The (Multi) Million Dollar Hammer

I remember growing up the most heard

Phrase in my house was  mama bear

Telling me to “do it right, or do it again”

 

It mostly was in reference to me not

Making my bed properly.

I’ve tucked and retucked perfect 90 degree angles

So much so that I remember having the

Neatest bed in college.

 

I kinda cheat now, because most of the time

I end up falling asleep at the dining room table

Or on the couch because I’m so exhausted from my day

So my bed pretty much just stays made

But the lesson is not lost on me. 

 

Especially since I’ve been working on helping

People like you grow and master the good life.

 

Let me tell you a quick story about 

A 10 million dollar hammer and how it changed

A company’s direction for the better. 

 

It wasn’t too long ago when a group of American car

Executives took a trip to Japan to see an assembly line

They were searching for differences in how the 2 countries

Manufacture cars.

 

Especially because at the time all U.S. Car companies

Were losing market share and Japan was setting itself

Up to be the industry leader in sales for the first time ever.

 

They didn’t really see a difference maybe a few things here

And there, but nothing that would be drastically different

Until they came to the end.

 

Where are the guys with mallets?” one person asks.

The assembly workers look around puzzled and then he adds

We normally check to see if our doors fit properly at the end

By tapping the doors, do you do that?”

 

One of the workers smiled and said.

 

We make sure it fits when we design it”

 

Oh snap!!!

 

But you see that is the issue with many people these days

Many pride themselves on innovating out of bad

Situations, only to find themselves innovating themselves

Into a possibly worse situation when all they had to do

Was make sure they had a proper design.

 

Think about how much money and time was dedicated

To buying mallets

Employing people to swing those mallets

And replacing both mallets and people.

 

The problem many people find down the road

Is that they didn’t actually plan for the results

They had hoped for.

So when something goes wrong, it’s the norm

For them to pull something off the “fix-it” chart

And find a “valid” solution.

 

Truly effective people have the capability to

Understand the value of things we cannot see.

To the Americans, checking those doors was a

Part of the manufacturing process, but

To the Japanese, it was part of the design process.

 

That is the equivalent of walking outside naked

With a suitcase to determine what you’re gonna

Wear for the day, when all you had to do was

Check the weather before you went out!

 

Let me try to hammer home a point

(See what I did there?) before we part ways

 

Sometimes success is easier than we

Make it out to be. All it takes is the ability

Envision your goals and use an effective

Strategy, rather than tactics to get your

Desired goal.

 

Jerry “no hammers” Washington

 

P.S. It’s hard to develop a strategy for success

Without some help, so if there is something that

You’ve been trying to achieve and you somehow

Keep having to start over or fix something

Then I would like you to consider some help from

Friends.

 

My crew over at Project SELFFY have been helping

People to change the way they think about planning

To succeed rather than planning to change. Talk soon…

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