Tag: Process Improvement

We All Desire Our Comfort Zone

Did you make your lists for Wednesday? If they caused you any consternation, I first must apologize, and secondly, let you know that is a good thing. Consternation is what comes the when you start to realize that not everything is where you want it. The realization helps you move to the fact that sometimes to get what you really want, changes must come from within.

Change is good. Change happens all the time. Many, though, fear change. If you’re sitting in a very comfortable spot in your nice easy chair, and you’re comfortable, and even though it’s not where you want to be, at least you know everything that’s there.  We call this the comfort zone.  We all desire the familiarity of the comfort zone, no matter how bad the circumstances.

There’s a well-known concept in physics that it takes more energy to start something moving, then to keep it moving. As a process engineer, I used to measure the differences when designing manufacturing lines and how much energy people needed to exert. The same is true between starting and sustained movement from an old comfort zone to a better one.

Yet if we did not venture from our comfort zone, how would we ever grow? How would we grow as a person if we did not leave our happy home and venture to kindergarten or school? How would we grow financially if we never took that first job? How would we grow as a people if we failed to sail the seas, discover new lands, learn to fly, and develop the technology to explore moons and planets?

I like my comfort. I like learning and growing even more. Our assignment for tonight is to think. Will where I am right now last forever? It is rare that something will last forever. Do I like to learn and grow? If I do not grow with my surroundings, does that mean I get left behind? And if I get left behind, what happens to my comfort zone?

These are just some good thoughts that we do need to consider. Often, it’s best to consider these questions before being overtaken, and left in the backwater.

Think of this today, and tomorrow we will explore ways to live, grow and excel.

Help Define if You’re Happy or Would Like to Reach Out

Did you get an opportunity to read yesterday’s blog? If not, I suggest you read it, because there are things in there you might want to consider.

Did anybody stand up and make a move yesterday? Up the stairs, out to the library, to say hi to a neighbor, or something else?

Sometimes it’s hard to know when to start. And sometimes you must stop and think about where that starting point is. And, then it is okay.

Start by getting something to write on, and something to write with, and the list everything around you. Don’t turn this into a novel that makes War and Peace look like a comic book. Just a few simple lists will do. One should tell you who you have around you, those who support you, those you support, those you get along with, those you do not get along with, yet could not do without.

The next list should list what you have. A home, an apartment, a big-screen TV set, bills, list whatever you have. It doesn’t have to be complete but give it some thought; and, then next to each item list whether you like it or not and why.

Now you know where you are. This should help you to find and define where you are, and if you’re happy where you are or if you would like to reach out and do something. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Only where you are and what you feel right now.

This will take you a little while maybe 30 minutes or an hour, and it is important. Therefore, I am not going to hold you up. We will meet again tomorrow.

You are way too good and way too needed

Yesterday, we thought on perfection. Do you view the world in black-and-white? Do you view the world as infinite shades of gray? Or do you live in the Technicolor world, where all dynamics, shades, colors, and opinions are viable depending on the circumstances?

By the way, I should tell you, answers are neither right or wrong here. There are the answers of each individual, who has to decide those are answers which are right or wrong for them.

I am not a philosophy major.  I am an education major with extensive education in corporate training, process improvement, and quality.

I ask these questions to have people think.

The reason I like to have people think is for one very clear fact.

I like to sit in my basement either in the easy chair or laying on the couch, watching my favorite TV shows or listening to the radio, or reading a good book. It is not the only thing I do. I take classes, I am at the library every other week, I have my volunteered and other actions. And I write, develop books, and develop courses which often tie in with the books, and develop charts for measurement and process improvement.

I like to do all this. And it keeps me busy. Yet I find that is because I get up off the chair or the couch in my basement turn off the technology and go out to communicate and collaborate with others.

The sad fact is if we sit in our basement or the backyard or the TV room and wait for somebody to come and help us, show us something better, or improve our lives for us, the dust would grow, and we will be long gone before anybody shows up. And those who do will mainly be looking for the source of the smells, and to collect the bones.

