LeadershipProductivity

Less Talking, More Action

By Ron Pereira Updated on January 13th, 2011

Blessed Mother Teresa

“Too many words. Let them just see what we do.”
-Blessed Mother Teresa

This is an odd quote for a blog that primarily depends on the written word in order to communicate.

With this in mind, I’ll keep this post short and sweet.

In my humble opinion there are, generally speaking, 3 types of people.

  1. Those who do nothing.
  2. Those who talk about doing things, but do nothing.
  3. Those that actually do something.

If I’m being honest, I would say I’ve dipped my toe in all three ponds… but generally speaking I feel pretty good about saying I actually aim to get things done the majority of the time.

But then when I think about how little I’ve accomplished compared to someone like Blessed Mother Teresa I realize I have much to do.

What about you?

Ron Pereira

Ron has more than 20 years of experience in various manufacturing, supply chain, and senior leadership roles. Ron has held the titles of process engineer, engineering manager, master black belt, and director of manufacturing & continuous improvement. In 2002 Ron was the first American to win the Nokia Global Six Sigma and Overall Quality award in Helsinki, Finland. Ron holds a bachelor's degree in automated manufacturing and an MBA in technology management.

  1. pete abilla

    July 8, 2008 - 7:30 pm
    Reply

    I think you’re missing two more categories:

    4) There are people that do something, but say they didn’t.
    5) There are people that do nothing, and say they did nothing.

    I think (4) is what most people would call humble, especially if they deflect the credit to their team or to others.

  2. Ron Pereira

    July 8, 2008 - 7:58 pm
    Reply

    Good one, Pete. I suppose if we wanted to get technical we could also add:

    6) There are people that do nothing, but say they did something.

    Those would be liars and freeloaders.

  3. Jeremy Garner

    July 9, 2008 - 8:14 am
    Reply

    I’ve gotten in trouble all my life for talking at school, church and work. In my current job title my gift of gab has finally paid off. However, I have learned from my less talkative spouse that words are kind of like money, the more you put in circulation the less value they seem to have. Another quote I love from Mother Teresa (paraphrasing), “we don’t attempt to do big things, we do little things with big hearts”.

  4. Rick Foreman

    July 9, 2008 - 8:29 am
    Reply

    From a scriptural standpoint, “death and life are in the power of the tongue,” which leads to a harvest, good or bad, on what we speak. With that in mind, it is important to be swift to hear and slow to speak, while making sure our speech is value added with integrity. I guess that is also why the bible talks about being a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. Funny how it parlays into solid business practice for our daily lives. I continue to find there are times when my doing needs to do most of the saying.
    Great post and discussion as usual.

  5. Ron Pereira

    July 9, 2008 - 9:02 am
    Reply

    Great thoughts and input, as usual, Jeremy and Rick. Thanks for the comments!

  6. Paul Cary

    July 9, 2008 - 11:57 am
    Reply

    “Come and see” was what Mother Teresa used to reply when sombody would ask her about her work (Gemba). Every time I go and see and go and listen I learn something, this happens several times per day, what great oppotunities lie ahead. Thank you Blessed Mother Teresa for mentoring us.

  7. Mike Z

    July 9, 2008 - 12:46 pm
    Reply

    Let’s not forget that doing something without communicating can be counterproductive as well.

  8. Mark Graban

    July 9, 2008 - 4:26 pm
    Reply

    “Brevity… is wit.” (hat tip to the Simpsons)

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