5 Impactful Lessons From Christopher Columbus

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.

Christopher Columbus demonstrated several remarkable traits that are just as applicable today as lessons in as they were more than five centuries ago.

1.     Have Big Bold, Passionate Purpose and Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different

The initial purpose of the expedition organized by Columbus was to find a shorter way to China and India to stop Muslim domination of the trade routes through the Middle East. He did have a personal interest in this event, of course. However, the success of this expedition would impact not only him and his country but also all of Europe.

In his day ship captains kept in sight of the shore, ensuring they would not fall of the edge of the Earth or be consumed by sea monsters. Columbus understood that if he continued to do the same thing everyone else was doing, he would at best continue to get the same results as everyone else. If you want to achieve something great it is going to have to be by doing something different than what everyone else is doing.

2.     Believe in Yourself, Even if No One Else Does

Everywhere Christopher Columbus went people laughed at him for his idea that the Earth was round as he traveled Europe looking for support. He was sent away time after time. His peers and colleagues in the sail industry thought him to be a mad man for making such suggestions. Everywhere he went sharing his idea he was dismissed, ridiculed and marginalized. It is very easy to stat to listen to the voices of the naysayers. They will always be around. Leaders who believe in their mission will ignore the naysayers and continue moving forward.

3.     Be Passionate About What You Do

Christopher Columbus first sailed as a teen. He never considered any other activity, even when one of his voyages nearly cost him life in 1476. One of his quotes perfectly describes his passion:

"I went to sea from the most tender age and have continued in a sea life to this day. Whoever gives himself up to this art wants to know the secrets of Nature hear below. It is more than forty years that I have been thus engaged. Wherever anyone has sailed, there I have sailed".

It's not enough to have passion. You need to share it with your investors, partners, employees, and customers. That's how they know that your products and services are perfected, and your business will survive hard times as well.

4.     Find People Who Believe In You

Columbus had big bold purpose, self-confidence, and passion - but no one would take a risk of financing his expedition if it weren't for his professionalism. Columbus was a great sailor. He made four transatlantic voyages and even survived a shipwreck.

On his first voyage into the Atlantic Ocean, the commercial fleet he was sailing with was attacked by French privateers off the coast of Portugal. His ship was burned, and Columbus had to swim to the Portuguese shore. In addition, after participating in several other expeditions to Africa, Columbus gained knowledge of the Atlantic currents flowing east and west from the Canary Islands.

His views, ideas, passion, and experience convinced Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain to finance his expedition.

Leaders know they cannot be successful alone. They need the support of people who believe in them. Even if those people are uncertain themselves, they believe enough to put themselves on the line and be part of your team. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain were the first. And then there were the people on his crew. Each of his supporters may have had different goals and objectives than Columbus, but they were all aligned in supporting him in his efforts. Undoubtedly some were less supportive than others. It doesn't matter. Great leaders use this support, whatever the level, to move forward.

5.     Stick To Your Goals

And last, but not least...we know that Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain supported the initial expedition, but Columbus had a hard time making this happen. In fact, he proposed a three-ship voyage of discovery across the Atlantic first to the Portuguese king, then to Genoa and finally to Venice. He was rejected each time.

Later in 1486, he went to the Spanish monarchy of Queen Isabella, and Ferdinand II, whose nautical experts were skeptical, so they initially rejected Christopher Columbus. However, the monarchs were intrigued by the idea and kept Columbus on a retainer. In 1492 they agreed to finance his expedition. That's how Christopher Columbus discovered America.

The world could've seen much more brilliant ideas if only their creators kept going, even after initial rejection. And the truth is most of the time you don't need massive efforts to make something happen.

While we may not be as adventurous as Columbus, we can draw a lesson or two from his perseverance to realize his vision. In order to realize our life goals, we need to do what it takes to achieve it, even in the face of repeated failures. Failures are what we steer away from, but it’s failures that will ultimately lead us to success. Such an irony!

As an important historical character, we remember Columbus this day on our calendar, but we can also learn about life, leadership, good and evil, our humanity, and character which glorifies God or character that brings Him disgrace.  The challenge for all business entrepreneurs, developers and leaders is to learn from history; even from the story of Christopher Columbus.

Lean Quote: Fall is Here, Time to Let Go, and Renew

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.

