Lean Quote: How You Make Them Feel Is Most Meaningful

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.

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."   —  Maya Angelou

What matters most in your daily interactions isn’t so much the specific actions you take or the words you say that people remember most, but how someone was made to feel: listened to or ignored, included or left out, amused or exhausted, or big instead of small. This is the essence of it.

What’s more, the feelings you elicit in others last—or linger—surprisingly long. That’s just how we’re wired. So you should keep in mind the long-term implications of how you made them feel because, this way, you won’t be constantly playing from behind.

Lasting first impressions: There are many ways you can genuinely make someone else feel good about themselves, thus making a lasting impression. For example: being prepared, asking questions about them and theirs, remembering and using names, giving genuine compliments, being generous in conversation, and avoiding reflexive pessimism, etc.

But first impressions can go differently.

Lingering first impressions: With first impressions, there are many unambiguous ways you could leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth, perhaps by forgetting names constantly, interrupting too often mid sentences, or glancing frequently at the phone. But if you’re making these mistakes, a quote isn’t the antidote.

Because bad first impressions can take a while to undo, these lingering negative thoughts and feelings can act as a anchor, potentially holding you back in social, business, or work opportunities.

Make Lasting Impressions: Good first impressions are uplifting, congenial, and they’re enjoyable to be a part of. You’ll be remembered. You’ll be more approachable. You’ll be invited to parties. Your future will be better.

Nonetheless, how you made them feel is a helpful framework for you to think through the nuance of what’s really going on during your daily interactions (which also help shape the future).

You get what you give, and you get more when you give more, so how will you make someone feel?

Employee Engagement for Strategic Planning

We have known for decades that people who participate in decision-making that affects their work feel a higher degree of ownership and commitment to that work. We also know that where more people are involved in a joint process of common interest, the quality of output is higher.  The same is true of strategic planning.  High involvement in the process by a variety of stakeholders tends to generate better outcomes and a greater sense of ownership.  Many organizations are using broad engagement strategies to increase participation in and commitment to strategic planning.

To build and support ongoing engagement in the strategic planning and implementation process, there are three important things to remember:

1.  Communicate, communicate, communicate!

The first rule of engagement is all about sharing information in a purposeful and consistent way.  All key stakeholders need to know the organization’s core purpose.  External stakeholders need to understand why the organization exists and what value it provides for its customers, vendors, and the market.  Internal stakeholders need to know where the organization is going so they can align their work with those goal(s) and direction.  To make sure this happens, use all communication means available – newsletters, electronic messaging, e-mail, meetings, posters, payroll inserts, etc.  Be consistent in the messages and use them to show employees how they fit into the plan and how their contributions have helped shape the choices made.  Share the results they have achieved and coach them toward strategic performance. 

Be visual and make the messages visible everywhere.  Create visual strategic roadmaps that can be posted throughout an organization to remind people of the importance of the company’s mission, vision, and strategies.  People who know what is expected and how they contribute are more engaged and committed than those who do not.

2.  Actively involve stakeholders in the process.

Ask for input about strategic planning in meetings. Include representatives of stakeholder groups in discussions for strategic planning to the greatest extent possible, and do not limit planning and review sessions only to the top level of management. This can be done formally in large group planning activities, or informally by including different key stakeholders in a variety of meetings.  Use department meetings as an opportunity to solicit input on the plan and its results.  Help employees understand the difference between strategic initiatives (long-term, big picture) and the tactical (day-to-day) work with which they are most familiar.  Show them how the two levels are aligned.  Greater understanding leads to greater ownership.  Keep the messages flowing for constant reinforcement of the shared ideas and give feedback on how ideas are being incorporated into the process.

3.  Make sure people know what the strategic plan is and where they fit in it.

Engaging employees in the planning process itself helps build ownership within the organization.  For those not directly involved in the process, however, make sure they know what the plan is, where they fit in it and how they contribute to its goals.  Give them time to discuss and internalize it.  Employees who do not understand the plan have a difficult time remaining engaged and moving in the desired direction.  Meet with work units and departments to show them how they contribute.  Develop measures of their work that show them how well they are contributing to desired strategic outcomes, and provide feedback on these measures frequently and consistently.  Do everything you can to make sure that the work of the organization is aligned with the plan to keep all employees focused on a common vision, working to achieve a common mission, and engaged in the process of achieving the organization’s strategic goals.  

