Lessons from Christopher Columbus’ Life

There are many important and valuable life lessons that we can gather from the adventurous life of one of history’s most famous pioneers. Christopher Columbus had many ups and downs in his life, but he never let that stop him from what he wanted to achieve. I think we can learn most from Christopher Columbus strong and brilliant character. We can learn from his innovative thinking, persistence, and his mental strength. Columbus was definitely a man to be admired and deserves all the credit and glory he receives in our country and around the world. 

When I say we can learn from Christopher Columbus’s innovative thinking, I mean the fact that he believed that man could travel west to the new world. The prior belief was that you could only travel around the tip of Africa and east to go to the new world. Christopher Columbus challenged this belief with his own firm belief. With funding and great help from King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, he set out on his voyage to the new world with his route that went west instead of east. Columbus successfully completed his voyage and found the Americas. The point of this is that America would not have been founded until much later if it was not for Christopher Columbus’s innovative thinking. We can all take a lesson from that as we go about our day and move on with our life. We need to think of ways to go around, above, or under the obstacles we face in our lives instead of always trying to go straight through them without weighing out our options. We, as human beings, can be as innovative as we want if we put our minds to it. 

The second great and probably most prominent characteristic of Christopher Columbus was his unbelievable persistence. Many times in Columbus’s life he was put down or told that he could not do something, yet he saw past the pessimists and accomplished his goal. There are many great and prime examples of this. One of these examples occurred when everyone told him that he would not find land if he sailed west. The general belief was that Columbus would die at sea. This being said Columbus stayed persistent and believed in his idea that he could sail west from Europe and find land. Another prime example occurred on Columbus’s first voyage to the new world. The date that the ship had calculated to arrive at had passed long ago so the crew on board of Columbus’s ship was very restless and decided to mutiny against Columbus. With mutiny at hand, Columbus persisted and kept sailing west. Finally, they found land and Columbus was saved. This was an absolute perfect example of Columbus staying persistent in his beliefs and the end result being a good one. In today’s society, people get down on themselves too fast and then do not follow through with their ideas. We need to be more like Christopher Columbus in the sense that we need to be as persistent in our ways like he was. If we stay persistent like Columbus was then there is no telling what great things lie in our future. I realize that being persistent is much easier said than done but people need to make a consciences effort to stay persistent in their ways. 

Columbus’s third awesome characteristic was his mental strength. Columbus’s mental strength was what got him through all of his life. He stayed mentally tough throughout all the criticism throughout his life. We can take a great lesson from this in many important ways. If we stay mentally tough trough our hardest and most difficult endeavors then our confidence will soar. We will also feed off of this and not let anything stop us from achieving our goals. For example, when a student sits down to study for a test he or she has two options. The first option is to study diligently even if there are more fun things to do or to not study and wander off and do something else. This is the point where a student or anyone in else in life must exhibit mental toughness and discipline to make themselves study. This is just one simple example that is on more of a small scale. Columbus’s decision were on much more a larger scale and sometimes he had to exhibit mental toughness in life or death situations. 

Finally, I feel like if we were all a bit more like Christopher Columbus than the world we live in would be a much better place. The three characteristics that I discussed are what separate the people who are remembered in history to those who are not. Hopefully, we will all follow in the footsteps of one of history’s greatest men.

Lean Quote: Leaders Must Give Hope For the Future

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 have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon."   — Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hope is the one thing that lifts the human spirit and keeps us going despite our difficulties that we face. Hope looks beyond life’s hardships to a better, brighter tomorrow. It keeps us believing and expecting that out of today’s darkness, tomorrow’s light will shine brightly. Hope is seeing the future; a future we can attain if we keep moving forward and, as needed, adjusting, and adapting. A leader’s hopeful outlook enables people to see beyond today’s challenges to tomorrow’s answers.

Leaders must give hope for the future, mobilize people in a direction, and believe deep in the core of who they are that there are great opportunities on the horizon. Here are 7 ways leaders can instill hope:

• Be visible. Be Present.
• Be as open, honest, and as fair as possible.
• Emphasize Optimism.
• Encourage and Motivate.
• Focus on Possibility.
• Let your people know how much you Value them.
• Invest in People

Giving hope to your people combines the alignment, engagement, and vision of the organization. A leader's ability to do so will reap enormous benefits for your organization and your people.

Hope is not always a guarantee for success, but a leader will take the slightest amount of hope to chip away at the barriers of reality and impossibility. An astute leader will dove-tail hope into the vision and mission of their organization. They will work to make sure that everyone is "laser focused" on the task at hand. More importantly, they will make the vision bigger than the obstacles that threaten the mission itself.

