Not Setting Goals – Systems and Process

Posted on by johnlwheaton1

On the matter of setting goals, this subtle shift in mindset is a profound change in working toward desired results:

Instead of thinking and saying, “It’s my goal to_______________________ (fill in the blank,)” or “I really want to _______________,” replace it with “I am the type of person who does ____________________________ (fill in the blank.)”

Be specific. Actions drive results. Mindset drives actions. To achieve desired results it takes thought, intention, and action. Set a standard. Create an identity, a process, a system, a standard, and execute to it.

Here’s some examples:

Replace: “I really want to lose 15 lbs,” with “I am the kind of person who works out daily and focuses on clean eating and hydration.”

Replace: “I really want a better relationship with my spouse,” with “I am the kind of person who plans and does a weekly date night with my spouse.”

Replace: “We would really like to see the business grow to $5m in revenue,” with “we are the type of people who meet once per week to report scorecards measuring activity in operations, sales, marketing, and client satisfaction, to sustain revenue growth.”

Replace; “We really need to get on top of our spending,” with “I am the kind of person who spends time at my desk tracking expenses daily, maintains a cash flow forecast and balances the checkbook weekly.”

Being a person who sets a standard creates continued improvement toward desired results. Once focused on process and systems, results follow. More energy can then be applied toward new and better outcomes over time. Maintaining to a standard requires less energy than getting there. Plus, it’s easier to calibrate and adjust when we eliminate variables.

I’m the kind of person who likes to share ideas with the world and write, so I maintain and publish a blog.

I am other things too.

So, what kind of person are you?

What I’ve Been Up To – The Big Pivot

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No one has heard from me through this blog in over one year. No posts; no updates. It’s not coincidental. It’s a simple case of energy management, focus, other priorities. Much of it has to do with the “big pivot” at our company Wheaton & Sprague Engineering, Inc., http://www.wheatonsprague.com. I know the term “pivot” is overused, but it’s an appropriate description for what we did starting in July 2023. We made a 180 degree turn on our business. This has been the focus since. I’ve learned a lot in life, and one of them is that I’d rather work to “build the thing” (or rebuild) and then talk about it, rather than talk along the way but not really be able to deliver. This is the “talk about it stage.”

Our business from 1994 to 2023 was primarily a specialty engineering company providing delegated design and engineering to the curtain wall and cladding world. We called this our Building Envelope Engineering Division (BEE). Much of this work was for tall buildings with standard or custom aluminum, metal, and glass cladding in major urban centers. It also included other similar work, and we worked with small, medium and large enterprise subcontractors and fabricators in various regions. We still do, but in different form. I’ll come back to that.

We also maintained a consulting group that was primarily comprised of one person for a few years, and then it grew to 2, 3, 4 and then back down, but it was more of a secondary focus for us. We call this our Building Envelope Consulting Division (BEC.) This work covers broad categories of various building types, forms and surfaces, in the major categories of design, construction, forensic investigation and litigation-claim support.

Along the way at times we tried different things like a Building Structures division that provided primary building structural engineering, and a Building Forensics division which merged all of the above and also a quick response team that could handle emergency failure issues. In 2008 the building structures group couldn’t compete on price with other firms doing only that work, and we shut it down. In the forensic work, we couldn’t really focus enough on that business in the required “horizontal niche” and we shut it down.

What had been the consistent, common thread throughout our history from 1994 forward was building envelope engineering work. This work was delivered primarily by providing structural engineering calculations, shop drawings, fabrications drawings, and thermal analysis (later.) We called this “full service engineering work.” Building Envelope Consulting came along in 2008 through a hire we made. This work got traction over time and remained viable but was a smaller percentage of our revenue.

The full service engineering work over the years provided work on large scale projects, big volume of backlog, often with thousands of person-hours involved. This is what we were know for primarily and where we invested most of our energy. Part of it was intention and part of it was just pure, repeat, sustainable work; energy feeding off of itself, like a hurricane gaining energy as it travels across warm ocean waters.

