What is the Cause of Success?

Guest article by Karin Lindner, for more information about Karin visit http://www.wspsolutions.ca/

How easy would it be for you to define the cause of success? Well, I guess first we would have to define what success is, and obviously success means different things to different people. At this point I will leave it up to you to discover your own definition of success.

One of the things that I have noticed in the corporate world is that everyone is constantly searching for causes of failure, so I have to ask myself, why isn’t anyone searching for the causes of success?

It all comes down to mindset. Unfortunately, we are conditioned to look for the negative rather than the positive. If we evaluate why something didn’t work out, it gives us a chance to complain. On the other hand, it would come as a surprise to most people if you were to ask them to please share the causes of their success with the group.

There are, of course, companies out there who are consciously on a journey to success, but they are the minority.

A mindset of targets, profits, numbers, and facts is the norm in most workplaces, and most leaders seem to forget that in order to get the numbers, they have to have their people on board. Many people in manufacturing have a very analytical and logical mind, and it is in their nature to require proof in order to believe that something is possible.

Don’t get me wrong, facts are important -- as long as they don’t dominate the workplace and don’t destroy people’s desire to make things happen. In my opinion, FACTS can stand for “Fear And Complacency Threaten Success”. Sometimes we refuse to believe things we don’t understand, but this is also how we create our own limitations.

Just think about Henry Ford when he decided that he wanted to build his now famous V-8 engine. He worked against the odds, and all the experts told him that it was impossible. Henry Ford’s formal education was limited, but who can say that only book-smart people are smart people?

Ford’s desire, his strong will, and his persistence helped him to succeed even when people told him countless times that it could not be done. That’s exactly the mindset we have to develop, and we have to teach this mindset to the people we work with.

Recently, I facilitated a workshop for a group of shop floor employees. It continues to amaze me what is possible when you show a sincere interest in a person and not only listen, but hear what he or she has to say. It is all about genuinely paying attention to their challenges and concerns and finding out the real reasons for their frustration because that’s when the energy in the room starts to shift.

The same applies on the shop floor, and that’s what you want. You want the energy to shift and to be able to develop a success-oriented mindset within yourself and your team.

Why don’t we think that the pursuit of perfection is everyone’s job? Why have we settled for mediocrity? Why are we trying to secure the right answers instead of pursuing the right questions? How do you think your bottom line is impacted when your employees are negative, frustrated, and stressed?

If you want to succeed, do not label people and do not give them the feeling that they are inferior, stupid, and offer no value just because they work on the factory floor. They are the cause for success because that’s where the money is made. These are the people who have to ensure that a quality product leaves the door; these are the people who give 100 percent if you don’t take their self worth away; these are the people who are the specialists in what they do and can offer incredible assistance and support in the area of continuous improvement and innovation.

Unfortunately, most shop floor employees are still seen as bodies and not as minds. My shocking observation is that most employees are not used to using their brain. And what’s even worse is that they are actually not allowed to use their brain. Isn’t it our responsibility to teach them and to help them look at their job with different eyes?

How do you view your workforce?
If you want to explore the cause of success, go to your people, talk to them, build trust, and listen to what they have to say. It is the secret recipe for success to make them a part of your success.

To learn more about workforce innovations in the daily work, visit http://www.wspsolutions.ca/

Is the Status Quo System the Default in your Work?

“There is no instant pudding.” – W. Edwards Deming

We often hear it said that the problems in the daily work are largely ignored. Solving these problems would seem like the logical thing to do. Yet they seem to go unseen. The status quo is a powerful force. The workforce is lulled into believing that this is the way things are because they have always been this way. Learning to see the problems is not something management spends much time on until they become full blown fires, then fire fighting mode kicks in. Once out, the fire is left to smoulder away, only to reappear in the future.

Accepting the status quo is a form of complacency in believing that change is not possible.

Learning to see the problems in the daily work is an important first step in being able to recognize the problem exists. Take for example; a hospital where nurses work hard every day doing their best to care for the needs of the customers. The nurses for the most part are extremely dedicated and caring. Yet, at day’s end they feel frustrated in not getting enough of the right things done.

A study at one hospital revealed, nurses were only spending 30% of their time with patients.  After the problem was identified and work was redesigned, nurses were able to spend 90% of their time with patients.  This led to a significant improvement in the quality of care provided and on the job satisfaction. Learning to see the problem as the low amount of time spent with patients and then accepting that the status quo could be changed was the secret to this success.

Yes the change involved hard work. Yes the change was not accomplished overnight. The effort and the dedication of all involved did provide a significant benefit for both patients and workers.

What kind of joy and satisfaction does your workforce experience in the work they perform?

Want to learn more about how to see the problems hidden in the status quo?

Visit www.wspsolutions.ca or  email me at leanthoughtstarter@gmail.com

Want ideas? –Ask your workforce!

“These are all common-sense ideas that anybody with half a brain could have figured out years ago. Instead of spending beaucoup bucks on consulting and design, the hospital administrators could have done what they should have done in the first place, and simply asked the nurses for their suggestions.” – Unknown

The best solutions to problems encountered in the daily work can most often be found with the experts involved in actually performing the daily work. We spoke of constraints and standards. Now we need to consider trust for a moment.



How many managers would trust their workforce to design the daily work?

Would you be comfortable in allowing a front line worker to alter a process?
How would you feel about having a component design altered by an assembler?
What if a material handler redesigned how the warehouse was laid out?

Chances are the concept has some fear attached to it for you. To make these kinds of changes, we would typically rely on experts, like; consultants, suppliers or process/design engineers. Truth is they may offer some excellent ideas. To do so though, overlooks the expert resources right there in your own organization. The people, who perform the work every day, probably have some creative insights.

That material handler may prefer to have the fastest moving items close at hand to make picking and stocking faster.
The assembler may have recognised a small change to a component can eliminate the need for an additional fastener, making assembly less complex, reducing the number of parts and speeding the process.

Before the workforce starts changing things, there needs to be some learning, procedures, disciplines and trust.

The workforce will need some tools, standard disciplines to trial changes, communicate results with all affected, obtain test results, analyse the effectiveness and impact of the proposed change; all before implementation. In this way the downstream customers will know that care has been taken to ensure any change implemented has been well thought out.

Management doesn’t really need to do the thinking for everyone. Think of the weight off your shoulders if the entire workforce has a shoulder to the wheel and is working daily to create and deliver the highest possible customer value through relentless innovation.

Want to learn more about fully engaging your entire workforce?

Email me leanthoughtstarter@gmail.com

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