h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had a conversation witha family member who said that anyone who was in a job should give 100% all of the time.
I then asked if she thought X, a person she liked, gave 100%.
"Of course!" she said.
So I continued, "If the boss came in with an urgent job and asked everyone to work flat out for a while to get the special job done would X work harder?"
"Yes, of course!"
"Then he wasn't giving 100% in the first place then was he?"

I like your story. I think "giving 100%" (or sometimes 110%) is one of the most overused meaningless phrases in management. When a manager asks if someone is giving 100%, how many people are going to say "hell no, I want a life outside of work too" ? It has become a meaningless dilbertesque cliche and I doubt it even motivates anyone to work harder at all. But if anyone finds it actually motivates them, please let me know

i think it really means 100?control over the situation and trying to gain absolute control over others

I agree with both the comments. I think we should do enough and then be willing to do a bit more if there is a crisis. I prefer my staff to be working at a reasonalbe rate and be able to pull rabbits out of the hat from time to time rather than be totally worn out!