The ability to instill hope is a necessary leadership trait. The leaders’ hope surrounds the belief that his/her goal will be attained. It enables one to face tough times with creativity and resilience. Leading in these uncertain times requires inspiration more than ever.

Lean Tips Edition #161 (#2626 - 2640)

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.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #2626 - Boards Need to be Accessible and Close to the Workplace

The purpose of visual management boards is to be a reference point for discussions around team performance. Therefore the boards need to be located near where the teams work. That means in a safe location (not a forklift aisle) in the workplace where noise is sufficiently low to allow a conversation and where the board will not be obstructed by materials or machinery. People stand up during their daily meetings, so there needs to be sufficient space to enable the team to meet in front of the board. Lighting also needs to be good enough to read what is on the board.

Lean Tip #2627 - Visual Management Boards Don’t Have to Look Beautiful

One of the greatest frustrations with implementing visual management boards is managers’ preoccupation with aesthetics – how the board looks. I strongly advocate for handwritten graphs and problem-solving strips because this shows that it is the team itself that is updating the data. Using the “green pen = on target, red pen = off-target” approach really communicates strongly to the team how they are going. The team leader has to pick up the red pen to record off-target performance. This is a very conscious act and makes the Team Leader and the team very aware of the problem performance area. It then inevitably prompts a problem-solving discussion about how to turn the red line into a green one.

Lean Tip #2628 – Avoid Having Your Daily Management Meeting Around a Computer Screen

Computer printed graphs and computer “dashboard” screens in the workplace are by definition developed by someone working on a computer. That person is usually a manager or staff member who works in an office and is not part of the team. The act of preparing, printing and posting the graphs lacks the immediacy and impact of handwriting the result using the red or green pen. The computer dashboard approach reduces engagement further because now the data is being fed to the team by a computer and the team are the passive recipients of this information. Computerized production rate clocks or graphs can be useful to maintain a constant takt time during the day, but having a daily team meeting around a computer screen is unlikely to generate much engagement.

Lean Tip #2629 – Make Visual Board About Conversation Not “Wallpaper”

If you think just putting information on a Visual Management Board on the wall will get people to engage, then you will be disappointed. I see many big immaculate visual displays sprawling across entrance halls and walkways with literally dozens of metrics displayed. Here is the bad news: no one looks at them. In many cases, the job of printing the graphs and posting them is delegated to an administrative staff member and not even the business leaders notice or read the graphs. We call this type of visual management board “wallpaper” because that is the only function they serve. The boards need to be the focus of structured daily conversations about how the team is going, what are the barriers to improvement and how these barriers can be overcome. Therefore visual management boards go hand in hand with daily meetings.

Lean Tip #2630 – Provide Visual Factory Training

Visual communication cannot be effective if the employees don’t know what the different signs, labels and other items mean. For example, if you’re using red floor tape to indicate that there is a potential for fire but people don’t know that, they can’t take the necessary precautions.

With that in mind, your facility must provide training to everyone in the area whenever using visual communication. If you’re just implementing a visual strategy you can often do one large training session for all the employees. If you’re just looking to expand and improve an existing strategy you can ensure people are aware of the updates through one on one communication with their supervisors.

Lean Tip #2631 – Use a Skilled Kaizen Facilitator

The facilitator should be trained in lean techniques and philosophies and be able to help your team stay on track and motivate them; the facilitator should be someone who is passionate about creating positive change. You may wish to hire a consultant for this role or train a team leader from within your organization. Having a skilled facilitator is key to the success of your Kaizen event.

Lean Tip #2632 – Make Sure Leadership is Engaged in Kaizen

Make sure your organization understands the importance of the Kaizen event to your business’s bottom line. Gaining buy-in is crucial to the success of your Kaizen initiatives, and if your organization’s leaders are committed to sustaining a culture of continuous improvement, they will set the tone for the rest of the company.

Lean Tip #2633 – Focus Kaizen By Setting The Scope And Limits Of The Event

Clearly define the scope of the Kaizen event. The main focus of the event should be an area or process in which it has been determined that inefficiency is reducing value to the customer. The focus can be narrowed by analyzing KPIs, root causes, and other Lean metrics. Keep in mind that the end goal is to promote continuous improvement and reduce waste.