You are way too good and way too needed for such a destiny. Now is the time for you to stand and make a difference in your life and the lives of others.

Think about how you would like to learn or help and what you could do.  We will talk again tomorrow.

In the Eye of the Beholder

Everybody looks for perfection in the world. Yet finding perfection is tough. Perfection is found in the eye of the beholder. And therefore, it would be very hard to find two ideas of perfection which are the same. It reminds me of the speech from John F. Kennedy who said,” We do these things not because they are easy, we do these and other things because they are hard.”

People like the idea of heading towards perfection, because they look at perfection as black and white. Yet we do not live in a world which lends itself to black-and-white. Rather, the world looks upon all things in unlimited hues, shades, dynamic colors, and variables. What is perfection? That depends, and it is up to each one of us to decide what that meaning is for us.

This week, we will talk about perfection, versus reliability, versus sustainability, versus the ultimate, versus the needed.

I promised to keep this short. And I will.

For today, think of your ideas perfection, and how often you truly achieve it.

Exciting Times for ReadingSticks

I want to thank everybody who’s following my blog. I appreciate you, and I hope that I bring some joy or some good into your life.

I have been quiet this week because here at ReadingSticks we are hip deep, building new websites and developing maps for moving in new directions. I do not want to spoil the excitement by letting the cat out of the bag too early. However, starting Monday blogs will probably come to you either on a daily, or every other day basis. Each blog, will be short and take up his little of your time as possible.

Please watch for these blogs as they will direct you to many of the new and exciting projects and programs that we are developing for you. Until then, I thank you for being with us. I also want to wish you a great weekend. We have a new month and the start of the new season ahead.

I look forward to our next blog on Monday.

Are You At The Top of the List of People Who Do What You Do?

Well, are you?  Some people will tell you that no matter where you are on the list, there will always be somebody above you and always be somebody below you. I don’t think that this works out logically.

There are over 1 million people who work for franchised car dealerships in America. If we had a million names on the list and measured them on work performance, somebody or a group of somebodies would be number one on the list. In the same for the last place on the list. Somebody has to hold the last place also.

The real question is, ‘How important to you, is your place on the list?’

Are you driven by a Desire to be number one?  If number one took home $50 million dollars a year, and you only take home $40 million a year, so what?  What difference is $10 Million a year?  Does it put you in a category of higher wealth or status?  Is the drive to number one an ego trip?  Would you still be going after the number one spot if the rewards did not make up for the losses you would experience along the way?

As our world economy evolves, those who are positive outliers will be the ones to profit.  Outliers are a given.  Yet, I wonder why, for some, just being an outlier is not enough.  Some look at themselves as failures unless they can be the best.  Number One!

The thing to know is, in the rest of the list below first place, there are plenty of people looking to unseat the leader and take over.  Being ‘Number One’ is a very tenuous and temporary position.  The money is good, yet is it that much different.

Spending more time working with the family, helping relatives, planning a future with the kids, and enjoying a well-cared for house and life, these are true works with great rewards.

Is being ‘Number One’ in business a good feeling?  Sure.  Are there greater rewards and good feelings to be found in live?  You Bet.

Helping or Hindering?

Have you ever gone for a walk downtown? We have a great downtown it is alive and vibrant, and it is always changing. People shop and go to the movies and the theater. And there are great and wonderful restaurants. We have churches of just about every faith and denomination, and we usually get along very well. All our churches and many of our citizens work together to develop a safety net for homeless and indigent people.

We offer the indigent free meals, a place to sleep warm on cold nights, close haircuts and many had this back to a regular life. Many of the homeless will enjoy these various offerings, and yet not be interested in finding continuous employment. Many, perform a dangerous task of begging for money at major intersections, and at offramps to major highways. When they let people like me drive, I understand how dangerous, for both the driver and the beggar, such a precarious use of the road begging is.

