I'll Try

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

- Yoda, Star Wars

I wince when I catch myself or hear someone else I'm working with say, "I'll try".

It helps me when I remember that "try" is a weak word, a word that victims use.   It almost guarantees that the action will not get done.  

When I hear myself saying, "I'll try to finish that proposal by tomorrow," it helps to stop and take a deep breath and ask myself whether I really am committed to finishing that proposal by tomorrow. If I am, I'll change my wording (brain coding) to "will do it" by tomorrow.

My mind tells my brain what to do.

What we forget is that our brain is simply a body part, like our hand or arm or foot. All of which are designed to serve ME. The brain all the more! The brain is designed to be the ultimate instrument of service to the mind. 

And yet, when I use the word try, it's because my mind has sent a weak, victim-like command to my brain. I am in my weakest mode, my trying mode.  I simply shift gears, change the wording and commit the brain to the task with an "I will do it".

Engaging Your People - 2 Second Lean

Step #20 - in the 20 Steps to Build a Great Business

 

Engaging Your People - 2 Second Lean

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Remember it is all about The Right People, Doing the Right Things, Right. The Right People are 'A' Players. 'A' Players have 3 main characteristics - Competent, Committed to always getting better, and Engaged with the team, the company and your core values. Lastly, the most effective way to increase the profits in any company is to increase the productivity of the people. 'A' Players are 3X more productive than average people.

The best, by far, program I have found to engage employees, increase productivity and do things right is a program called 2 Second LEAN. It is not your father's LEAN. This is a fun, engaging culture whereby you empower employees to see waste, fix what bugs them (don't have to ask,) and then share their fix with the team to inspire others.

It is not just for manufacturing companies, it is for all companies - from law firms to retail to service businesses.

Benefits

The benefits are tremendous and include real efficiency and productivity that impacts your bottom line, creates an engaged team (people really like to come to work and enjoy what they do), and real waste is cut from your operation increasing profits and improving your cash flow.

 

Results of a Second LEAN Culture

 

1. Operational excellence
2. Low turnover
3. Customer retention
4. Consistent reduction in cost
5. Consistent increase in quality
6. Continuous innovation
7. Pursue your Core Values
8. A fun place to work

 

Before you do anything watch these 3 Videos (21 minutes total):

The president of LANTECH provides some insights about leadership and LEAN - 4 key points (7 minute video): 

Owner of Wildwood Cabinetry -LEAN Journey/Company transformation (8 minute video):

Wildwood Employees - LEAN is about people - What LEAN means to these two (6 minute video):

Always be Recruiting

Step #19 - in the 20 Steps to Build a Great Business

 

Always Be Recruiting -  

Presentation/Topgrade for Culture

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"There's something rare, something finer far, 

something much more scarce than ability. It's the ability to recognize ability."

- Elbert Hubbard

 

"Recruiting should be a process not an event. We don't go and find new customers only when we lose one, we are constantly seeking new customers and we should be recruiting new A Players for our Virtual Bench all the time too."

- Jack Daly

 

Now watch this 25 minute Presentation on Topgrading - Always be Recruiting  - Virtual Bench.

Coaching vs. Managing

Step #14 through #18 - in the 20 Steps to Build a Great Business

 

Coaching vs. Managing

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"We can only manage things, activities and cows. People can't be managed they must be coached."

"Coaches know they cannot play the game. Managers know they can play the game and probably better than anyone else on the team. Coaches focus on making the players the best they can be."

- Rick Wallace

Of all the beliefs we hold dear, being a "better manager" is the biggest lie we have been told. Take 18 minutes and watch this video on the difference between coaching and managing, and the techniques to use to begin coaching your team.

This 18 minute video will cover steps 14-18, and is all about People:

• Coaching vs Managing
• Weekly coaching
• Stop Answering questions
• Recruiting and building a Virtual Bench

 

Coaching vs. Managing

Rhythm and Execution

Step #13 - in the 20 Steps to Build a Great Business

 

The Rhythm that Ensures Execution

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"Communication - the biggest problem with communications is that we think it has been done."

"Goals without actions are dreams, actions without goals is chaos."

"Learning is not enough we must do."

The Leadership Matrix - Planning and Execution

	Right People	Right Things	Done Right
Clarity	Vision/Goals/Purpose	Actions	Core Values
Focus	Engagement	Accountability	2 Second LEAN/ Process
Execution	Weekly Coaching Conversation	Scorecards/ Dashboards	Training

Execution is the last row of the Leadership Matrix Process and these 3 processes are the key to a great business. Because without action and execution there are no results - regardless of how good your plan, strategies, tactics and solutions are, if you can't execute/finish the Right Things you can't build a great business.

Rhythm are the habits that ensures follow up and execution within your business. How many times do you start an project, talk about an idea or a solution to a problem and then get "busy" and it never gets done? We start and stop and start again because we don't have a process to follow up and execute those Right Things.   

Morning Huddles 2 Second LEAN - company wide learning, goals, wins, cut waste.

Weekly Coaching Conversations - One on one 10-15 minutes each week with direct reports.

Weekly Coaching Scorecards - Goals, skill improvement, Rocks, Core Values.

Training Hour - Planned training each week in practice not in the game.

We will be covering each of these in detail in the next few weeks. 

Learning, tools and actions to build and execute this process in your business can be found in the course below.