Lean Tip #2634 – Define The Team For Success

While everyday Kaizen should involve all members of your organization (from employees on the shop floor to upper-level leadership), Kaizen event teams usually consist of 6-10 people and should be strategically chosen. Keep in mind the following when choosing team members:

·        At least half of the team should be made up of people who regularly perform the work that the Kaizen event is intended to improve.

·        Limit the number of managers/company leaders on the team.

·        Choose team members from a wide range of relevant departments, who all touch the process being improved

·        Include people who provide input to the area

·        Include people who receive output from the area

·        Include subject matter experts who have special knowledge about the process.

·        Include someone who’s not directly involved in the process to provide an outside perspective.

 

Lean Tip #2635 – Define Kaizen Success

It’s imperative to be able to objectively measure success from your Kaizen event and other continuous improvement efforts. Identify metrics that quantify improvements. These may include metrics revolving around quality, cost, resource utilization, customer satisfaction, space utilization, staff efficiency, and other KPIs. Set benchmarks for improvement by measuring your current performance.

Lean Tip #2636 - Give Employees Authority to Make Important Decisions.

To show an employee that you truly trust and respect his opinions let him make decisions that will impact your company’s culture and future. Allowing team members to reward and mentor each other or empowering an employee to decide which vendor you'll use can propel them to take further initiative and trust their own judgment.

As your company grows, you'll need to delegate more work to others; this is an important first step in training yourself to let go of doing things your way, and it's a first step toward training your teammates to have the confidence to manage those tasks without you.

Lean Tip #2637 - Encourage Each Person to Contribute During Meetings.

We’ve all been in meetings when an urge to speak up struck, only to keep quiet. Eventually, you start to feel as if your voice isn’t valued. As a leader, you can prevent that from happening by encouraging your employees to participate in meetings.

Prep your meetings accordingly by keeping them short and focused. Give your team all relevant materials in advance, and pick productive times of the day, such as 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Only invite key stakeholders to keep the meeting lean and mean.

Assign attendees specific duties for the meeting so they remain involved, and regularly ask for feedback, invite questions and make your meetings interactive. And if you have trouble getting everyone to weigh in, use your powers of persuasion. Get attendees to say “yes” by having everyone agree to something right from the start. Actively listen, be empathetic and let people “own” their ideas.

Lean Tip #2638 - Recognize Each Employee's Contribution.

Rather than simply assign a task to a team member, explain why she's been chosen for this specific task. For example, you could tell her how awesome her design of Client X's website was and that you have another client who could benefit from her unique skills. Showing how an employee's specific contributions are helping the business succeed offers new motivation.

Likewise, share feedback from clients, co-workers and other leaders. Because customer service is important to me, I pass along positive customer reviews and comments to my team.

Lean Tip #2639 - Inspiration Instead of Motivation!

Motivation is a force from the outside. Inspiration is a force from within. When your team members are inspired, they feel an inner urge to do better. They are not doing it for someone else. They are doing it because they feel like it.

How do you inspire? Delegate the tasks properly. Be an example of the type of worker you want everyone to be. Create a calm workplace that makes them glad they are working for you.

Lean Tip #2640 - Develop An Action Plan

Create an action plan to make the team building part of your everyday work or life. Often retreat days or team building programs have few links with everyday business or organizational objectives. Ensure that when designing the program you create links to the organization or to everyday life so that participants can “bring the learning home”. This can be done by building into the program formal action planning time, and having managers follow up during regular staff meetings. Coaching can be leveraged to keep the “learning alive” after team building events. Research whether individual, team or group coaching will work best for your organization.

Are You a Leader or a Manager?

What is the difference between leadership and management? Is a good manager automatically a good leader?

The main difference between leaders and managers is that leaders have people follow them while managers have people who work for them.

Here are five standout differences between the two roles:

A leader invents or innovates while a manager organizes,

The leader of the team comes up with new ideas and kickstarts the organization’s shift or transition to a forward-thinking phase. A leader always has his or her eyes set on the horizon, developing new techniques and strategies for the organization. A leader has immense knowledge of all the current trends, advancements, and skillsets—and has a clarity of purpose and vision. By contrast, a manager is someone who generally only maintains what is already established. A manager needs to watch the bottom line while controlling employees and workflow in the organization and preventing any chaos.

Manager’s count value vs leader’s create value,

You’re probably counting value, not adding it, if you’re managing people. Only managers count value; some even reduce value by disabling those who add value.

By contrast, leaders focuses on creating value, saying: “I’d like you to handle A while I deal with B.” He or she generates value over and above that which the team creates, and is as much a value-creator as his or her followers are. Leading by example and leading by enabling people are the hallmarks of action-based leadership.