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."   —  F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Fall season shows us that everything in life is fluid and changing and in order to move forward, we need to embrace the change. As the days get colder, the nights longer and the leaves on trees fewer, nature welcomes this new phase of its own existence.

When we see that despairing look of naked trees and dull skies, it may feel like everything is dying and this change is not for the better. Yet, without the fall, there would be no spring nor summer, and nature embraces this temporary death to reborn again in spring.

This is what we should do too. Not every change is positive, and a rare one goes smoothly. A period of transition almost always involves pain and crisis. But only when we learn to accept a new phase in our life, we realize that every change is for the better.

If it is a negative one, then it aims to shake our values and views, which will later be proven vital for our self-growth.

The Fall season also demonstrates that it is crucial to let go the things that belong to the past. Trees lose their leaves, and it is both sad and beautiful, painful and necessary, morbid and inevitable. Every fall, nature goes through this melancholic transition and says goodbye to the cheerful summer version of itself. Yet, it lets it go without regrets and welcomes the change.

This is an important life lesson for us to remember. If we don’t let things go and dwell on the past, our personal growth stops and we eventually find ourselves stuck in life.

Six Effective Skills of Servant Leadership

In today’s world, leaders are being called upon to provide a new kind of leadership: servant leadership. Gone are the days when a simple “command-and-control” pattern worked. The old military style of the “kick-in-the-rear” has outlived its time. It no longer fits contemporary social values, and it is no longer very effective.

An effective leader is one who is highly effective in six major skills and concepts:

Build Common Vision and Values
To be a good visionary you have to be able to see the big picture, understand what’s happening, and decide where your team needs to go. You must have a clearly defined vision for your team’s success.  You know what they want to accomplish and each team member’s role.  You must keep up to date on current events in their field.  You’re also knowledgeable and informed, so you’re able to make timely decisions.  You need to foresee problems and plan for them.  Service leaders are role models for the values that they represent.

If you don’t know where you want to go, any road will take you there. – Anon 

Sets Direction
Your job as a leader is to help people get things done. People work more productively when they have clearly defined goals to achieve. You make the strategic vision into a reality. A leader sets the overall direction for the team. This means choosing what’s most important for the team to accomplish, setting goals to accomplish it, setting priorities that keep everyone’s mind on the goals on a day-to-day basis, and helping everyone understand the plan.

A leader’s job is to turn great thoughts into crude deeds. – Peter Drucker

Persuasion
It’s not enough to have a clear vision and a sense of direction, although those are critical elements of effective leadership. You must also be able to get others to see, understand, and believe in the vision. When the whole team believes in the leader’s vision, they are more likely to commit to achieving that vision.  Leaders convey self-confidence in themselves and in their abilities.  They are able to communicate effectively with their team to ensure that each member is clear on the team’s direction and priorities.  They frequently remind the team of the goals and mission in order to keep them on target.  Leaders are good listeners.  They allow others to communicate their ideas and create an atmosphere where they are comfortable doing so.  Leaders follow through on their decisions and see them through to completion.

Being an effective leader means knowing how to “enroll” others in your vision. – Warren Bennis

Help and Support
You are there to help when people need you. You help them keep their minds focused on the real priorities and maintain a positive frame of mind about their work. Leaders ensure that everyone functions well as a team and provides the team with the tools and resources required to achieve the desired outcome.  You need to have the skills to think logically and analytically. You need a good command of essential facts and figures. And you must be able to approach problems systematically. They encourage creativity and provide guidance to resolve issues quickly and efficiently.

Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings. – Anon.

Develop and Challenge Employees
You must help people develop their capabilities and express their potential, both individually and collectively. People don’t thrive as individuals when they’re stuck in dead-end jobs, doing the same old things over and over. Everyone needs to be challenged at times, to take on new things, and to learn new skills. An effective leader is one who sees to it that people have a chance to grow.

Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Show Respect and Appreciation
One of the deepest human needs is the need for appreciation.  Servant leaders give respect and recognition where it is due.  They show team members that they care by showing respect and appreciation for their efforts.  A good leader can inspire people and help them feel good about what they’re doing. It could be as simple as communicating their gratitude.  In return, these leaders receive loyalty, dedication and higher productivity.  Leaders encourage team members to contribute ideas and they value these ideas.

The deepest craving in all human beings is the need to be appreciated. – William James

Successful leaders maintain a service-oriented approach and inspire their teams to do the same. In your company, imagine what your team would look like if everyone was operating as servant leaders. How much more would your team members enjoy their work? How much more effectively could your team operate? What impact would this have on your employees and your customers?

