VPP, God and Pull

9/17/14...Over the last few years, our plant is considering pursuing a Virginia VPP certification in safety. We believe using this process may change our plant culture, ultimately driving reduction in injuries. However, like other third party auditing such as SQF, ISO, etc., there are wastes in this process. Typically auditors, at times, take certain elements to extremes, which may bring no value into the system and increases costs. VPP is a great example of this. We are hearing from other companies, that although VPP helps drive safety culture improvement, the downside is the process drives up costs and ties up significant resources within a company.

What I find interesting about VPP is the approach. Virginia’s OSHA agency created this program. A significant part of their customer base is manufacturers. Their challenge is how, under limited people resources, do we enforce compliance within the state of Virginia? In part, the way they answered this question was creating a program called VPP. Elements were developed which communicated information. Requirements were created such as requiring those with VPP certification mentoring other companies. Finally they created a gap analysis which helped interested companies understand their current state and what their future state should look like. The approach, with the marketing and branding of a certification and award, is genius. Their customers, including our plant, are using their resources, energy and passion to go after this prestigious certification and even mentor other manufacturers. OSHA added no resources. From a lean perspective, they created a pull versus a push system.  

I am experiencing this same genius within our company. Our global CI group created a Lean Gap Assessment. This assessment, when filled out, conveys how far a plant is on their Lean journey. The group also created an award and a small monetary thank you. More importantly though are the bragging rights between Plant Managers. Most of our plants worldwide are now going after this award. So in essence, this is a pull system. Instead of the global group pushing compliance, our plants are asking, sometimes begging, for knowledge, help, etc.

With these examples, I also wonder where else can a pull versus push system succeed. Leadership generally pushes down. Instead, how do we create pull with initiatives? 

Once again, I believe my God is already two steps ahead of all of us. Spiritually, from a Toil perspective, I find God’s approach is pull. Is it not true in the Bible, He conveys to me, the closer I am to Him, the closer He is to me.

Indeed…a pull system.

Firing Someone

6/9/14…Today, I found out our company is considering firing someone for willfully bypassing a guard on a machine and hurting themselves. The injury is a recordable but easily could have resulted in a lost time work accident. This is tearing me up inside for a number of reasons. Not long ago, another employee was fired due to cheating on a Pay for Skills re-examination. The person, who was fired, in fact, was a good employee, and her personality was always cheerful. I loved being around her. She always showed up for work and did anything asked of her. I believe part of her cheating on this exam was due to her education level. But the problem is I never, as a Christian leader, took it upon myself to insert myself in this process to understand the nuances of why we felt it necessary to fire her instead of offering forgiveness with a lesser consequence. I am supposed to stand up for those who need justice. In this case, I did not bother. Yes, this person was in another department and was not my direct responsibility, but as a Christian leader, I failed to stand up for another person who may have needed justice. I turned a blind eye. I promised myself after this occasion, that I would not repeat my sin of apathy. I am thankful the Spirit within me convicted me of this sin.

One year later, I face the same issue. This time, due to the Spirit sensitizing me to my previous sin, I inserted myself in the process. I paraphrased the story below of the apostle John observing Jesus:

John 8:11 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 

She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

In the situation our company is facing, we can learn from this story. Our employee admits she knew the rule of not bypassing a guard, and yet she did it and got hurt. What is troubling is she is a member of our safety committee. She, as part of the safety committee, also came up with our cardinal rules of safety which is a short list of a be all end all key safety rules all of us live by, and understand we can be fired for just cause without any warnings if not followed. As it relates to the story above, our employee was caught in the act and is now standing before members of our leadership team.

There are stones in our leader’s hands. We are ready to throw them (fire her) and according to the law (company policy), we are justified. And yet, let those of us as leaders who are without failings cast the first stone. In this circumstance, where is the justice to the employee? If God forgives us leaders of our failings, then are we not expected to forgive others in their shortcomings?

However, I will acknowledge sin results in consequences. Jesus does not tell the woman to go and sin some more. In our case, a disciplinary write-up or suspension are just given the nature of the act. After all, if we spare this person and they commit the same act in the future, then termination will be a consequence. This employee not only affects their own safety, but they affect the safety of their co-workers which indirectly impacts their families.

I believe the caveat in this is remorse. Although scripture does not say the woman is remorseful for her actions, I can’t help but think she was. Jesus talks many times regarding when we humble ourselves, forgiveness is offered. I remember early in my career, I was promoted to a Printing Department Manager position. One time, when walking the floor, I was caught not wearing earplugs by a know-it-all employee named Mike. Have you ever been around know-it-alls? When you mess up, and they point it out, you really don’t want to admit you were wrong because it makes you mad. Well, I got mad, and walked away. However, a few minutes later, after calming down, I realized how wrong I was. I went back out on the floor, went up to Mike, and asked him to forgive me for not setting an example of a safety rule in my own department. Because I offered remorse to him and humbled myself, he forgave me and became one of my biggest advocates in my new management role.

