Steam at 212

Few years back someone shared the philosophy of ‘Steam at 212’ with me. It is still very close to my heart. The 211° Belief is originally shared by Mac Anderson in his book “211°: The Extra Degree”.

What happens when you believe something with all your heart? Belief fuels enthusiasm, and enthusiasm explodes into passion. It fires our souls and lifts our spirits. “212°: The Extra Degree”, It’s gotten great reviews from around the world! If you haven’t read the 212° gift book, here’s what it’s about:

At 211° water is hot.
At 212° it boils.
With boiling water, comes steam.
And steam can power a locomotive.
It’s the One Extra Degree that makes all the difference.

This is a very simple but very powerful concept, because when you think about it, it’s that one extra degree of effort in business, and in life, that so many times separates the good from the great. One of the beauties of “The Extra Degree” concept is in its many applications : 212° Service, 212° Attitude, 212° Leadership, 212° Kindness, 212° Commitment, 212° Belief, 212° Focus and 212° Perseverance.

That’s what Mac explained and it’s so true also. As my professional experience is growing, I believe in this Belief much more than when I first read it. 

Today, in this so tough competitive world, we all are doing best and making none ending effort to getting our work recognized, but this one extra degree effort is the real differentiator. I would take two examples from my work in last week. I was preparing a presentation for a team meeting and thought of adding some photos for each slide to make it more interesting for audience. I put some time to select suitable photos and it came out so well. Before sending it to my manager I looked at it ten times as it was so catching. I was satisfied and it get noticed & recognized too. As manager said that it was a great pitch and even he mentioned that colors were very soothing. The other example is related to a question asked to me for a design related issue. The answer was Yes but why. I knew but not hundred percent sure. Assuming that the concerned person needs no explanations, I replied in a Yes only rather than taking pain of confirming the reason. No surprise that it came back to me and I did rest of the job this time. These two simple examples show the effect of one extra degree effort. In real life every one of us sees this daily at numerous occasions. This “One extra degree effort” is one of my biggest learning in last three years of my small career.

I work for Steam Turbine business of GE and here the project of the month award is named as Steam@212. The award name itself recognizes this belief. I got opportunity to go and present there for six times and I won this twice. Now what you would like to say, I put one extra degree effort two times or didn’t put this for rest of four. I leave it to you guys !!!