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…