Over time, we increasingly started fighting various market dynamics. One dynamic was an increase in the number of companies providing similar services, mostly in drafting, but some also in engineering. Another was increased price pressure in the drafting services, which became more of a perceived and actual commodity. In addition, some clients self-perform their drafting work. They only go outside their business if they can’t handle the volume or if they can’t provide the competency on certain categories of work. What happens in this instance is we actually end up competing against our clients. They can typically provide the work at a lower cost recovery rate.

As time marched on, pricing pressure increased. The world got “flatter” and more folks came into the space. Then came 2020. Perhaps the reader may remember a thing called COVID-19, the world-wide pandemic. Everything changed in 2020 and the “rebound year” of 2021. Of course, there’s been strategic shifts and cultural changes since, that are still evolving. One of the big changes was “work from home,” or as it is now termed “remote work.” The demand for building occupancy dropped. The demand for occupancy in major urban centers dropped even more. People began working in all sorts of environments, much of it from home. Demand for virtual work and remote tools soared and was met. What was typically an employer’s market prior prior to 2021 became and employee’s market. Once this door opened, major shifts and movements took place with many leaving their jobs and moving to other companies. It seemed almost like an early western expansion land-grab with unprecedented changes. I mention employer and employee in the context of “business owner with equity” vs “non-owner receiving pay and benefits.” It’s not derogatory, it’s mean to make a point. What had always been the realm of the entrepreneur – owner (I can work from anywhere I want at any time if I choose) became just the opposite. The owner was now saddled in the often empty office, working to maintain course and manage the unprecedented dynamics, while staff members were working wherever they chose, and naming their terms. But that’s the topic for another blog.

Nevertheless, in spite of the above, our BEE business chugged along still providing full-service work at various scales. The work in the BEC business chugged along as well, slowly growing from 2, to 3, to 4.

But finally, inevitably, the dynamics mentioned above, and many, many more variables caught up to us and to themselves. The tail of the building market in our categories started to be visible in summer of 2022. Large design and drafting backlogs of full service BEE work slowly dwindled from September of that year forward, primarily led by lower demand, and increased price commoditization. Clients, also faced with declining demand and staff to maintain, had more and more options from which to choose how to procure their design and drawing needs. Major glazed towers in urban centers slowed to a crawl, if not a stop, except most of those that had been started and financed prior. Interest rates rose, commercial loans came due, leases started to expire, companies needed less space. After 29 years providing full service drafting, design and engineering work, we had essentially ZERO backlog in our drafting service line by June 30 of 2023, even though estimated work had stayed steady. Projects were “delayed” or “on indefinite hold” (whatever that really means.)

So, as it came to be, we made the decision to close our drafting service line and kept only our most experienced senior designer on staff to handle the small volume, system design, product development, and BEC support work. It was a tough decision; 29 years of a primary volume-based service with 8 – 16 people in drafting/design at any given time, now having to be dissolved. We spent the entire month of June and July communicating with hundreds of clients in this space, but to no avail. By the end of July 2023 it was shut down.

Professional engineering worked remained less disrupted since it is less of a commodity due to the smaller pool of registered professionals and somewhat more secure pricing paradigms. While volume dropped somewhat, professional engineering licensing will always be required (until it’s all replaced by AI and “rubber stampers” but that’s another blog as well.)

