The Bell Curve - Is it America’s Problem?



Green Bay Packers - 2011 NFL Champions



Have we created a generation – or two – of employees, workers, citizens that are complacent and willing to live in the middle-ground of performance? Many of my generation complain about the younger generation’s “attitude of entitlement.” But, before we are hasty with that assessment – accurate as it may be – we should be wary of our own generations “entitlement”. I know many of my peers that a) do not vote, b) sit on Boards yet never voice an opinion, c) take a paycheck but do not give total effort, d) are awaiting someone else to take care of them in later years, or e) complain about our military efforts that protect our every freedom.

Maybe you have read my comments regarding “The Bell-Curve of Employee Performance”. If so, you know that I believe that organizations that wish to be the competitive leaders must determine how to “shift their Bell-Curve”.  So, how does that enterprise philosophy apply to America’s status as a world power, as the economic leader?... as the most innovative society?

America was founded by innovators and leaders that were not ‘comfortable’ with the status quo. They believed that we could build a country that allowed individuals, families, and enterprises to excel beyond the constraints of the norm. And they believed that “taxation without representation” stifled creativity, prosperity, and excellence.

Successful enterprises know that allowing creativity and innovation is tantamount to economic success. They also know that creating cultures that encourage performance beyond the norm causes differentiation from competition. So, why is it that we seem to try so hard to make everyone in America fit into the middle of the Bell Curve?

We tax more those who are more successful. We legislate against competitive innovation. It’s as if America does not want any Americans to exist in the upper 10% of the Bell Curve. We seem to shift our focus to lifting those who won’t even give effort. It’s as if we would feel better about ourselves if we bring everyone into the lower-middle of the Bell Curve.

Now, don’t get me wrong! I embrace helping those who are disadvantaged. I believe it is our Christian responsibility to love and nourish those who are less fortunate. But, I don’t believe that was meant to force the top performers into constraints of AVERAGE!

Champions build environments that allow leaders to lead, creators to create, innovators to innovate… Such cultures create a sense of challenge for all others. When everyone is challenged the organization grows to a new level of accomplishment.

The Green Bay Packers are the NFL’s newest champion for 2011. They have some amazing talents on that team including outstanding leaders such as Charles Woodson and Aaron Rodgers. But, they have had about 16 players that have fallen to injury during the season. Others have taken their place on the active team and have contributed. I suggest that a championship would not have happened without an environment that encouraged individuals to excel – that provided a platform for a player to ‘raise his game’ in order to contribute to the overall team. What DOES NOT exist on The Green Bay Packers is the organizational attitude that you can take a place on our team and ‘We will provide for you.’

America needs to become a “Championship Team” again. We need to invigorate the innovation and leadership that made us a great country. We need leaders that understand to motivate individuals to accomplish great things as individuals, as companies, as organizations. Those attitudes will yield a country that will again “shift the Bell Curve” to a higher level of performance against the competition.

And, don’t for a minute fall into the trap that this is not a competition. We have allies around the world that generally agree with our principals. But, there are numerous countries and groups that want us to continue into our deep trench of creating an average country built with average citizens.

C’mon America! Let’s again move the Bell Curve!

Bill Walsh & the Bell Curve - Does the Culture of High Performance Shift the Median?

Have you found the magic potion for moving your organization – your enterprise – to the leadership role in your market, your industry, your sector? You may be focusing on finding the most innovative technology, the hottest new product, the greatest cost advantage, or other structural components of your business that can offer differentiation from your competition. But, have you ever looked at the “Bell Curve?” It is the understanding of the Bell Curve and how to “move it” that may hold the secrets to differentiation for your business – for your organization.

Okay, so the Bell Curve is as common as Pareto’s Law. What? You don’t know that one? We know that the traditional Bell Curve shows a lower 10%, an upper 10%, and the middle 80% with the mid-point splitting that 80% grouping. This Bell Curve can be applied to most anything. I am currently suggesting it as an application for human performance – and thus, employee performance within an organization.

So, how do you work the Bell Curve of your organizational performance to become the differentiator against your competition?

I love referring back to an interview that I heard years ago with NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh. Bill Walsh was the Head Coach and General Manager of the San Francisco 49ers during a period when they were the most successful organization in their business – The NFL. Bill Walsh managed The 49ers to three Super Bowl Championships in the ‘90’s. He coached numerous Hall of Fame players. And, he was generally known as the innovator of the “West Coast Offense” which revolutionized the NFL.

A reporter/interviewer asked Coach Walsh a question but included an assumption. He asked (assumed), “I assume that you spend most of your efforts coaching those better than average performers in your efforts to create more Hall-Of-Famers? Thus, the more Hall-Of-Famers you have, the better chance you have of winning the World Championship?”

Coach Walsh was a teacher with his response. He offered that Hall-of-Famers “don’t need much coaching. Those are the top 10% of the Bell Curve. They have the driving desire to be the best at their profession regardless of what my influence is. My job for them is to stay out of their way and give them the platform to excel.”

Then came the extra measure of wisdom from Coach Walsh; “The difference between winning and losing is the bottom 25%. Most coaches can deliver the top 75%. But the last 25% only blossoms in the details, in the orchestration of skills, in the way you prepare.”

I have always thought of that response as incredible wisdom and insight. But, what happens in the result? I agree that the organization – the enterprise – is stronger and has a competitive advantage. But, is the Bell Curve still intact? I believe that Coach Walsh was focused on lifting that lower tier of his team’s ‘bell curve’ into the middle.

This shift of performance within the organization changes the shape of your Bell Curve. But, I believe that what it does is that it moves your organization’s center point – thus, creating an organization that has “Moved It’s Bell Curve!” When your company – your enterprise – can effectively “Move It’s Bell Curve” it has created a cultural differentiation that might be stronger competitively than most other innovators.



Bill Walsh - Head Coach of The San Francisco 49er's