On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.
"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action." —Frank Tibolt
Most people only commit to action if they
feel a certain level of motivation. And they only feel motivation when they
feel an emotional inspiration.
The following is how most people approach
completing goals.
They wait for inspiration. Then they
act — they go to the gym, clean the entire house to surprise their partner when
they get home, they start writing chapter 1 of their novel.
And yet, despite these surges of
inspiration that happen every day…
Gyms are rarely frequented.
Houses remain cluttered messes.
That book is still a (mostly) empty Word
document on the computer.
Action creates inspiration. Action
creates luck, creativity, and motivation.
Rather than waiting to feel inspired and
motivated, you just need to start doing the work. Seems too simple right? Well,
when you start putting in a little bit of daily work, it creates a compounding
effect. You’ll begin to feel inspired, ideas will flow and you start building
momentum. When you start doing, the rest starts to fall into place. The pathway
to realizing your goals and dreams is non-linear and requires you to put in a
lot of effort.
Taking action and applying a new idea to
your life will inspire you more than anything someone else could say.
This is an
inspiring and powerful 20-minute commencement speech by Naval Admiral William
H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, at the
University-wide Commencement at The University of Texas at Austin on May 17,
2014.
Admiral
McRaven’s commencement speech is perhaps one of the best commencement speeches
I have ever heard. It is on point and offers some fantastic life and business
lessons.
Below are
excerpts from his amazing speech.
10 Life
Lessons from Basic SEAL Training
1. If you
want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things
right.”
2. If you
want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
“You can’t change the world alone—you will need some help— and to truly get
from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the
good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.”
3. If you
want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the
size of their flippers.
“SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to
succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not
your social status.”
4. If you
want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
“Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end
up as a sugar cookie.”
“For failing
the uniform inspection, the student [in Basic SEAL training] had to run, fully
clothed into the surfzone and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the
beach until every part of your body was covered with sand. The effect was known
as a ‘sugar cookie.’ You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day — cold, wet
and sandy.”
“There were
many a student who just couldn’t accept the fact that all their effort was in
vain. . . Those students didn’t understand the purpose of the drill. You were
never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform.”
5. If you
want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
“Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events —
long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something
designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to
meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and
at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a ‘circus.’ A circus
was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break
your spirit, to force you to quit.”
“Life is filled
with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful.
It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.”
6. If you
want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head
first.
7. If you
want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
“There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim you
will have to deal with them.”
8. If you
want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.
“At the darkest moment of the mission is the time when you must be calm,
composed—when all your tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner
strength must be brought to bear.”
9. If you
want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
“If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of
hope. The power of one person—Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a
young girl from Pakistan, Malala—one person can change the world by giving
people hope.”
10. If you
want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
“In SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the
compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit—is ring the
bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the
bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and
you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT—and you no
longer have to endure the hardships of training. Just ring the bell. If you
want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.”
—–
“Start each day
with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone.
Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some
risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the
downtrodden and never, ever give up — if you do these things, then the next
generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than
the one we have today.”
“It matters not
your gender, your ethnic or religious background, your orientation, or your
social status. Our struggles in this world are similar and the lessons to
overcome those struggles and to move forward—changing ourselves and the world
around us—will apply equally to all.”
“Changing the
world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it.”
For the past twenty
years, I’ve helped to develop methods for implementing lean practices in
factories and across supply chains. One of the most important things I’ve
learned is that self-reflection is as relevant to lean practices. In fact, it’s
an integral and essential part of it.
John Dewey, the
American philosopher and psychologist, said “We do not learn from experience.
We learn from reflecting on experience.”
To develop, we
need to build on our experience. Whether it’s to improve our skills and
abilities, become more competent, increase our performance or open ourselves to
new ideas. But as Dewey observed, we do this through reflection, either on our
own or with others.
In Japan, when
someone makes a mistake, they will profusely apologize, take responsibility,
and propose a solution for how they can prevent the same mistake from happening
in the future. This process is referred to as 反省 – or Hansei. Hansei is a core concept of Japanese culture.
It’s not about shame or guilt. Rather, it’s about admitting there is room for
improvement – and committing to that improvement.
To paraphrase
my friend, Jon Miller: “Han” means to
change, turn over, turn upside down. “Sei” is the simplified form of a
character meaning to look back upon, review, examine oneself. As a native
speaker of Japanese “hansei” strikes me as both an intellectual and emotional
exercise. With hansei there is a sense of shame, if that is not too hard of a
word. This may come from having been asked to do a lot of hansei as a child,
being told “hanse shinasai!” which in English might be “Learn to behave!”