So our business in July of 2023 became half of it’s prior size in BEE. Thus, the pivot starting August 1, 2023. The pivot was to re-focus on building our BEC business as our primary focus, opening ourselves up to broad categories of building types, shapes and sizes, clad with every type of material on the planet. We maintained our BEE business in structural engineering, system design, product development, and thermal analysis service lines, still providing professional engineering work, and providing shop drawing work on small, boutique projects when requested or when the comps appeared to be viable. For all of the last year we’ve been focusing on building the processes, protocols, new client bases, market segments, all of the infrastructure necessary to support the BEC business, consulting engineering, as a B2B scalable business. We are still working in our “vertical” niche of building enclosure work, but in what we call “radical expansion within our niche.” We work with owners, architects, developers, owner’s reps, other consultants, construction managers, lawyers, insurance companies, manufacturers, suppliers, and more. We can provide services for almost any building type, new or existing, with almost any cladding type, and from sub-grade waterproofing to the roof. We have the people, and the diagnostic and testing equipment necessary to support the work. We have the compliance and statutory entities to perform in multiple states. We still provide BEE work, but in different form and lower volume for now. Our process and senior-level people will allow us to scale BEE quickly if and when demand increases. We also do much ‘cross functional work’ between divisions.

With all of the above came a new location, reducing from 12,300 square feet of office space to 3,920 square feet, still with room to spare for staff in office and staff remote. Yes, we too have a hybrid workforce. We can work from any location via remote workers connected to our home base. We can add satellite offices when it makes sense. I don’t see demand for newly built tall urban glazed aluminum facade work coming back any time soon. I see many other building types and categories still being designed and constructed but they have different looks, types, layouts, and are financed in different ways than prior. I see re-glazing projects, energy retrofits, re-purposed buildings with updated cladding systems. I see brick, metal studs, rain screen systems, foundation walls, roofing and elevated horizontal decks and surfaces. I see buildings in need of repair. I see nothing but opportunity ahead in working to solve bigger problems for owners, who have investments in buildings and properties. Buildings that are important assets to their owners and important places of protection to those working or being housed within the walls. But this is just the beginning. There’s so much more, and we place no limits on what the future may look like in the type of work we do.

The phrase “if you build it, they will come,” has been reverberating in my mind as I’ve been writing this and stewarding the process. That may be true in the Field of Dreams, but it’s not completely true in business. We can build it, and people won’t come if they don’t know about it. We need to tell people about it. We need create visibility and awareness. Creating, or supporting this, is what marketing is all about. In addition, we need to do business development, building relationships with people that make decisions, have needs to fulfill and problems to solve. We need to tell the story, to write about it, to let the world know that we’ve built it, and are continuing to build it. Then they will come. Once they do, excellence, care, solving their problems, will keep them coming, staying, working together.

So, welcome to the new Wheaton & Sprague Engineering, AKA Wheaton Sprague Building Envelope and affiliates. Welcome to our new, 30 year old business. We are all about buildings, building enclosures, buildings in all categories. The best is yet to come

With God all things are possible.

Fascinating and Motivating- Gauging Emotional Energy

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As we gain experience, that which is “fascinating and motivating” changes. What may have been so at one time can become “just ok,” or even “annoying and frustrating.” It’s alright to move on and move forward into the next “fascinating and motivating.” This takes awareness.

While doing so, we can’t forget that our “frustration” with something now is likely someone else’s new opportunity (just like it was for us prior.) We can delegate it, or better yet, hand it over entirely to another colleague or recruit, someone wanting to step into their next “fascinating and motivating.”

It is liberating to recognize this, and to assess our priorities by gauging our emotional energy. Step back and audit what is exciting, what is motivating, where the value is best provided to clients and staff, what increases emotional energy, and what drains it. Re-prioritize, amend, delegate, delete. Stay present to coach, advise, support, and help those to whom we hand off the work,

What I’ve been Up To

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My business partner and I have been very busy for the last 9 to 12 months on quite a few fronts at www.wheatonsprague.com and affiliates, so here’s an update on some of what’s going on.