There are countless benefits of actively implementing and improving your servant leadership qualities. These six skills represent the traits necessary to become an effective Servant Leader.  By evaluating your current skills and comparing them against the items listed above, you will be able to get an idea of the skills you need to develop. I challenge you to start experimenting with ways you can become a better servant leader, and determining how you can help your staff to do the same.

Podcast: Why Quality Professionals Should Consider Kaizen

I recently wrote an article for Quality Magazine on Kaizen where I explain why kaizen is a valuable tool that probably not enough companies take advantage of. If you want to be able to look at your process, if you want to uncover what pains you, these are the kinds of things that Kaizen allows you to do. 

A few weeks ago I sat down with Michelle Bangert, Managing Editor, for a podcast to introduce the article.

Michelle: So much has changed with lean and Kaizen, but is there anything you think today that quality professionals should know about Kaizen?

Tim: Yeah, I think it's a really valuable tool. Probably not enough companies do that. I think it's kind of a concept that maybe is foreign to a lot of people, but it's really just an improvement idea that allows us to get a group of people together, continually look at opportunities for improvement. So if you want to be able to look at your process, if you want to uncover what maybe is, it pains you, if you want to be able to do that, these are the kinds of things that Kaizen allows you to do. So it allows us to challenge the status quo, things that we take for granted, get the right people in the right room and come up with a new process to do things better, more efficiently in the future.

Michelle: I love that you said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it policy. It's still, let's keep fixing things and make it better because someone's doing that. And so we have to keep up. So that was very smart. That's probably the better way. Definitely. So can you remember the first time you were involved in a Kaizen event or one of the early ones you did?

Tim: Yeah, one of the earliest ones I probably did was on the shop floor. You know, I think there's a difference between doing it in the office and doing it on the shop floor. And certainly on the shop floor, you can do things that are physically transformational, you can pick up the machinery of the cell and move it around. So those are very exciting. So I did a Kaizen event that was around changing the physical layout. So we did things that were very, I guess, traditional where you might pass the product along to an area. And we wanted to do a change where we would consolidate the footprint of the cell and do more U-shaped manufacturing cell and parts would be provided from the back of the cell and you would do a certain amount of the work content and you would pass it to the next operation instead of what was more traditional manufacturing. So that was the first Kaizen I ever did and I think you know you probably can read lots of stories online about the U-shaped cells and doing that kind of configuration. But for small piece parts, that's a very common approach to do that. But different than you might tackle in the office, first office guys than I ever did was a value stream mapping activity. Typically in the office, you can't see the waste, the same that you might see in a factory. So you have to map out the processes and you might walk it visually. You pick a process and try to walk that from a customer standpoint and understand all the processes that occur there. So typically a value stream map might be a way to do that technique.

Michelle: Definitely a lot of value, regardless of which approach you're doing. Makes sense. Can you think of any that were especially memorable, whether in a good way or a bad way where one worked really well or maybe didn't work the way you wanted?

Tim: I think the ones that are most memorable are the ones that I think people say that something couldn't occur there or somebody might be challenging. So certainly when I was at wire mold, we had that Kaizen area that They said the group leader was really resistant to change and you know this couldn't be done and I took it as a personal challenge to see what we could do there. So I think people felt that somebody was adversarial there. The group leader was somebody that was against change and it really wasn't the case. It was trying to get to understand like, where they came from. And it wasn't that they were against continuous improvement. They actually had suggested lots of ideas for improvement. They didn't want to be changed. They wanted to be heard. So I went in there with the tact of, well, why don't you just try it, you know. If I prove me wrong kind of mentality, right? You know, let's just try it this way. If I'm wrong, then, you know, but then, you know, so be it. We'll try it your way. So I always took that mentality, like try to listen to what they have to say, because they're making the product. I'm certainly not the expert in making the product. And so if you can get them to listen to what you have to say, and you can listen to what they have to say, generally that compromise will get you a solution in the long run. But I was able to get their ideas incorporated in the design. Obviously, it's a much better Kaizen that way. That one success led to three or four different Kaizens in that area, and we were able to make significant change that way. But I like it when someone says that we can't do it, or that they're really against continuous improvement. Those are the challenges.

