Work ON the System, Not IN the System

Sure Happy It's Thursday,

                                                                                             

Have you had someone tell you to work smarter, not harder.  I'm guessing many of us run around all day putting out fires, or as Toni told me....killing snakes.  I'm sure you also have had those days where you look up and realize it's 4 pm and you can't figure out what you did all day....but holy crap you were busy all day.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a well thought out plan that you are operating from?  This is what working ON the system instead of IN the system is all about.  Think about it....while at work, you are working IN the business by doing things to run the business (daily tasks such as scheduling, entering orders, quality checks, sales calls etc.), fire fighting (running around solving every problem popping up including frequent e-mails), or working ON the business by making things better (strategic planning, reviewing and improving a process, or observing or training).  

We all need to work ON the business more.  Get past the excuses and work on ways to improve, not only what you are doing, but what your entire team is doing.  Don't be like the guys in the picture below.

Have a great Thursday,

Chris

Stolen Ideas About Continuous Improvement

Happy Thursday All,

Continuous improvement is what Thursday Think Tank e-mail is all about.  I want you to keep thinking new, innovative, crazy, outside the box ideas.  That is what is going to keep PAi fresh, young, and growing.

As many of you know, we had our bi-annual operations meeting last Thursday.  One of the great things about getting together and talking about our challenges, successes, and best practices, is that we can steal each others ideas and best practices.  (stole that thought from TJ)

Here is some other thoughts and ideas I stole from last week that should get you thinking.  I spun what I heard from each of these people into a question for you.

 

From: Mr. Todd Johnson

• Are you stealing best practices from your colleagues?
• Are you creating better processes?
• Do you believe in lean?  If not, you are gonna get left in the dust.

From: Mr. David Proctor

• "Selves, why are we doing the things we are doing?"  (Can you picture David sitting in his office saying this out loud?)
• Do you have a continuous improvement team?
• Do you have a communication team?

From: Mrs. Kim Alvey

• Are you making sure your employees know what lean is?
• Is standard work getting developed for your area?
• Are you combining processes to speed up throughput?

From: Mr. Bruce Head

• Retail customer said."..if our hooks are empty, you aren't doing a good job."  Are we making sure our customers hooks aren't empty?
• Did you realize we have 10,500 active customers?  Holy cow!!!!

From: Mr. Stuart Miller

• "With failure we can succeed."  Are you allowing your team to fail so they can succeed?
• Is your culture changing in your area?  It is in screening.
• Are you keeping your energy level up?

From: Mrs. Vicky Halmick

• Are you watching your retention rate?  Is it important to you to retain employees?
• Can you rearrange your work area to become more efficient?
• How much paper do you use when you wipe? (Had to be there to get this one)

From: Mr Trenton Price

• Are you doing 5S to help become more efficient?
• All employees have been there over 90 days.  Are you doing what it takes to limit your turnover?

From: Mr. Mark Rubenstein

• "We will all be better people with these new initiatives."  What new initiatives are you doing to be a better person?

What an awesome meeting.  If I misquoted anyone, sorry.  I must have made it up and thought you said it.

Keep thinking PAi!!!

Chris

Culture Is The Buzzword!!

Happy Thursday All,

Culture is the buzzword today.  What is culture?  Culture is a way of thinking, behaving, and working that exists in a place or organization.

What is the culture at Paramount?  Is it good?  Can it change?  Are you a positive influence on our culture?  Can it be taught to your team?

What makes a great culture?  Here is a list of some things that would be noticeable in a great culture.

• Respect for each and every employee.
• Every PAi employee feels that they matter and can make a difference.
• A "Can Do" attitude is visible.
• Everyone has total clarity of expectations.
• Communication is abundant.
• Everyone happy and friendly with each other.
• No gossip.
• No in-fighting.
• Company loyalty.

Go out and make a difference.  Help to make our culture better than ever.

Don't forget, our culture is a direct reflection of you as a PAi leader.

Chris

Five Questions for Growth in Leadership

Get your thinking cap on.  We have five questions to ponder. These are questions that are on the growth side of your leadership.  What's keeping you back.  What is isolating you?  Read and think about them.