EOS

We’ve implemented a new operating system known as The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS.) It’s built on a Visionary – Integrator (V/I) relationship with a Leadership team. The “visionary” (Me-“CEO” for us) is the “big idea” person, big relationships, innovation, brand, growth. The “rainmaker.” The Integrator (President and COO for us, Richard Sprague) manages the business, P & L, oversees the leadership team. The “gatekeeper.” It’s built on LMA (lead, manage, account), clarity, Level 10 Leadership meetings, and evaluating placing people in positions under the acronym “GWC” (get it, want it, capacity for it.) There’s no hiding in EOS. It’s all visible, connected, and results driven. People report scorecard values that are developed by the leadership team to asess the health of the business, the department, the project, etc. Meetings are substantive and get traction. I’ve cut my internal business meeting time by 3x to about 6 hours per week.

What has it led to?

We defined as a leadership team our Core Purpose, Core Niche, Core Focus, Core Values. It was hard work, but very gratifying and unifying. The core values, collaboration, integrity, client-conscious, communication, capable, are not aspirational. They are real. They are “who we are” as people and as an organization. This clarifies hiring, staff retention, annual reviews, client types, and more. Our Core Purpose (our “why”) is to Enable Facades that Inspire. Our core niche is engineering, design, science, and consulting for building facades. We also defined our ideal client demographic and psychographic. All of this was done as a leadership team with an implementer. It’s not a “panacea.” The work has to be done. The topics dealt with have to be relevant to the need. But EOS provides a format for a path to sustainable, self managed, growing business not dependent on ownership alone or a charismatic leader playing “hero ball.” We’ve tried different forms or operating systems and EOS is our choice long term. Nothing else has made as much sense as EOS.

What about Creating Structure?

So, I have this registered service mark and brand named “Creating Structure” which is no longer part of our core purpose statement. We still own the brand name. My Podcast still bears the name, and will stay as such. Creating Structure dates back to the start of the company, when our primary purpose was viewed more as structural engineers and designers doing facades, building structures, forensics in a broader manner. But it was time for a change. The new core purpose “Enabling Facades that Inspire” will take us a long way on our journey. At heart, this is who we are- curtain wall, facade, enclosure, architectural component engineers, designers, consultants, scientists. BUT with owning the brand name Creating Structure it gives me and us options as we consider other forms and divisions of the business (stay tuned!)

Welcome New Staff

We’ve been rebuilding our engineering department and I couldn’t be more pleased than to have Mark Enos, PE (December 2021) and Nestor Perez, PE (February 2022) back at Wheaton Sprague. Both men are insightful, pragmatic, solution oriented engineers, that align with our core values, purpose, and niche. They are a great complement to Jeff Cook, PE as our core group of PE’s. Our foundation is strong, and with our other engineers, present, and future, we can build a deeply rooted group that can deliver solutions to clients.

Our Operators

Michael Kohler is our Director of Building Envelope Engineering Operations. Mike leads, manages, and accounts for our delegated design, drawing, BIM, engineering, system design, thermal analysis, area of the business delivering work products to glazing subcontractors, exterior wall subcontractors and architectural metal fabricators.

Paul Griese, is our Director or Building Envelope Consulting Operations. Paul leads, manages and accounts for all consulting activities which includes a variety of design, analysis, investigation, QA, QC, field and shop observations, testing and forensic support and more.

John Wheaton, yours truly, is the Director of Marketing. This position has always been a primary focus for me and will always be linked to the visionary and external role for me whether I do the marketing work directly or through a person, team or outside resource. I also still do a lot of engineering work, support, PE review and stamp, advisement, coaching, and participation in the engineering work. I get to also now communicate with everyone in the business more as “good cop” since I have no direct reports outside of the marketing function. When “in the business” I get to help, support, coach, lead, and interact with our people. The staff in our operating divisions work for the directors. Yes, as an owner of a small privately held business I can make any call I choose if I see a problem, but it is only done with and through my partner and the leadership team.

Richard Sprague, my business partner at WSE and affilates, is President and COO. Richard “runs the business.” All the operators in all the business report to Richard. He is a fine steward, a clear thinker, and a focused gate-keeper. He makes the decisions in the business on what gets done and what does not. Richard leads the EOS L10 meetings for the leadership team. In my work “in the business” I work for him

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more of my focus and perspectives in market dynamics, trends, the Creating Structure Podcast, thoughts on results vs performance mindset, what I’m listening to, the power of LinkedIn and more

Backwards

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I think that we often have our values reversed; or maybe it’s just me.