 

Listen to the rest of the interview here:

https://www.qualitymag.com/media/podcasts/2594-quality-podcasts/play/317-why-quality-professionals-should-consider-kaizen

Lean Quote: Great Leaders Inspire Greatness

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 mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."  —  William Arthur Ward

Great leaders inspire greatness in others. They create an environment in which people are able to expand and evolve, with the support and encouragement to become successful in whatever they pursue.

So how can you develop others for greatness? Here are the core attributes:

Hold high standards. Great leaders set high standards for themselves. They lead by example, knowing that a demonstration of character is the best way to lead others to develop their own high standards and work ethic.

Lead from within. One of the most important ingredients in the formula for success is having a great leader stand alongside you, believing in you, supporting you, guiding you. Commit now to becoming that great leader for your people.

Stick to your commitments. Great leaders know the strength of being responsible and keeping their word. If they tell someone they’ll do something, they do it. They’re honest about their limits; they understand that when people fail it’s most often not because of a lack of desire but a lack of commitment.

Show how to make failures part of success. Great leaders teach that successful people aren’t born but made, through all kinds of experiences, and that studying failure and learning from it is a key feature of all successful people.

Encourage imperfection. Great leaders know you don’t have to be perfect to inspire others. They inspire people with the way in which they deal with their own imperfections—they accommodate and work around and focus on what they can accomplish.

Provide a safety net. Great leaders encourage others to try new ideas without fear of repercussion or punishment if they don’t work out. They know the more you try the more you’ll succeed, because calculated risks can pay off in the long run. The very best leaders encourage their people to take every risk and drop every fear, because only those who are willing to risk going too far can find out how far they can go.

Some believe inspiration is just something leaders need to provide on big occasions. They see it as the yearly speech where leaders get up in front of the employ¬ees to get them revved up and encouraged. However, inspiration is much more than this. Everything a leader does, every day, impacts their employees. If a leader would take even a few minutes to ask people how they’re doing, thank them and encourage them to do more; that effort counts. In fact, everything counts. Likewise, everything employees do, on every level, counts within the organization’s results as a whole.

Meet-up: 5 Questions from Within the Lean Community With John Hunter

In May 2024 A Lean Journey Blog turned 15 and as I look back on how I got started and who influenced my journey I wanted to revisit a previous series I started in 2012 called the Meet-up. One of the things I am so fond of in the Lean community is the general wiliness to share with each other.  I have learned so much from my very experienced colleagues since I have been an active contributor.  Every month I roundup the best Lean related posts and articles I found particularly valuable from these fellow bloggers and contributors. Each one has their own story and opinions to share.

The goal of Meet-up is provide you an opportunity to meet some influential voices in the Lean community.  I will ask these authors a series of questions to learn about them, their lessons, and get their perspective on trends in industry.

Today, we Meet-up with John Hunter who I first met when I started blogging. The idea for the round-up series started with John. He used to do a management carnival series highlighting posts from other bloggers on management that I really enjoyed. It included several of my posts. I turned that idea into the monthly round-up you see today. Beyond John's management expertise his knowledge in Quality and the people aspect of Lean is profound. I'm sure you'll find John's answers to these questions will offer insights that will help you on your journey.

Here are his answers so you can learn more: 

1. Who are you, what organization are you with, and what are your current lean-oriented activities?

John Hunter

I have authored the Curious Cat Management Improvement blog  https://management.curiouscatblog.net/

for 20 years.  See more on my professional history https://johnhunter.com/professional_life

I recently created the Curious Cat Management Improvement Institute   https://ccmii.org/   to help those that want to improve the practice of management.  This is where I am focusing my lean related activities now. If you have suggestions, ideas or questions please let me know. 

2. How, when, and why did you get introduced to lean and what fueled and fuels the passion?

My father introduced me to these ideas when I was a kid.  I learned about data, variation and how to seek evidence supporting beliefs as a young child. I remember lessons my father taught me when I was in grade school, including my father presenting at my 2nd grade class on data and variation (with a bit of on the fly process improvement and child psychology)  https://engineering.curiouscatblog.net/2007/12/05/playing-dice-and-childrens-numeracy/

Lean ideas were used to examine what was and wasn’t working in relation to, for example, how we did our chores. We would collect data on what worked and didn’t as we tried to improve.  It seemed like a natural way to do things, though I could see that others didn’t operate this way.  You can read more on my experiences growing up http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2015/01/22/who-inspires-your-management-thinking-and-action/

I attended a management seminar, during the summer, that my father gave to the City of Madison when I was a high school student (related: Doing More with Less in the Public Sector

 https://williamghunter.net/articles/doing_more_with_less_in_the_public_sector ).  And a few years later I started to use the ideas at work, where I learned how challenging it was to help people to: use data effectively, think systemically, focus on continual improvement and work on improvement of the management system.