The point is,
when you do hansei it is almost never because you are “considering past
experience” as if they were happy memories. You are confronting brutal facts
about your actions and the impact they had, in hopes that you can learn from
this and change your behavior in the future.
Toyota is known
as a learning organization and this is one of the reasons why Toyota has become
so successful. Hansei has a strong role in being a learning organization. In
Toyota, hansei is often viewed as a precursor to kaizen, and a pre-requisite to
being a learning organization. This is best explained as below (taken from
Toyota-Global website);
Hansei is both
an intellectual and emotional introspection. The individual must recognize the
gap between the current situation and the ideal, take responsibility for
finding solutions, and commit to a course of action. The examination involves a
review of successes and failures, to determine what works and what needs to be
improved. Hansei leads to ideas for kaizen and yokoten, the sharing of best
practices from one location to another.
At each key
milestone in a project, and at completion, the people involved meet to reflect
on their experience of what happened. However, successes aren’t celebrated. In
true Japanese fashion, they are treated with humility and modesty. Instead, the
focus is on the failures and what could have been better.
This isn’t
about pointing fingers, issuing blame or scoring points. It helps to identify
when things need to improve and prevent any of the errors that were made. Above
all, it helps to instill the belief that there’s always room and always need
for further improvement.
Hansei is one
of the keys to kaizen, as the concept itself focuses on improvement as opposed
to punishment. When we fail, we realize that we have done something wrong. So
it is important that we will learn lessons from it, and find methods to prevent
its recurrence. It is most important to
consider also how bad we feel when we hurt others in the team by not performing
to their expectations.
Why not take
this opportunity to practice some self-reflection? In what areas do you need to
improve? How can you take ownership of that need to improve? What can you do differently?
On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.
"Always do your best.
What you plant now, you will harvest later." —Og Mandino
We have all heard, “Always do your best.” Whether it came from our parents, a teacher or sports coach, doing our best has always been a cliche-motto echoed throughout our lives. Our work reflects in the output and it says a lot how we value our work. Excellent work will only give out excellent result. You reap what you sow. If you do a great job, the results will be great as well. Successful leaders believe in great commitment and even greater work. They don’t simply through the motions. They commit by investing time and effort onto everything they do. Whatever they do, they do their best. It is important to do your best every time. Why? An excellent work gives you an excellent result and a lousy job gives you lousy result. Also, whatever you do today, you will benefit from them, tomorrow. Successful leaders don’t just happen overnight. It takes time to become successful. What’s the secret of their success? It’s doing their best everyday. Their success is an accumulation of all they have worked for. They didn’t get successful in an instant. There is no genie in a bottle that granted their wishes. It is all from the time they dedicated and their hard work. Like the quote said, “What you plant now, you will harvest later.” It goes both ways if you choose to do your best or a mediocre effort. If you do your best, well you get all the benefits of it in the future. But if you only give 50% of your efforts, chances are you won’t reach your goal anytime soon. Continuously working excellently can help you reach your goal sooner rather than later.
For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips. It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey. Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.
Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:
Lean Tip #2221 – Get Your Team to Show Appreciation
for Each Other
One easy and rewarding thing you can do to
create a positive working environment is to actively show appreciation for your
team, and encourage them to show appreciation for each other. This can be done
in an unstructured way, by just encouraging your employees to be thankful to
each other.
Lean Tip #2222 – Celebrate Team Wins
A team that celebrates together, stays
together. You will discover that most successes you have in your work are not
down to one person, but a whole team. Be sure to celebrate wins in the
workplace, no matter how big or small. This will not only help people to feel
appreciated but also make them understand that they are having an important
impact on the organization too! Get your team to decide on how they would like
to celebrate their next win. This will help them feel more invested in their
goal.
Lean Tip #2223 – Spend Time Together Not Working
Your employees are human, not resources or
man-hours. Take some time to do a non-work related activity together. This can
help to rejuvenate the team and also help them to see each other beyond their
job title. If your team feels relaxed and comfortable in each other’s presence,
this will create a positive and safe working environment.
Lean Tip #2224 – Set Boundaries and Expectations
Together
Create a positive and safe environment together
by conducting a workshop where your team can set boundaries and expectations
together. By creating these commitments together you will avoid team members
from feeling that something has been ‘imposed’ on them, and instead they will
feel more committed to the team's boundaries and expectations as this is
something they have created together.
Lean Tip #2225 – Trust Your Team
As a leader, it is essential that you trust
your team. Avoid micromanagement, or taking over tasks that others should be
responsible for as this will cause your team to harbor negative feelings.
