecard methodology + gap analysis + critical path planning + cost estimation + budget approval + team agreement & support + implementation + project review + debriefing
but
improvement = goal + motivation + effort
will also do.
Post a Comment