I understand the desire for the homeless and indigent to do what they can to collect money. And I do feel for the plight of those who are stuck on the street. I was told that the homeless collect about $11 an hour begging at an offramp or a major cross street. I have also been told that those begging can collect $27 an hour.

I believe more protections need to be available to those begging, the drivers, and, the other pedestrians in the area. I am not sure though that this is totally possible. The ACLU protects the rights of the indigent and homeless to beg at the spots they use.

I do like and appreciate the work of the ACLU, and I think if they really want to help the poor and indigent, they should find better ways for these people to earn a living. After all, the ACLU is there to protect everyone, and we are all part of everyone.

The ACLU could work with the City and County, the local workforce center, and various state and federal grants, to find jobs for anyone who does not have a job. Some people can cut grass, and some people can use a leaf blower, or pick up trash. Some people can do assembly work. Some people can do assembly work, or help with recycling efforts.

Granted some people are just lost. They are confused, maybe with medical or physical impairments that make it hard for them to live a regular life. These people are the ones that we should really be taking care of. And, they are usually the ones, which are helped last.

I also understand, that doing one good deed for one person, often launches a bad deed of unintended consequences for another. Not so many decades ago, the legislature and mental health advocates worked together to empty mental health wards and hospitals. They believed, they were doing good for all those poor people who had been locked up for so many years. However, letting everyone go did some good for those who did not belong in mental wards. At the same time, it did horrendous damage to many who needed to be in and have the guidance of those wards and hospitals.

Many now roam the streets, and alleyways, with neither proper medication nor anyone to ensure they take the medication. I honestly believe we are doing a disservice to these people, and we should find better ways to handle the problem.Â

Of course, it all boils down to money. Emptying the mental wards in hospitals saved private insurance companies, and the federal government some big bucks. And they would prefer not to be required to pick up those funding streams again. Although, the costs and burdens now move to emergency services and transportation, city and county police forces and sheriff’s offices, businesses who have losses due to breakage or theft caused by those released from the wards in hospitals. And, private citizens who the mentally ill may attack.

I am earnestly searching for a better way to handle this concern. What we need is a more national discussion on this topic. I ask you to please send this blog to your friends and acquaintances. I also urge everyone to reply to the blog and tell us about any solutions you can think of.

 

 

Never Stop Learning

Today more than ever it is vital to be a continuous learner and stay up with the times. Some people believe that they did all their learning in school. Other people continue to take classes after college, and believe these courses supplement and suffice for their learning. And, others never stop asking questions and seeking answers.

Today I want to give you a few tricks to being a continuous learner and give you some suggestions that I hope will help.

The first and most important thing we have to do as continuous learners is to admit that we don’t know everything. If we don’t do step one, we will never do any of the rest because we will believe we know it all.

The second thing we do is to ask why. In Six Sigma, we are trained to ask why until we can go no further down the path of gathering information. Normally this step is called the ‘Five Whys.’ You ask a question. Find out an answer. Ask why. Find out another answer. Ask why, and continue until there is nothing to ask why about any longer.  Finding the answer will initiate research. Research is where you learn.

Part of being a continuous learner is keeping up with what you already knew, and the new changes in those fields. Another part of continuous learning is staying up with new knowledge and new technology. Everything is changing faster and faster these days.

There is an excellent book on the change that is called ‘Who Moved My Cheese.’ I highly recommend that if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet that you do so. It is a fast read, yet it is very interesting and a guide on accepting change.

So why would I say that it is very important to keep up with new ideas and new discoveries? The reason is, we keep up with new technologies or, we are left with the technologies that we know. Whether its books from the library, magazines, snail mail, or other technologies. What happens is, as you give up on technology and new ways of doing things, your level of current knowledge starts to fall by the wayside. If most items are written for a blog, or a website, or an e-book, and you’re not reading those, how do you keep up?