Instead, nurture an environment of trust and give your team freedom (with
responsibility, of course) and this will spread positivity throughout your
employees.
Lean Tip #2226 – Encourage Your Employees to Chat
Face-to-Face
While sending a quick email or chat message to
a coworker might seem like a more efficient way of getting an answer,
oftentimes it can have the opposite effect, as the subsequent back-and-forth
can take longer than a quick face-to-face. Face-to-face interaction really
speeds up the process of solving a problem, answering a question, or getting
something important clarified.
Lean Tip #2227 – Hold a Daily, 10-Minute Company
Meeting
While meetings are generally considered a
necessity, they can carry on to the point where they eat away at the work day.
Each day gather as a company for a 10-minute meeting called the Daily Huddle. The
meeting serves as a firehose of information that keeps everyone in the loop,
including a roundup of key performance indicators, the celebration of
accomplishments, and the identification of opportunities to improve.
Not only is it a good way to keep all employees
up to speed on any new developments within the company, keeping meetings short
and sweet forces a streamlined meeting process, and reduces time wasted.
Lean Tip #2228 – Promote a Culture of Open Communication
Encourage your employees to communicate openly.
But, that goes beyond the idea of communicating face-to-face to solve problems;
do your employees feel comfortable voicing their concerns, or giving feedback
on how your company is run?
The best way to improve business efficiency is
to encourage feedback, ideas, and communication between departments. You can’t
be everywhere at once, nor will you see everything. Your employees may be able
to spot an area of your company that could be made more efficient, or a process
that could be streamlined. Make sure they feel comfortable voicing their
opinions, and offering feedback, especially when it comes to improving
efficiency.
Lean Tip #2229 – Communication is King
There's one simple thing that every business
can do that, if implemented, would change their business dramatically. That is
the communication process between management and employees. Nothing is more
effective than creating an efficient system whereby people can easily
communicate with anyone in one's company and someone actually responds. More
time and energy is wasted by people getting lost in a bureaucracy where
employee needs and questions are not met in a timely manner. Fix this and
productivity soars!
Lean Tip #2230 – Inspire Employees
Employees are the eyes and ears of your
business operations. If there are weak spots in your system, it’s likely
employees know about them. It’s also likely they want a better process for
completing tasks. But when your staff thinks you’re a “my way or the highway” leader,
they usually aren’t motivated to come up with solutions.
Involve your employees in improving business
operations. Ask your staff where improvements can be made. Take notes of the
flaws that are pointed out and solutions offered. Make sure your employees know
their opinions matter and you are open to suggestions. In addition to
accelerating your business process improvement, showing your employees that
they add value to your small business can take the stress off of your staffing
management plan by keeping employee turnover at a minimum.
Lean Tip #2231 - Don’t Resist Change.
While your gut reaction to change is often
refusal, such a response is not productive. Change is inevitable, and you must
learn to accept it. The quicker you do, the smoother your transition.
Lean Tip #2232 - Find the Positive in Change.
Even the most difficult changes can produce
positive results. Don’t waste time dwelling on what you don’t like. Focus
instead on the potential benefits and new opportunities the changes may bring,
and your spirits will remain lighter throughout the transition.
Lean Tip #2233 - Focus on One Change at a Time.
While we can learn to accept and manage change,
piling numerous changes up all at once can become too overwhelming, even for the
most flexible of us. If there are many changes going on in your work life, this
is probably not the best time to also start those home renovations. Managing
change in one area of your life is easier when you have other areas that remain
familiar and comforting.
Lean Tip #2234 - Encourage Flexibility
To transition through workplace change
successfully, workers need to be flexible. Encourage employees to embrace
change by engaging in new job responsibilities and facing challenges head on.
Be a role model to workers in your organization by getting out of your own
comfort zone.
Lean Tip #2235 - Involve Employees in the Change
Process.
Employees are not so much against change as
they are against being changed. Any time managers are going to implement
organizational change, there is always a lag between the time the change has
been discussed at the management level and the time the change is going to be
implemented. Managers like to play like an ostrich and believe that they are
the only ones who know about the changes that are going to take place.
Unfortunately, while their heads are stuck in the sand believing that no one
else knows, employees are effectively undermining the future changes with
negative informal communication…the company grapevine. The sooner you involve
employees in the process, the better off you will be implementing the change. A
formal communication channel is more effective at implementing change than a
negative informal one.
On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.
"The sweetest of all sounds is praise." —Xenophon
Praise is one
of the most powerful things a leader can offer their team. When delivered well
(and well-deserved), praise gives people the drive and motivation to continue
doing the caliber of work you want to see.