Circles of influence vs circles of power.

Just as managers have subordinates and leaders have followers, managers create circles of power while leaders create circles of influence.

The quickest way to figure out which of the two you’re doing is to count the number of people outside your reporting hierarchy who come to you for advice. The more that do, the more likely it is that you are perceived to be a leader.

Management consists of controlling a group or a set of entities to accomplish a goal. Leadership refers to an individual’s ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward organizational success. Influence and inspiration separate leaders from managers, not power and control.

Manager relies on control, whereas a leader inspires trust. A leader is a person who pushes employees to do their best and knows how to set an appropriate pace and tempo for the rest of the group. Managers, on the other hand, are required by their job description to establish control over employees, which, in turn, helps them develop their assets to bring out their best. Thus, managers have to understand their subordinates well to do their job effectively.

Leaders ask the question “what” and “why", whereas a manager leans more towards the questions “how” and “when”.

To be able to do justice to their role as a leader, some may question and challenge authority to modify or even reverse decisions that may not have the team’s best interests in mind. Good leadership requires a great deal of good judgment, especially when it comes to the ability to stand up to senior management over a point of concern or if there is an aspect in need of improvement. If a company goes through a rough patch, a leader will be the one who will stand up and ask the question: “What did we learn from this?” Managers, however, are not required to assess and analyze failures. Their job description emphasizes asking the questions “how” and “when,” which usually helps them make sure that plans are properly executed. They tend to accept the status quo exactly the way it is and do not attempt a change.

In order for you to engage your staff in providing the best service to your customers, you must enroll them in your vision and align their perceptions and behaviors. You need to get them excited about where you are taking them while making sure they know what’s in it for them.

Leadership skills can be developed at any stage of your career. By understanding the characteristics of effective leaders and how leadership differs from management, you can develop techniques for coaching colleagues, delivering feedback, and overcoming specific organizational challenges.

Lean Quote: Learn From Your Mistakes With A Postmortem

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.

"A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying."   — B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), American psychologist

No one is immune to making mistakes – we are human, after all! But if we simply apologize and carry on as before, we're in danger of repeating the same errors. 

Stop beating yourself up, pause for a moment to reflect, and start thinking about how you can gain from the situation. 

When you've acknowledged your mistake, think about what you could do to prevent it from happening again. Ask yourself the following questions: 

What was I trying to do? 

What went wrong? 

When did it go wrong? 

Why did it go wrong? 

5 Whys is a straightforward yet powerful tool for identifying the causes of simple or moderately difficult problems. To use it, start with the error and keep asking "Why?" until you get to the root cause. 

Conducting this "postmortem" should reveal what led to the mistake, and highlight what needs to change in order to avoid a repeat. 

If you have a "growth" mindset, you likely see mistakes as an opportunity to improve, and not as something that you are doomed to repeat because your mindset is "fixed" on the belief that you can't improve. 

The Importance of Continuous Learning for Business Leaders

Continuous learning is a popular topic in ever-evolving modern business culture. However, to experience the full benefit of this powerful professional mindset, leaders, managers, and employers as a whole must acknowledge the fact that learning isn’t something reserved for those further down the corporate ladder. It must also be embraced by those on the highest rungs of a business’s structure.

The Power of Continous Learning

With so many new concepts constantly making the rounds, it’s important to define what the term “continuous learning” means in the first place.

While it’s certainly up to interpretation on a certain level, continuous learning can be boiled down to a few specific principles, particularly as they apply to the business world. The core tenet behind the mindset is that employees are given a variety of different opportunities to make learning a part of their work.

This could come in the form of new responsibilities, training to use new software or even extracurricular education outside of the workplace. The important thing that makes something qualify as continuous learning is the fact that it helps to develop the talents, skills, knowledge, and abilities of an employee while they’re actively on the job.

Learning can obviously take place on an individual level as employees personally hone their professional education. However, the goal of maintaining a continuous learning mindset is often applied on a company-wide level as well.

Amazon, for instance, has realized its meteoric rise largely thanks to a continuous learning mindset. The company got its start selling books online — which was already ambitious enough back in the early 90s when the company was founded. However, since its inception, Amazon has ceaselessly looked for opportunities to grow. It built the largest online e-commerce store in the world. It expanded its originally book-centric business model into one that has invaded and adapted to every retail market on the planet. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling healthcare e-commerce products or pantyhose, Amazon has you covered. This is all largely thanks to a willingness from the company’s leadership to always be adapting, growing, and looking for new opportunities to expand their current product or service offerings — i.e. applying a continuous learning mindset.

