Everyone is doing the best that they can with what they’ve been given.

Because I believe this, I am able to approach less than ideal situations with extreme friendliness. I have confidence in my teams. I believe that each person is using their talent, tools, and intelligence, all to the utmost.

I know a company whose business is putting on elaborate events with lots of moving parts. A key manager had totally misjudged the complexity of an event and the thing literally fell apart before their eyes. The hapless manager did not try to make a bad situation befall him. In this sad instance, someone was in over his head – he actually was doing his best. His level of responsibility was outside the scope of his capability: He was not in the right job.

If you have people on your team whom you think are not doing a fantastic job, it is entirely your problem to solve. Assuming that you fully know your people, it means one of just a few things: You are not communicating what you want, or leading well, or giving them the tools they need to do the job, or you are simply not hiring well. Once identified, the good news is that you can fix it.