What are the benefits of underpromising and overdelivering? Surprisingly, not so much.
I saw a post on Facebook about overdelivering on a promise that does not bring any additional rewards or benefits. It mentioned that it was stated by a 2014 study. I asked for that research and I received the link to the article with links to the study.
Upon further reading it, it got me thinking about how this study affects what is prevalent in any organization. That we are taught to underpromise and overdeliver on our tasks. That even performance metrics and performance scorecards have ratings that meet expectations and exceeding expectations built into them. That we are built to deliver more than what is expected from us and in effect, we show our potential to climb up the corporate ladder.
So, how could this study done about 10 years ago change the way we think about work? What’s more, how could it change the way we build strong relationships with one another? Is this really the way to go?
Known benefits of overdelivering
Before we go into how overdelivering does not give additional merits, let’s look first at the known benefits of underpromising and overdelivering:
- Being recognized. When we underpromise and overdeliver, we create a bit of surprise for our recipients. Since we give more than what we had promised, our names get ingrained in their brains. This creates a positive impact especially if the recipient is someone who is high up the corporate ladder. Our names could come up in the next promotion cycle.
- Monetary value. Organizations have established their own ways to measure the performance of every employee. There are metrics that need to be met and if you exceed the metrics, we score higher. For most companies offering monetary incentives, scoring higher is equivalent to higher bonuses. This is very impactful, especially for those with minimum wages and are relying heavily on those high bonuses that they could spend come December.
- Known reliability. Every person in an organization has their go-to person and the work gets tough. And since we have been overdelivering, people always look for us, or even up to us, for help and guidance. Establishing our names by producing more than what is expected makes us the person people always rely on.
These are some of the benefits of underpromising and overdelivering. For these to become a reality, the organization must know how to set realistic goals and exceed them. This can be done by creating a benchmark that could be based on industry-wide performance or the current company performance and setting a target higher than the current level to drive better results.
Now, knowing those benefits, let us now look at what the study said about how overdelivering may not be really beneficial.
Meeting and exceeding are just the same
I am not an expert on how the study was conducted, who conducted it, or for what purpose but feel free to check out this article entitled “Just keep your promises: Going above and beyond does not pay off“. I’ll just cite here my thoughts on the study and based on my experience, there could be some truth to it.
The effects are the same when we deliver a promise or exceed it. The study showed that. There are tests conducted that the feelings and reactions are the same when we meet or exceed expectations. But not delivering on a promise is detrimental.
Look at how your organization operates. Look at how people interact with each other. Try to notice if doing more work really works out for you. Has it or has it not?
I worked before with a person who continued to do more than what was expected of him. Nobody told him to do so. He just wanted to do more because he knew that if he did not anticipate things ahead of time before being told or asked to fix them, it would pile up. That he did not like. So he continued to perform better than the rest.
But he was denied of any promotion. He was always part of the discussion about appraisals and next in line for promotion but never got it. This is due to the fact that there are others who were prioritized before him. And when we looked at the performance of those who were promoted, they were just meeting the expected performance.
Another time when I created an entire process for another company I worked for and our vice president was happy about it as it is something they were looking for. But, when ranking came up, i was not considered at the top 10 and only those who had performed as expected were ranked higher.
Underpromising and overdelivering is a strategy for managing expectations and delivering value. That is the keyword – value. And the value is subjective at times. What some consider valuable for them may not be the same for others. Additionally, it could diminish over time. The impact you had made on that moment may long be forgotten by the time the appraisal discussion starts or overshadowed by someone who had met the value others had been looking for.
Avoid underpromising and overdelivering
The study cites that when we meet the expectations of the people around us, we are more happy compared to not meeting them. Well, that is true. Doing otherwise negatively affects our integrity.
But, exceeding them does not create any extra happiness. It does not give us the feeling of being great that we have received more than what we expected. We may be thankful, sure, but we do not become so overjoyed.
Now, you may think that when you are expecting something, like someone attending your birthday that you did not expect to come, then suddenly that person showed up, did you really have set your mind to accept that the person will not arrive? Or hoping still that he or she will grace you with his or her presence? Are you really overjoyed because you are not expecting the person anymore or your wish has come true which is still your expectation, subconsciously?
The study makes a good argument. I am inclined to agree with it. Meeting expectations creates value for the one receiving it. Exceeding it, not so much. Not delivering, well you are one not to be trusted anymore (e.g. just like when you committed to finish a task by a certain deadline and were not able to) and therefore, lose any opportunity to work with the person whose trust you broke.
What’s more is that underpromising and overdelivering may compromise our integrity and if we fail to do it consistently, we lose the trust. Or if we do it consistently, people will always expect more from us. So, when will it stop?
As I end, let us all think about this. This is not about overdelivering on a promise. It is about keeping it. It requires us to be true to our word and just that, no more. We do not need to be more. We just need to be enough. We just need to produce enough.
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