I regularly talk to people before classes start at the gym. People share new classes they are taking or like, upcoming special offerings, and trends in apparel or conditioning.

Every now and then, someone will remark that they don’t get much of a workout in particular classes. Sometimes I agree, the class isn’t that tough. Other times, I’m surprised as most people thing the class is really hard. And that’s when I notice the people making the comments are hardly moving. They aren’t actually performing at the same level as the rest of the class.

The same thing happens in business. That’s why getting an accurate read of performance is critical to long term success. High-performing companies and individuals have dialed in the right metrics to judge their performance. How are you getting an accurate view of performance in your company?

On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made the first controlled, powered flight by a fixed wing aircraft. While they weren’t the first to come up with the idea of aircraft, they were the first to develop the control system that made fixed wing flight possible.

People at the time didn’t think flight was possible. How could you possibly put people in a tube with wings and get them off the ground? Only birds were capable of flight.

Today, flying is a given. We need to get across the country or around the world, so we buy a ticket. We don’t even think that just over a century ago, flight was not possible.

It took those two brothers who didn’t have high school diplomas to figure out how to make the impossible possible. It is pretty amazing. And a good lesson that the impossible is possible.

I love getting together with people that are different from me – culturally, politically, stylistically, etc.  It helps me round my own thoughts, positions and approaches.  The conversation that I’ve had frequently with a number of different folks is how to balance idea generation and implementation. The trick is to have people who respect each other and seek to understand why things will work or not. When you get the right combination, you get many actionable ideas that get implemented quickly. How do you balance idea generators and implementers?

Having a new leader or someone filling in for a short period of time can be illuminating, especially when the group is there voluntarily. People are there by choice and if they are high performing, will only stay if the bar is set high. They want to be challenged and pushed. If they aren’t, they will leave. When they do, the group left will reflect where the bar was set. Are you setting your bar high enough?