It’s nearly impossible to get where you want to go without a goal, a roadmap, and organizational commitment to get you there.  Without a goal, you can’t align the organization to a common desired outcome.  Without a roadmap, you have no idea of the options available to get there.  And without commitment, you cannot ensure that your stakeholders will move in the direction you need to go.  Building commitment through broad stakeholder engagement is an increasingly important element of the strategic planning process.

Book Review: The Seventh Power

All Northeast Lean Conference attendees received a copy of Kevin Hancock’s book, “The Seventh Power: One CEO's Journey Into the Business of Shared Leadership.” Kevin Hancock is the CEO of Hancock Lumber Company, one of the oldest and best know family businesses in America. Established in 1848, the company grows trees and manufactures lumber for global distribution. Hancock Lumber operates ten retail stores and three sawmills that are led by 460 employees. The company also grows trees on 12,000 acres of timberland in Southern Maine. Hancock Lumber is a multi-year recipient of the ‘Best Places to Work in Maine’ award.

In 2010, HE was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a rare neurological disorder that makes speaking difficult. In 2012, he began traveling from his home in Casco, Maine to the remote Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. There, he encountered an entire community that did not feel fully heard. These two transformational events combined to help him realize that there are lots of ways to lose your voice in this world and that leaders historically have often done more to restrict the voices of others than to liberate them.

This epiphany set him on a journey stretching over 15,000 miles, from his hometown in Maine, to the Arizona desert, and eventually all the way to Kiev, Ukraine, on a quest to find a new set of leadership principles designed to disperse and localize power rather than collect it. The unexpected journey was a puzzle filled with clues about the nature of “power” and how it might be used more carefully and shared more broadly. These encounters ultimately blossomed into a series of insights as to how CEOs and other leaders might elegantly break down the planet’s entrenched, top-down governance model in favor of a new playbook for heightened human engagement, hallmarked by shared leadership, dispersed power, and respect for all voices.

Having found a piece of his own authentic voice, he wanted to help others do the same, and a lumber company in Maine became an unlikely platform where this could occur. The new goal: create a socially transformative work culture for the 21st century in which employee engagement soars because everyone feels authentically heard.

After hearing Kevin speak I knew this book would be good on several dimensions. It is a wonderful connection between a personal journey and the profound effect that journey has had on all aspects of leading and managing a complex organization. Kevin Hancock skillfully threads leadership lessons throughout the entire narrative of The Seventh Power.

A few of the most valuable leadership principles within the book include these ideas:

- Leading through listening is essential.

- Great people are everywhere.

- In nature, power is dispersed.

- Organizations exist to improve the lives of the people who belong to them.

Hancock offers a lot of terrific one liners to post on your desktop and remind yourself of higher thinking. Such as:

- "Seeking is the biggest step in finding." (page 43)

- "Proving others wrong rarely creates progress." (page 61)

- "Moving at nature's pace has regenerative powers." (page 72)

- "It's respect for the diversity of thought that creates unity." (page 126)

- "The power of princes and presidents pales in comparison to what all the world's strangers can do just by being nice to each other." (page 118)

- "Personal growth is an act of faith followed by action. (page 254)

The Seventh Power contains seven important lessons encapsulated in seven main chapters. These lessons include:

1. GREAT PEOPLE are everywhere.

2. CULTURE makes the difference.

3. CHANGE is created first from within.

4. LOCALIZE and shrink the center.

5. LISTEN for understanding, not judgment.

6. OVERREACHING has consequences.

7. BROADEN the mission.

These chapters need to be read in order to fully grasp the lessons being shared within the pages. The concepts being taught build sequentially upon each other.

Overall, while I love this book and highly recommend it to everyone. This book is a must read for managers and leaders, or anyone aspiring to be one. The Seventh Power would be a great reading selection to be discussed at a business retreat or a book club.

 

Lean Roundup #164 – January 2023

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of January 2022.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.  

 

Systems Primed for Finding Fault - Christopher R Chapman discusses how leadership creates systems that cause fear and blame.

 

Year End Muda – Bruce Hamilton discusses two unpleasant and counter-productive business customs that occur at the end of the year.

 

Expandthe View of the System to Find Ways to Improve Results – John Hunter shares an example of improvement made possible by expanding the view of the system and viewing the results from the perspective of the customer instead of just looking at internal process measures.

 

Fred Taylor & Illusion of Top-Down Control - Part I & Part 2 – Pascal Dennis discusses Fred Taylor’s approach and engagement with frontline workers.

 

Measuring The Pig In The Python – John Knotts talks about the challenges of measuring some processes that can take weeks or months to occur.

 

ROI: Financial Benefits of Business Process Improvement – JJ Puentes discusses the benefits of racking the ROI of business process improvement.