Why would we want to sleep longer in the morning on our day off ? Don’t we want to get on with our free time?

Why would we want to spend the best of our energy during the work day prioritizing answering emails? Shouldn’t we save it for later, when we have used up most of our creativity on more important problems or value propositions?

Why would we consider it a win, like we’ve cheated the system, to skip a workout day, or a good nutrition day, as if we deserve it? Don’t we want to pursue health every day in some form?

Why do we prioritize the tyranny of the urgent over that which is important? Do we always want to be responding to other people’s priorities for us to the exclusion of everything else?

Flip the paradigm. Own rather than be owned. Initiate rather than just respond. Rethink the value system. Start in some measure immediately.

Lean In

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Lean in to the hills; the upward struggles; the view is better at the top

Lean in when the pain is unavoidable; identify the source

Lean in to good times and enjoy; there’s no guarantees

Lean into that special moment; it may never come again in the same form

Lean in to tough times; experience is gained

Lean in to relationships; there’s nothing more important

Lean in to journaling, to expressing thoughts on paper; personal growth takes place in this context

Lean in to listening; much learning takes place

Lean in to change; it’s one of the few constants in life

Lean in to hearing different views; it expands our mind whether we agree or not

Lean in to being flexible; sometimes the magic is found there

Lean in to growth; no one will do it for us

Lean in to understanding; no one can take it away

Leaning is a mental posture.

Leaning in is better than leaning out

What’s on My Mind?

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What is on my mind? That’s a good question. For anyone that follows this blog, you’ll know I haven’t written for some time. Seth Godin says there’s no such thing as “writer’s block” any more that there’s such a thing as “talker’s block.” But talking is easy, writing is hard. Talking feels less permanent; like standing by a stream watching the water flow by; it’s there and it’s gone. Not that the words we speak have no meaning; they do, but it feels less vulnerable, less permanent. What we write is fixed. It’s harder to take back. It’s permanent, or at least it’s memorialized in a more fixed manner, like a photo of the stream; a fixed point in time. No taking it back

Why so long between writing? I don’t know. I am busy running the company, Wheaton & Sprague Engineering, Inc., and affiliates. I have been devoting more time outside of that to the Creating Structure Podcast, which is now producing Episode 23 and with two more scheduled coming up in August and early September. Those take time to produce; the show notes are like a mini-blog in themselves. I’ve been busy with The Garden (see Instagram posts and other articles in prior blog posts.) It’s summer and I spend less time inside. I’ve been really busy with family matters, friends, and adjusting to post-Covid19 lifestyle. Actually I don’t think there is yet a “post Covid19” reality since the pandemic rages on. It’s just a different state of another “normal,” a new adjustment. Actually it’s worse than prior to, and during Covid, from my point of view, since now there seems to be this expectation to live in both realities. I find it less sustainable, therefore, prioritization of choices is required more than ever. There’s just a tension in the air.

The above are all just excuses of course. Even as I write this, I am starting to FEEL better. Why? Well, I like to write actually. I spend most of my writing time crafting emails, drafting company briefings, writing memos, proposals, work products, and more. But putting this out to the public, and to the followers of the blog, feels different. It is different. I am crazy enough (call it what you will) to think that I might have something to say; that perhaps my experiences might positively impact one person. Even if that’s not the case, it impacts me. And writer’s write because they need to. They write for themselves. One writer said, “If you really want to make an impact, write something that would make your friends feel uncomfortable reading. If you want to make an even deeper impact, write something that will make yourself unconformable.” I’m not quite there yet. I’m able to be just vulnerable enough to do this; to share these thoughts in writing with the world.

