I was talking with Patrick and Matt about leading people and organizational design. I’ve noticed that you can’t be world-class in things you don’t love.
Made Me Think: Do you have your people in the right spot? Do you know what your people love and where your people want to be?
• Do you ever wonder why our kids are lazy? We put Custodians inside schools to clean up after kids. My kids can clean up after themselves – and they should!
Made Me Think: Where are you placing Custodians around your business where people should just be handling their own shit?
• I was reading an article about Japan. Love the food; fascinated by the respect in the culture. In Japan, their train schedules are published to the second. This level of detail drives punctuality across the culture.
Made Me Think: The standards you set drive the company’s actions. Measure what matters and PUBLISH IT for the organization. What should you be measuring down to the second?
• I was talking to Big Mike, who was bummed out about a customer reaming him out for seemingly a small issue. It seemed they were clearly having a bad day because it was an atypical interaction. He kept cool, apologized, and fixed the small issue, focusing on building world-class relationships.
Made Me Think: Don’t let their values become your values. I’ve never built a world-class relationship yelling at someone. You?
• Leadership reminder:
Never a bad time to visit a customer.
Never a bad time to explain the why.