1. How do you see yourself compared to how you see others?  Do you think you are the only one that doesn't have it all together?  A common myth among leaders....all other leaders have it all together and I don't.  Are you willing to find out what it takes to make yourself better? 
2. Do you have a network of challenging minds?  People that want to challenge you.  People that want to help move you along.  Not people that will bash you or put you down.  They challenge your thinking and your mind.
3. Do you have a mind set of growth?  If you aren't growing you are dying.  It is so easy to get stuck doing the same things and not growing.  Are you doing the most important things as a leader?
4. Do you have proper accountability?  People that will hold you to your own expectations.  Not people calling you out on stuff that fulfills their needs.
5. What is holding you back from reaching your goals?  The goals are the steps you are taking to reach your vision.  Are you being effective?  Are you overburdened and task oriented?  Do you have a vision?

These questions are from a podcast by Chris LoCurto.  Visit chrislocurto.com/podcasts/  - Episode 149 for more insight into these 5 questions.

Happy Thursday,

Chris

Above and Beyond

Happy Thursday All,

What are you doing above and beyond that is not required?

Matt Carpenter shows up at the ball park 2 hours before required to take extra ground balls.  Larry Bird would shoot 200 free throws every morning before high school. How many swings of the golf club do you think Tiger Woods did when he was young?

Look at almost any successful person and you will find someone who has gone above and beyond to become successful.

Back to the question...What are you doing above and beyond that is not required?  Are you reading to educate yourself to help others?  Are you preparing, prior to the meeting, to help the meeting accomplish it's purpose?  Have you gone in to work at 1:30 in the morning to make sure the truck was loaded and headed for it's delivery spot? (Thanks Joe)  Did you answer that phone call at 4:50 and take care of the customer instead of ignoring the call?  Nobody would know the difference.  What about picking up that piece of trash laying on the parking lot?  So many other examples could be given.

These are things that, if not done, would almost go unnoticed.  The other side of this though, if you are not doing things above and beyond, youmight be unnoticed.

My action challenge to you this week, find someone each day that is going above and beyond and thank them for their dedication at Paramount.

Thanks for reading and have a great Thursday,

Chris

Lean at PAi

Happy Thursday All,

This year, 2015, we have had a lot of buzz about this thing called lean going around PAi.  It's been going on long enough for everyone to start realizing, it's not the next fad that is going to eventually go away.  If you haven't started changing your thinking, don't you think it's about time you do?  What I am challenging you to think about this week is....what does lean mean and do for you?  

Would you define lean as....

1. A fixed state or goal (being lean)
2. Continuous change process (becoming lean)
3. Set of tools or methods (doing lean/toolbox lean)
4. As a philosophy (lean thinking)
5. All of the above

Is lean only a manufacturing thing?  How would Cory explain lean to you? Hint: Eliminating waste (D.O.W.N.T.I.M.E.)  These occur in all parts of our company and our lives, not just in manufacturing.

Is lean a positive term in your mind?  Is lean a positive in your team's eyes?  Have you discussed lean with your team?  Is your boss on board and becoming educated about lean?  Are you the boss and wondering what your team is answering to the previous question?

Does your team feel empowered to suggest and help implement ideas that make Paramount a "More Lean" company?

My final question....and I am looking for feed back from all of you on this one....What do you see at Paramount that shows we are changing towards a more lean culture?  A quick one sentence response to all of us would be awesome.

Have a great Thursday!!!

Chris

Think About What You Think About

Hello Thinkers,

Think about what you think about.  Say what?  Have you ever thought about what you think about?  Napoleon Hill said in his book, Think and Grow Rich, "We become what we think about."

If you catch yourself thinking about being unhappy, about frustrations, or about negatives, CHANGE THE CHANNEL and think about what you want to happen.

Do you dwell on the past when you are thinking?  Do you think about how you have failed on your last goal so why set another one of those silly things? Or do you think about the future and how it's really in your control to make the best out of it?

Believe that good things will happen.  Expectations have a way of coming true.  You don't "catch" depression and you don't "catch" happiness...you "create" them by the thoughts you put into your mind.  Carefully choose what you read and listen to and choose carefully the people with whom you associate.

My challenge to you today is to stop and think....think about good things and about the future.  

Have a great Thursday,

Chris