The word “just” has a way of watering down complexity and directing behavior toward a clearly focused and visibly achievable outcome. It does not allow for explanation or excuse while recognizing that there is a level of capability that is unrealized and raises the level of awareness as to the energy needed to perform a certain act. When used as a clarifying means to draw attention to an activity, the results can be equally as powerful.
At a time of volatile markets, economic instability and global shifts in power and resources, a torrential rain of information will send the most stable of organizations down an overflowing river in a boat with 100 people that was only meant to carry 50. While 98 of those occupants are debating the appropriate course of action, the other two recognize that nothing is being accomplished, so why don’t we “just row?”

The organizational landscape has had its share of effectively powerful “just” statements. There is a generation of television viewers who have the statement “just the facts” etched in their long term retrieval file. That simple statement eliminated verbal clutter and the need to embellish. One cannot help but wonder if many of the unresolved issues that fester inside a business could be eliminated if the leadership encouraged team members to provide them with “just the facts.”

During their heyday, the Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders were told by Al Davis, the organizational managing partner, to “just win, baby.” Everyone understood that there was no ambiguity about “just win.”
As one of the many initiatives that took place during her watch as first lady, Nancy Reagan looked into the growing world of the drug culture and said to the nation that where drugs are concerned “just say no.” While critics lambasted her for this simplistic solution to a complex social problem, the beauty was in its simplicity. Embedded in the “just say no” statement is the belief that one has the mind and spirit to choose not to be addicted to drugs. In that same vein, a business can choose to “just say no” to its spiraling addiction to “woe is me” culture.

“Just do it” came to symbolize a mindset about high level, performance accomplishment that is void of mental barriers and recognizes the unrestricted road to individual achievement. In doing so, Nike did more than market a brand. The company also offered a unique look at what really matters. The ultimate measure of achievement is not the amount of time an organization spends in preparation but what they did when that moment arrived. The carryover impact of “just do it” is connected to CEO’s to “Just Lead,” to employees to “Just Create,” to students to “Just Think,” to parents to “Just Parent,” and for all of us in a rapidly changing business market to “Just……”

Lee E. Meadows, Ph.D, is a professor of management at Walsh College and the author of Silent Conspiracy and Silent Suspicion, Lincoln Keller Mysteries. He can be reached at lmeadows@walshcollege.edu