Offering praise
to your employees is all about recognition. Most workers thrive on feeling
appreciated. As an employee, knowing that what you are doing means something to
your boss and to the entire business gives you a feeling of worth and it can
motivate you to continue to get better at what you do.
The happier
your employees are working for you, the more engaged and productive they will
be. Receiving praise is empowering. It doesn’t cost you anything to
congratulate and praise your staff. However, not giving them credit when and
where credit is deserved can cost you big time.
It’s not always
easy to know when or how to praise people on your team. You only want to reward
great performance, and it’s easy for routines to make you blind to steady,
reliable work.
The best
formula for recognizing an individual for their efforts is:
Thank the
person by name.
Specifically
state what they did that is being recognized. It is vital to be specific
because it identifies and reinforces the desired behavior.
Explain how the
behavior made you feel (assuming you felt some pride or respect for their
accomplishment!).
Point out the
value added to the team or organization by the behavior.
Thank the
person again by name for their contribution.
It might seem
like a lot, but really praising others and saying "thank you"
probably won’t take you much more energy in the day. Regularly putting a few
minutes toward making sure others feel properly acknowledged for their efforts
will go a long way to building the positive workplace you envision.
There's little
doubt that praising and recognizing the efforts and achievements of others can
bring about some very positive results in the workplace. Being praised makes
the recipient feel good about themselves and this can help to boost their
performance. Praise provides the kind of positive experience or 'uplift' that
can increase employees' morale, motivation and engagement, and renew their
commitment to their manager and the organization.
Communication
is the foundation of every single relationship you have in your personal life;
it's no different in business. Without effective communication, there can be misunderstandings,
problems and conflicts among your staff, your clients and everyone else you
come into contact. Poor communication can make effective delegation,
increased productivity and an enjoyable work environment virtually impossible.
Here are the 7
Tips for Improving Your Communication Skills:
Make communication a priority. Checking in with employees is
essential. Meet with them regularly either in-person, inviting them to
discuss their thoughts on their projects, tasks, and the organization as a
whole. They want to be heard, and they want to share their thoughts and
opinions. This will improve internal communication throughout your entire
organization, as well as empower your employees and keep them comfortable
in their positions.
Simplify and stay on message. Use simple, straightforward
language.The truth is
that everybody cannot be on same page when it comes to vocabulary.
Therefore, to be effective in your communications with your team members,
use words that can be easily understood. When ambiguous words are used,
you can be misunderstood and/or waste precious time having to explain
yourself.
Engage and encourage feedback. Don’t
just talk and walk away. Draw
your listeners and readers into the conversation. Ask questions and invite
opinions. Solicit their feedback.
It will also afford you the privilege of knowing if your message was well
understood. Look for ways to clarify or rephrase what you are
trying to say so it can be understood.
Listen to your team members. Communication
is intended to be a two way street. Don’t just talk because you are the
leader without listening to anyone else. Encourage them to open up so you
can be well guided when communicating in the future with them. You have
two ears and one mouth –so you must listen more than you speak.
Respect your team. Recognize your message is not
just about you or what you want. You should sincerely care about the needs
and the unique perspectives of those to whom you are communicating. One of
the best ways to show your respect is simply by paying attention to what
they say.
Develop
trust. Trust is
the product of open and honest communications. So it is important that
good communication channels exist. Also, trust is an essential ingredient
of teamwork. If trust exists among business associates, teamwork and
cooperation are much easier to achieve.
Inform
and Inspire.
Communication is a form of information exchange. Explaining and clarifying
your thoughts and ideas is important in a leadership role. But passing on
information to your team is only half of the equation. As a leader, it's
vital to your business that your communication efforts inspire your team
as much as they educate them. Plan ahead for meetings and conversations so
you can effectively mix information and inspiration.
Ultimately,
effective communication can be one of the most important skills you use in your
business. If your communication skills can use some fine-tuning, take time to
analyze how you communicate, and the results of your communication. Then focus
on ways you can improve it over time. You may be surprised how much that
changes your relationships with staff, clients and colleagues for the better.
The ways in
which your employees communicate with each other and with you is entirely
dependent on the example you set and the atmosphere you deliberately create.
Whether workplace communication is poor or outstanding, it can have a big
impact on revenue, productivity, and employee satisfaction. So value your
employees, set a good example, and above all, don’t just talk… listen.
When you
communicate more effectively in the workplace, work gets done more efficiently.
You foster a good environment where employees feel trusted and co-workers get
along. Eliminate miscommunication and boost your business by implementing these
tips now.