3. In your opinion what is the most powerful aspect of lean?

Most misunderstood is that the way lean is done most often (very poorly) is accepted as what “lean” is. In some sense this is right, as most efforts are not very well done and really focus on cutting costs without understanding most of what lean is about.

But in another sense that situation creates the belief that lean doesn’t have respect for people at the core, which of course it does if you listen to any of the lean people I think you should listen to.

4. In your opinion what is the most misunderstood or unrecognized aspect of lean?

The biggest problem is trying to solve everything at once. The whole emphasis of process improvement is to sift through all the noise of the symptoms and causes to get to the root cause – that Red Thread, which if you pull will make a major impact on your process. Instead, we brainstorm and diagram our way to a list of causes and fail to narrow them down to a singular focus – fix one thing at a time. The inherent basis of Lean is to standardize, measure, and then take a single step up, improving one thing. Then, we standardize and measure again. This is what continuous improvement is all about.

The problem with trying to chase all the symptoms and causes at once is that process improvement efforts take way too long! Business owners, expecting immediate and measurable returns do not see results. The effort is seen as a waste, and the entire effort is killed before it’s finished. 

5. In your opinion what is the biggest opportunity for lean in today's world? How can that be accomplished?

The same that it has been for decades: to improve the working lives of millions of people and to improve products and services used by billions of people. The biggest opportunity is the widespread adoption of these ideas that will lead to better results for everyone: employees, customers, investors…

> How can that be accomplished?

It is really hard to transform your organization to think systemically, focus on continual improvement and actually build management systems using respect for people principles.  I think it can be accomplished by people learning more deeply about lean thinking so they can keep making improvements that will increase the ability of the organization to keep moving in the right direction.

Related: How to Lead From Any Level In the Organization

https://management.curiouscatblog.net/2021/06/22/how-to-lead-from-any-level-in-the-organization/

How to Get a New Management Strategy, Tool or Concept Adopted

http://management.curiouscatblog.net/2010/12/06/how-to-get-a-new-management-strategy-tool-or-concept-adopted/

Through their answers to these questions hopefully you will get a sense of the thinking behind those who are shaping the Lean landscape.  I continue to keep learning and thankfully with the willingness of these practitioners to share I am positive you will, too.

Lean Roundup #184 – September 2024

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of September 2024.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.  

 

When You Do Lean, You Copy Toyota - Bob Emiliani explains that is not about copying Toyota but rather thinking and learning to come up with new ideas and methods to elevate their management practices.

 

The Process Improvement Stool - Bruce Hamilton talks about the connection between behaviors, systems, tools, and results with the analogy of a stool to illustrate how you need equal parts.

 

Effects on Efficiency—Takt Time - Christoph Roser discusses the factors that affect the percentage of value-adding time with examples from recent automotive factory visits.

 

Lean Means Don’t Be a Dumb-Ass - Pascal Dennis gives a simple explanation of Lean thinking that we all can embrace.

 

Using Regression to Improve Quality - Michel Baudin provides explanation and application for regression technique to improve quality in your process.

 

How Micro-Goals Helped Me Conquer a Hill (And Can Help You Too) - Ron Pereira explains how breaking down difficult challenges into smaller goals is powerful technique to reach your milestone.

 

Understanding the Difference Between 5S Workplace Organization and Housekeeping - Alen Ganic explains the difference between 5S organization and simple housekeeping which have two distinct purposes.

 

Agile Process Improvement Efforts - John Knotts says in order to adopt a more agile and focused approach to process improvement you should focus on three things: better problem statements, faster frequency of data, and selecting one root cause at a time.

 

GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp on CNBC: A Little Better Every Day - Mark Graban highlights some recent points from Larry Culp’s show on CNBC about focusing on problem solving and psychological safety culture in wake of GE Aerospace problems.

 

Keeping Quiet About Lean - Bob Emiliani explains why he think CEOs have an unspoken public  proclamation of dislike for Lean.