 

Huddle Board Examples to Encourage Collaboration – Noah Paratore explains how daily huddles is a powerful tool for keeping improvement work top-of-mind.

 

Leading by the solving (the right) problems – Juan David Ruiz Valencia says leading by solving problems is a key trait of any lean leader, but it is important to understand that not all problems are their prerogative.

 

Why is TPS so smart? - Michael Ballé and Alice Mathieu explain a real understanding of Lean Thinking can only stem from an exploration of its tacit aspects, not just its most explicit, easy-to-grasp elements.

 

The Difficulties of Dazzling Digital Shop Floor Dashboards – Christopher Roser talks all things within digital dashboards on the shopfloor especially the challenges and how to overcome.

 

The Back Story – A Changed Perspective – Bob Emiliani shares the story behind his new book “A Changed Perspective.”

 

Lean in One Drawing – Dave LaHote explains in a brief video why it’s vital to view lean thinking and practice as a system.

 

How to Go to the Gemba: Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect – John Shook shares some guidelines he uses when doing a gemba walk as an outside advisor.

 

Ask Art: How Do You Align Incentives for a Lean Turnaround? – Art Byrne offers practical strategies for incentivizing employees during a transition to lean management.

 

A Third-Grade Classroom’s Display on Growth Mindset (and Mistakes) – Mark Graban talks about how teaching about mistakes can inspire a love of learning.

 

You Have To Start Somewhere – LeanCor shares 4 foundational concepts as a great starting point.

 

Lean Leadership Begins with Executive and Management Teams – David Sherman explains the importance that lean leadership is prevalent in order to facilitate a problem solving, humble, and waste eliminating culture.

 

Lean Quote: Overcoming Adversity Makes Prosperity Sweeter

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.

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."   —  Anne Bradstreet

A study published in the December issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, has found that although we all hope for a life free and clear of stress, the happiest and healthiest people are those who have had at least some early exposure to tough experiences.

Problems, large and small, present themselves to us throughout our existence. Regardless of how sharp, clever, or happy-go-lucky we are, we will encounter struggle, challenges, difficulties and at times, heart wrenching moments.

Learning to deal with, and overcoming adversity, is what makes us who we are. Every challenge, every difficulty we successfully confront in life serves to strengthen our will, confidence and ability to conquer future obstacles.

Business adversity is like a fire. It’s from the inferno where culture is born. Mature cultures know how to deal with the blaze so it doesn’t burn out of control. Without adversity, your culture is nothing more than the potential for greatness. The company’s culture wouldn’t be as strong and mutually supportive as it is. It wouldn’t be as prepared for the next conflagration as it is.

Are you resilient? The possibilities for setbacks are endless. Adversity can make you stronger when you make the choice to grow from it.

Helping Improve Employee Engagement Through Sustainable Practices

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Employees want to work for a business that shares their ethics and values. They want to know that their employer has a moral compass and that they are authentically interested in solving the world’s major issues.

Employees also want to feel empowered by their employer. Empowered employees create a culture of community and are more invested in the success of the business.

You can improve employee engagement by tapping into a commonly held value: sustainability. Nearly 9 in 10 people want to live in a more sustainable, equitable world and will work hard to protect the environment.

Introducing Sustainability

Effective leaders are imaginative, driven, and care about their employees. This helps them create greater buy-in when rolling out new initiatives and practices. As a leader in the workplace, you can improve engagement in sustainability practices by educating employees and underlining the need for greater environmental activism.

Start by highlighting the key facts and figures. Draw from trusted sources like NASA and empower your people by giving them access to key environmental data. You may find that some folks are still reluctant to join in with sustainability practices, but others will come around to the idea.

Consider reaching out to employees before you start setting new policies. You may find that your employees are already enthusiastic about making a positive change and have ideas that you had not yet considered. A quick sustainability survey will improve buy-in and ensure you create a sustainable workplace that everyone cares about.

Sustainable Workplaces

Sustainability should start in the workplace. There are plenty of easy changes you can make to minimize your business’s impact on the environment and become a force for positive change.

If your employees wear a uniform or must meet a dress code, consider starting a sustainable clothing scheme that embraces slow fashion and recycled clothing. Keep stock of old uniforms, and offer to repair any damaged clothes. If your employees are due to attend an event with a dress code, consider renting suits and formal wear. This will save your employees money and help reduce their personal waste.

