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English is a funny language, you can express yourself, but at the same time confuse and obfuscate. Take for example the statement, “I am doing my best.”

This can have two meanings:

• You are doing the best you can under the circumstances. The situation is tough, there are many challenges, you lack resources, and perhaps the skills. Unless something dramatic happens, your performance is unlikely to improve.
• You are operating at the highest levels that you can. You could not do better no matter how hard you try. This is the point you want to be as much as possible. It is brutally hard work to get to this point, but so satisfying and fulfilling, you don’t mind doing it again and again.

This is more than a play on words. “Doing your best” is a clear metric to see how you and your co-workers are performing. Each meaning has a different set of actions that will follow, so make sure you are targeting the right meaning.