I love to read books. Real, hardcover books. When somebody hands me a handwritten note or sends me a thank you card which they wrote out themselves, it tells me that they took enough time and cared enough to make it personal. I still have a landline phone in my house. Yet I also have a blog on the web. I have two websites one is not up at the moment, a training site for my courses. A delivery system which delivers my blogs weekly and E-newspaper that goes up monthly and other wonderful things. I’m only 63 it’s way too young for me to give up and start ignoring technology.

Planning

Have you ever noticed how frustrating it gets when your plans don’t go the way you expect them to go?  Have you ever gotten frustrated to the point where you cannot figure out how you got to where you are, no idea of how to get back on track, and just want to quit and hide?

Don’t feel bad we all get that way. We look at others on an outing, on a Saturday afternoon, and they look so much in control. We had problems with the store being out of what we wanted to buy, the kids having problems and being fussy in the car, or pets who decide they want to play chase and tag with you and run out the gate just as everybody’s getting into the car.

What do we do about our plans going wrong?  We learn to laugh a little. We understand these things happen. And, not to get upset every time something doesn’t go the way we desire.

Now you’re starting to think, “How did the pros do it?”  As a retired Master Sergeant, I’m here to tell you, there is no corporation better planning than the US military.  And yet, everyone in the US military who has ever been part of building a plan can tell you one thing, plans will generally fall apart with the first enemy contact.

You think I’m kidding you. I assure you I am not. We all develop our plans.  We plan the best we can.  We work with all our prayers, talismans, and other rituals to ensure things go right. And yet, in the end, there is always something that goes awry.

The question becomes, “Why do we do all of the work if we know at some point it will fall apart?”  The answer is simple, knowing that things will generally fall apart, you plan anyway. In that planning, you are continuously looking for the what-ifs, the contingents, the “if this” happens I will “do that.”

I’m not saying that you’re going to get lucky, although sometimes luck is involved. I’m not saying that you will think of absolutely everything. It’s rare. What I’m saying is, the more you plan, and the more you look at the contingencies, the better you will understand.

In understanding, you will see strong spots and weak spots. Having a heads up on strong and weak areas will make your decisions during the execution of the plan much better.  The decisions and changes are now based on what you learned during your preparation. What I’d like to suggest is make the best plans possible.

Every time I plan I know the plan won’t run as predicted. I do not know exactly what will happen to change the plan. I do know what options are available, and I can make much better’s decisions.

Ever planned, and the preparations made changes and decisions easier to make?  If you would like to share something about how planning saved the day when plans went awry, Please, give us a response and tell us what happened.

Are You Looking in the Right Direction?

We all seem to be in search of something. Moreover, there are many people out there who are willing to lead us on that search in exchange, in exchange for something they want. They may want money or attention, or understanding or belief they are doing good or fulfilling some purpose. They do want something.

The question is, do those offering you guidance understand what you are looking for and can they really provide what you are need requires?

I find it interesting that our eyes set at the front of our body on the high ground and focus outwards. Unless you look in the mirror, you do not see an image of yourself, and it is hard to see what goes on behind the eyes. You have to look around look behind you again more mirrors with images.

The question I have today is, ‘Are you looking in the right place?’ Or, are you running all over the place looking here and looking there for answers? Do you seek things in many places, yet, never seem to be able to find them? Do the claims of others somehow generally leave you short of where you want to be, feeling somehow less, and somehow again without.

There is another place you can look. The place is one of the hardest to look and yet one of the easiest to get. You need to look within yourself.

Is there anybody who knows you better than you do? Who knows what you want? You do. Who knows what you like and don’t like? You do. Who knows how far you are willing to go to get something done, and done the way you want it done? Oh yeah, that is you. Okay

Reach out to the world to collaborate, to communicate, to solve technical issues, and to learn new ideas. Never let others tell you who you are or who you should be throwing a strong keep.

Would you like to discuss the idea of internal growth?  Please leave a comment. You can always reach me at mikeb@readingsticks.space