You should liaise with your local council or government to discover sustainability schemes in your area. You may be surprised to learn about new recycling and waste-reduction opportunities in your district. When speaking with local government, use the opportunity to connect with governmental organizations that help you form a deeper relationship with your community.

Outreach

Employees care about the impact their job has on the world. 74% of employees say that their job is more fulfilling when their businesses make a positive change in their community and 64% of millennials say that they would not work for an employer that does not have a strong corporate social responsibility program.

Sustainability-oriented employees will also want to see your business make a financial commitment to sustainability. If possible, set aside part of your budget for sustainability-oriented outreach opportunities.

You can amplify your business’s impact on the local environment by working with community organizations that protect your local ecosystem. Look for community outreach programs that host opportunities like:

●       Community Clean Up

●       Community Gardening or Allotment Schemes

●       Water Conservation Efforts

●       Waste-Free Events

These sustainability opportunities can improve your brand presence and help improve employee engagement. Sustainability-oriented employees will jump at the chance to make a difference in their city or town and will love that your business gives them financial backing.

Setting an Example

As a leader, employees look to you as an example and will model their workplace behavior on you. If you ignore recycling bins and wear fast fashion, they will too. Instead, take your role seriously and try to model sustainability and eco-conscious living whenever possible.

Make your commitment to sustainability public by starting a carpooling scheme. Carpooling is a great way to save money on fuel and reduce everyone’s personal carbon emissions. Create an informal network of contact information and start a rotation so everyone does their fair share of driving. Carpooling employees may even be eligible for financial kickbacks from the Clean Air act depending on the state you live in.

Consider hosting a voluntary sustainability-oriented town-hall meeting once per month. Town hall meetings encourage participation from all levels of the corporate ladder and give everyone an equal voice. Take the suggestions you gather in earnest and try to incorporate as many ideas as possible into your workplace planning.

Conclusion

Your employees want to work for a business that matches their values and commitment to sustainability. Give your employees access to all the information they need and survey them to discover which sustainability policies excite them the most. Set a strong personal example by following your own policies to the letter and offer opportunities to carpool and clean up your community. Even small changes, like offering rented business attire, can reduce your personal carbon emissions and improve employee engagement. 

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 Tips Edition #198 (#3181 - #3195)

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 #3180 – Encourage Each of Your Employees to be Their Authentic Selves. 

Everyone has their own unique personality, hobbies, sense of style and passion. No one wants to be a robot or a number. Obviously, there should be some guardrails, but the more you allow your employees to freely express themselves, the happier and more productive they will be.

Lean Tip #3181 – Include Everyone in Goal Setting

It’s important that everyone is heard during the goal-setting process. Each member of your team should feel they can speak openly and contribute their ideas for goals.

Having everyone’s input will help create goals that everyone is invested in.

Write down each team member’s ideas, no matter how silly, so that they feel heard. Together, you can go through each goal to decide if it works for the whole team.

Lean Tip #3182 – Choose Goals That Are Achievable Stretches

The fact that goals have to be achievable is standard advice on the topic of how to set goals. Pretty well everyone knows that there's no point in setting a goal that you will never be able to accomplish. All you'll do is get frustrated and abandon it. Less well known is the fact that goals need to stretch you in some fashion. If a goal isn't engaging, you'll get bored and abandon it.

Lean Tip #3183 - Prioritize Your Goals

Goals don't have to be huge projects that take months or even years to attain, but because they require commitment and need to be worked on regularly, every single goal that you set will be demanding. So don't sabotage yourself by taking on a bunch of goals at a time. Assuming that you are following all the other goal-setting tips presented here and know how to set goals that are worthwhile, I would recommend working on no more than three at a time, and even then you should choose one goal as your top priority.

Lean Tip #3184 - Make Your Goals Visible

To keep your eyes on the prize, put your written goals somewhere you’ll see them. It should be a place you visit regularly so that you’re constantly reminded of where you want to be.

If it’s your personal goals, put them on your bathroom mirror or fridge as a nudge every morning of what you want to achieve.

For teams, your group goals should be somewhere all your team members can see them. This could be a bulletin board or incorporated online into your group management software.

Lean Tip #3185 - Reflect and Adjust

Maybe you haven’t achieved your goals in the time frame you wanted to. Maybe your goals were a bit too unrealistic. And that’s ok.

Rather than feeling defeated, take time to review your goals and see what you can change. You might need to adjust your goals or maybe just tweak your plan to achieve them.

Lean Tip #3186 – Map out Your Plan

It’s not enough to have a goal. You need an action plan to accomplish it, too. This is where many people fail.