What’s on my mind, though, you ask, since I still haven’t answered the question? There’s a lot on my mind. Organizing it and sharing it in a substantive way is the tough part.

What about REMOTE WORK. Well there is no such thing anymore as “REMOTE WORK.” There’s just contextual work; work from various locations. As a business owner I used to work “remotely” often since business ownership is more of a lifestyle than a job. Now I never use that term. First, working in different contexts now belongs to almost anyone that is in an office environment or working a traditional “office job.” It’s no longer in the realm of the business owner alone. I actually feel better about that. I never say “I am working remotely.” It doesn’t matter- not at all. I say things like, “I will be working from my home office this morning,” or “I will be working from my car, between appointments.” (Yes from my car.)

If I turn on “out of office” for auto-response to email it’s because I am on “personal time” or “handling matters that will not allow me to stay in top of email in real time.” There is no more “out of office.” Do I have a physical office? Yes. I am there sometimes five days per week, sometimes zero days per week. All that matters is whether I am engaged or not; whether I being productive or not. Never has it been more obvious to manage by results or outcomes than now. Manage to results and outcomes, not appearances.

What’s on my mind? I don’t know. Have I gotten to that part of the blog yet? “Hey John, what is your company doing about return-to-office vs. hybrid work vs. work from home? Which one are you guys doing?” My answer is yes. What? “Yes, I said.” We are doing ALL OF IT. Is there one better than the other? I don’t know. It’s all contextual. If we are not creative in our approach to people and work contexts, we will struggle with retention and recruiting for sure. Like I said, manage to results and outcomes. Not everyone will survive the change. Not everyone has at our firm. But many will like it more, and they will thrive, plus new people will come into a context they are familiar with if we hire within this paradigm.

What’s on my mind? A lot of things. How can there be so many “hiring now” and “help wanted” signs compared to the time prior to COVID19? Are there that many people that have bowed out, gone to gig economy, freelancing, or just decided not to work? I don’t believe the statistics from the labor department. I just believe what I see; a LOT of jobs available and not enough people available to do them, willing to do them, or that have been trained for them. What a shift. The shift is dynamic and continuing to play out. Take your 5-year plan and scrap it, unless your 5-year plan is “be nimble,” or “make cool stuff,” or “impact the world through clean drinking water,” and similar. I like the “be nimble” part. The job of my company, our “why,” is to “Create Structure” to the world, physically and operationally. Being nimble is required (that’s sound better right now than “pivoting” which is an overused word.)

What’s on my mind? I don’t know. I guess quite a bit. But I am coming to the end of my attention span and available time for this priority today. I’ve not touched on the spiritual, the garden, updates regarding the company, technical posts, discussions about project management, client relationship management, faith and work, the natural, supernatural, discussions about BIM, innovation, 3-D printers, point clouds, time sheet discipline, strategies behind billing report audits, leveraging of time, prioritization, game-changer tasks, the importance of relationships, implementing EOS at our firm and more. I guess those will have to wait for the future blogs; tomorrow, next week, as soon as I prioritize and choose to write more.

What’s on my mind? I guess there’s quite a bit. Let’s talk more later. See you in the next post. Have a great day.

Outlier

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“For out on the edge of darkness, there rides the peace train.” Cat Stevens

That’s where the peace train rides; out on the edge of darkness. If it rode in the middle of light, the place where peace already resides, there would be no need for it. It gathers people from the edges and expands those boundaries. The peace train is an outlier to unrest and darkness.

Doctors ride into the midst of sickness, on the edges of disease. They do the most good when they are in those places of deep need, saving lives, doing surgical repairs, handing emergency room issues. Doctors are outliers to sickness.

Broken things, or things needing to be built, need architects, engineers and contractors. That train rides on the edge of development, expansion, rehabilitation. The deeper the need, the more value that is provided. Engineers and builders are outliers to disorder and decaying infrastructure.

