Cheap Commitment

I've been debating the issue of commitment vs. spending money lately with several people and this tends to back my theory. (yeah - for me... now hopefully no one will find the other side of the theory). Anyways, I've been thinking and theorizing that people need to be committed to your cause. It doesn't matter how much money you spend, you need people committed. Check out Creating Passionate Users for a whole list of reasons why.
You can have the cheapest equipment and put out a dang quality product or have a dang high quality organization.
Or you can spend hundreds if not thousands on equipment and software and gadgets, but if no ones committed, you won't see any increase in productivity or the output of your group/cause. If there's no commitment, why would anyone take time to learn to use your gadgets better?
DISD has given my mom a Palm Pilot and a laptop in the last few years to help increase her productivity. But my mom doesn't care. I think she's probably used the laptop once or twice. She doesn't see any need for it anywhere.
Having a laptop or Palm Pilot doesn't make my mom a great teacher. It doesn't help her students get higher test scores. My mom's a great teacher because she's committed to excellence and bringing her students to a point of excellence.
My dad's a great electrician, not because he has the lastest tools and equipment, but because he will wait and work and stay at any project until its completed and works right.
Saturday night before heading to bed I showed him the damaged cord on my laptop charger. He said it could possibly be soldered, but since it was midnight, I dismissed it and went to bed, knowing I'd have to find another way to run Powerpoint the next morning at church.
But instead of giving up like I did, my dad woke up at 5 in the morning and came and got my charger.
He used a simple knife, some plyers and knot know-how and fixed the tear in my charger.
By 6:30 a.m. my computer was plugged in and charging again.
It didn't take any fancy equipment to fix, just a commitment to be better.
The City of Belton is overflowing with a large revenue bucket. They run a super tight budget every year, but you know how?
Each of the employees has made commitments to make the city better. Sure they're not getting super raises each year, and they could be making more money elsewhere, but they are committed to a city they love and enjoy working for. They stay and make Belton a great place to live and work.
Brian Bailey a staff member at Fellowship Church Dallas writes this about his church's new commitment and mission statement, COFFEE.
"I would much rather invest resources in first-class staff. Hire the right people with the right skills, and they will allow you to accomplish more than you could imagine, for less."
That sounds right up my alley.
Get people who know what they're doing and are committed to their cause. Reward them for their hardwork and watch your productivity and output skyrocket.