The largest retailer in the world aside, continuous learning has had an impact on company cultures far and wide. For example, industries everywhere have been put into a state of flux as the technologically-driven 21st-century has unfolded. This has led many larger companies to hire a Chief Learning Officer to help manage the constant change. A CLO can focus on identifying meaningful change and then figuring out what programs, courses, training, or other learning opportunities must be offered to keep employees up to date with the perpetual flood of new technology.

Another example comes in the form of the sea of smaller companies that have discovered small-yet-effective ways to apply continuous learning to their business models. Many have learned that e-commerce and the digital economy are instrumental to long-term success — especially in the wake of the coronavirus. They’ve flocked into the online marketplace in droves, only to find that simply creating a website isn’t enough. They must also keep up with digital transformation trends in areas such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and 5G technology. 

In other words, rather than simply trusting to a “build it and they will come” mentality, they must continually learn about tech trends and then find ways to adapt their e-commerce sites accordingly. This can be as simple as updating to a trendy new look or as complex as reformatting to a single-page site or integrating a chatbot. Either way, small companies must keep that continuous learning mindset to ensure that they’re aware of what is needed in the here and now.

The breakneck pace of change has, at times, even become so intense that keeping up with new tech on a small business budget requires shifting focus from updating to straight-up reinvention and innovation to remain viable over the long-term.

The point is, whether it’s Amazon, one of its competitors, or a tiny mom-and-pop shop on the corner, continuous learning has become part and parcel of the modern business model.

Why Leaders Should Embrace Continous Learning

The question that naturally arises at this point is why leaders, in particular, should embrace a continuous learning mindset. There are several answers to the question. For example, a leader who embraces a continuous learning mindset can: 

●       Inspire their employees to follow suit. Continuous learning is a discipline that requires patience and fortitude. By demonstrating it regularly, a leader can show their employees the long-term benefits of continuous learning.

●       Overcome the challenges of remote work. In the post-COVID-19 era, looking for remote growth opportunities has become a challenge — one that continuous learning can help to overcome.

●       Help employees identify how to enact change. A good leader knows how to think of others and find beneficial solutions, even when it comes to helping them learn and grow.

●       Show that the learning journey is never complete. Leading in the effort to continuously learn is a key concept in developing teamwork, empathy, and a tenacious desire to never give up.

Guiding Employees into a Continous Learning Culture

Learning to think differently has always been valued in the business world. However, doing so in the context of continuous learning can take a bit more effort. Always striving to learn and grow isn’t glamorous. Nor is it always exciting.

However, if leaders can cultivate and demonstrate a continuous learning atmosphere in their workspaces, they can help to develop a culture that is always willing to adapt and change. This isn’t just helpful, either. In the modern era, adaptation has become a critical aspect of long-term survival. This is true both for businesses as a whole as they learn to shift to the evolving needs of their customers as well as individuals who must maintain their skills and knowledge to remain active contributors to their company’s success.

Either way, though, it falls to the leaders to shape and direct the course of change through the adoption and application of continuous learning regularly.

About the Author: Luke Smith is a writer and researcher turned blogger. Since finishing college he is trying his hand at being a freelance writer. He enjoys writing on a variety of topics but technology and business topics are his favorite. When he isn't writing you can find him traveling, hiking, or gaming.

Lean Quote: Clarity and Simplicity

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.

"Clarity and simplicity are the antidotes to complexity and uncertainty."   — General George Casey

Leadership clarity and simplicity in these times of dynamic uncertainty is important to build and maintain confidence and perspective in your organization.

Clarity means your team knows their objective.  They know the goal, and they know where they are heading.  Often a good leader will set these objectives collaboratively with their team, to help them to buy in to what needs to be done.  Clarity means making a plan, and knowing the steps to execute that plan.  When you have clarity on what needs to be done and how you are going to do it, there’s quite simply a much higher chance it will get done.

Simplicity means being able to reduce the steps to getting the outcome you want.  It means finding the lowest common denominator, the clearest path, the smoothest way forward.  Albert Einstein is credited with saying “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”  That means only someone who truly understands something can articulate it in simple terms – others will go on and on trying to convince everyone, including themselves.

One of the surest ways to set your team up for failure is to make tasks and initiatives overly complicated. So bring simplicity and clarity to your team – you will see their employee engagement soar and your productivity improve.