They set goals but don’t follow-up and create a plan with the important steps to get started. When this happens, big goals seem overwhelming, and you’re more likely to give up.

Create a road map to reach your goal. Plan one or two actions you can take each week, and focus on doing small things every day. The key is to break your goal down into smaller steps that are more achievable.

Lean Tip #3187 – Take Action Every Day

It doesn’t matter how much you learn if you don’t take action. Don’t get caught up in analysis paralysis. The best way to learn is by doing and to embrace failure—it’s the stepping stone to success for all successful people and their long-term goals.

Everyday actions don’t have to be big. You simply need to take one small step in the right direction.

Lean Tip #3188 – Plan for Setbacks

Being a good goal-setter is kind of like boxing; you need to learn to roll with the punches because you know you’re going to get hit. The best way to minimize the impact of setbacks is to plan for them. Have a contingency plan for when things go wrong, and be prepared to react and learn from those setbacks.

Keep in mind that, while you may have created a timeline, you may need to tweak it later. Life is full of unforeseen complications. If you run into one, adjust your timeline without feeling negative about the change. It’ll only help you move forward in the end.

Lean Tip #3189 – No More Negativity

American writer Earl Nightingale once said “our attitude towards life determines life’s attitude towards us” and it’s true. Project negativity to the world and it will come right back at you. Tell yourself ‘you can’t do this and you can’t do that’ and you won’t be able to do it. As cliche as it sounds, having a ‘can do attitude,’ even if you’re faking it, can really help you realize your goals. Whenever doubt starts to creep into your mind, swat it away and be a glass half full kind of person.

Lean Tip #3190 – Make Your Goals Challenging

Besides making your goals fun and exciting, you must also make them challenging. Why? Because that’s the only way you can grow.

You see, Albert Einstein once said, “A ship is safe at the harbor, but that’s not why it is built for.” Your life is meant to be fun, exciting, and challenging. You want to live a remarkable life, isn’t it? Hence, make your goals challenging.

Think about it, if you are currently earning $5,000 a month, making an additional $100 isn’t going to make you jump out of your bed in the morning. What you want is to have a goal that is challenging and inspiring.

You want your goals to force you out of your comfort zone so that you can grow and become someone better, and worthy of the goals.

Lean Tip #3191 – Embrace Failure

Goal setting rarely runs smoothly. You will hit stumbling blocks that make you question why you attempted in the first place, but that’s part of it, and the sooner you accept that the better. Rather than letting failure bring you down, acknowledge that it’s happened and learn from it. Take note of what worked well, what didn’t and move on. It’ll make you a stronger goal setter.

Lean Tip #3192 - Visualize The End Result

Losing sight of the end result will encourage you to veer off course. One of the best ways to stay motivated is by visualizing the change you want to see. Make this image clear in your mind - the ‘you’ in X amount of weeks time - so when the odd setback does happen, you won’t be fazed and will come back stronger than ever.

And when you do hit your target, treat yourself; you deserve it. Managed to make it around the marathon course blister-free? There’s a post-race beer with your name on it.

Lean Tip #3193 - Identify the Lead Measures

Lead measure is an important measure of your goals. Most people focus on their main target or the results they want, but they don’t focus on their lead measures, and this is why they fail.

Your lead measures are the measures that directly impact the results of your goals.

For instance, if your goal is to lose weight, the two main lead measures are exercise and diet. How much time do you spend to exercise each week? And do you track your diet and calorie intake?

When you achieved your lead measure goals, you will achieve your main goal, which is to increase your sales. So, focus and work on the lead measures.

Lean Tip #3194 – Focus on Making Progress

Next, don’t always think about your goals and the results, when it comes to maintaining your momentum, you need to focus on making progress.

Can you notice the difference? Having a goal is important, but to achieve your goal, you need to make progress. Hence, it is more important to focus on the progress than to only think about your goals and do nothing.

Let your progress motivate you and get you to your goals.

Lean Tip #3195 – Believe in Your Goals and Trust Yourself That You Can Do It

You need to believe in your goals and trust yourself that you can do it. First, you must believe that your goals are possible. And second, you must trust that you can achieve them.

When you truly believe you can achieve your goals, you will do whatever it takes to reach them. Think about why people buy lottery tickets. Well, it is because they believe that they stand a chance to win, right? If you don’t believe you stand a chance to win, you will never bother buying the lottery ticket.

The same goes for your goals. When you believe that you can achieve them, you will do it with a 100% commitment rather than a half-hearted attempt.

Therefore, believe that your goals are possible and trust that you can achieve them.