“It’s is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not called the righteous but sin sick people to repentance.” Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t just ride on the edge of a fallen world, he entered right into the middle of it; he engaged as the God-man and flipped the value system on it’s head. Jesus was an outlier. In this case it went so far as to let the religious order think they had won the day by putting him to death, when they actually accomplished His purpose to offer salvation to the world. Resurrection doesn’t happen without death. A seed doesn’t grow unless planted in the ground.

The broader the gap, the bigger the need, the greater the outlier impact. The deeper the outlier is engaged in the mess, the more impact, disruption, and sometimes hatred from status quo.

Where’s the edges to our outlier space? What’s our outlier gap? Where are we spending our time and energy to make impact?

Happy Saturday

The Parking Garage Health Facility

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The Cleveland Clinic turned a parking garage into a makeshift medical facility. It looks like a M.A.S.H. unit. This is a great example of “pivoting” (yes I know that’s a buzzword.) Let me back up and take you to the start.

A family member needed a Covid-19 test at the Clinic due to a required medical procedure. I was asked to drive them. The instructions said “go to the Walker parking garage lower level.” “What? Testing in a parking garage?” “This should be interesting,” I thought.

Fast forward to the parking garage. It was brilliant. It’s run with military precision. Specific cars allowed at specific times. Signage, work stations, medical professionals gowned and masked, directing traffic, helping guide, doing testing. No one got out of their car. It’s all done through an open car window. Fifteen minutes. In and out.

Why did this impress me? There’s multiple reasons. The Cleveland Clinic is BIG but they flexed. It was creative, it was clean, it was efficient and it was in a parking deck.

Here’s some of my impressions and takeaways:

1. Big business doesn’t have to be rigid.

2. I’ll bet the nurses didn’t learn traffic flow directing in school. We’ve got to be nimble and self educated in whatever we do.

3. The Clinic got creative and we can be creative in this environment as well.

4. The use of a parking deck; an ordinary, bland, concrete, parking deck. Brilliant. It’s out of the way, efficient for moving cars, isolated from the hospital.

5. Flexibility. People were working from the lower level garage. Its exterior air. There were propane heaters and chairs in strategic locations. It’s not the best space to work from. Professionals have to be flexible. One never knows what to expect next or how they can drive new value in new paradigms.

6. “Can do” attitude. The Clinic figured out a way to test quickly, safely, politely and with test results delivered between 8 hrs and 24 hrs.

Questions:

How nimble are we? How creative are we? How quickly can our business and minds pivot? Can we rally people to deliver around a cause; around a problem, and above and beyond? Are we willing to go there as leaders?

Excuses are easy. Solutions aren’t hard once we eliminate the excuse, we stop looking for others to show the way, and we take responsibility to act, lead, move.

Even parking decks can be a place associated with healing. What have you got that is being overlooked?

The Problem

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The problem that we see, the thing that is visible to us, typically isn’t really the problem. What we see is the manifestation of a root cause issue; something underlying.

We say things like “we have a profit problem” or “we have a quality problem” when those aren’t the issues at all. These “problems” are simply how other root causes are being expressed.

The visible expression, what we think of as as the problem, is the “behavior.” But the root cause, the real problem, is internal; it’s rooted in our identity. This can be true organizationally or personally.

For instance, a quality problem may be linked to a lack of training. A profit problem may be linked to numerous root causes, or a broad issue like lack of organizational health.

It’s important to know the underlying issue or issues because otherwise we invest time and money solving the wrong thing; the external thing; the behavior.

It takes time, reflection, self-awareness, listening, and study to identify the underlying issues and get to work on them. But until we do, any progress is temporary and difficult. If the root isn’t fixed the problem wont go away. That’s why New Year’s resolutions typically don’t last. Real change requires a shift; a transformation; from the inside not outside.

We need to view things differently. People are great at seeing the outside when it’s what’s inside that defines the outcome.

“Out of the heart, the mouth speaks,” and other examples express this clearly.