So I think in our case, if our employee is remorseful for her actions, then we should not cast stones at her. We should also realize when we forgive others; they sometimes become our biggest advocates. In this case, our employee could turn around and become one of our most vocal advocates in creating a safe environment. Indeed, I imagine the woman whose life was spared and forgiven by Jesus, left the temple and became one of Jesus’ biggest advocates in her circle of influence.

One last thought on this matter. There was another employee involved in this accident. She started the machine and did not see this person bypassing the guard. She is unfairly getting blamed by other employees for her role in this. I would hope we as leaders are justified as part of the consequences, to ask the employee who got hurt, to ask her fellow co-worker for forgiveness for putting her in this position. If our employee feels she cannot do this, then who are we as leaders to forgive her if she is unable to ask forgiveness from her co-worker.

What a day.

A Tennis Ball Part 2 of 3

3/5/14…At the end of Part 1, I shared my loss of hope in the three F’s concept. A couple of weeks later, I thought more about this. I did not want to give up on the concept, but felt the spiritual side of the TOIL lacking in the approach. Then on a Sunday afternoon, after attending Church in the morning, the following verse from Matthew 22:37 entered my thoughts: Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Suddenly, these three words in this verse connected with the three F’s the coach spoke of: Mind is the Focus, Soul is the Faith, and Heart is the Fire. From a spiritual perspective, this ties in nicely. The question then becomes, can I tie this to the TOIL? How do I tie everyone’s mind to focus on their TOIL as an expression of love to God? How do I tie everyone’s soul to their TOIL as an expression of faith in God’s promises, obedience, and guidance? How do I tie everyone’s heart to their TOIL so they are passionate about glorifying God in their work, no matter how mundane or exciting the work is?

A Tennis Ball Part 1 of 3

2/21/14…The other week our leadership attended InsideOut training. We wanted to improve our coaching skills, especially in the realm of our high performance teams. The first part of attending this training caught my attention. The founder of this program, a tennis coach, picked someone at random on a local tennis court. The person agree to be part of an instructional video. Using S.M.A.R.T. goal setting, the founder first asked the person, what would you like to work on? Through a series of questions, the coach got the person to verbally express they would desire to hit 5 out of 10 backhands in the right hand opponents court. The person thought the goal reasonable, but lacked the confidence in his ability. The coach, standing at the net, began hitting balls to the person who was standing on baseline. Out of 10 balls, the person only hit 2 in his desired spot on the court.

Then the coach did something miraculous. Instead of having the person focus on the result, he slowly got the person to change their focus by asking a series of questions, all the while hitting balls to the person. First he asked the person, what do you see as I hit this ball towards you? Response: the lines on the ball as the ball spins towards me. Ok, can you tell me how fast the ball is spinning? Response: slow. Ok, can you tell me on a scale of 1-10 how fast the ball is spinning when looking at the lines.

During this whole process, the person was oblivious to their backhand accuracy improving. By the end of this exercise the person went from 2 out of 10 to 6 out of 10 in their accuracy. I was impressed! I was excited! Just by changing a person’s focus, their performance improved. The coach consultant called his approach the three F’s; with Focus being the first F. Impressive. Then my excitement increased when I heard the next F; Faith. Finally, an acknowledgment regarding how faith is a necessary component in the TOIL. Next, the coach discussed how most organizations approach performance deficiencies by giving people more knowledge. Yes I thought, organizations inundate people with more knowledge thinking performance will improve. However, the coach’s premise was people already have most of the knowledge they need to perform, so building on more knowledge will not result in a dramatic increase in performance. Instead the focus must go on the inside of a person, or back to the three F’s, Focus, Faith, Fire. Up until now, I bought into everything this consultant said. But...my excitement was short-lived as the coach started going in depth about the faith component. Why? When discussing the faith component of the three F’s, faith was expressed as the belief in oneself, not in God or the Spirit within. I sigh. I hope no-one around me heard.

Once again, answers sought in the secular world will at best only lead to short term contentment…

STOP!

2/8/14…”I’m just tired of hearing all this negativity,” says one of our managers. Can’t say I blame her but as I told her, I don’t know what to do with what she is conveying to us. Apparently, a vocal few are voicing displeasure regarding coming in for a two hour meeting every other month.  Not sure this is the real reason or not. As I stated in previous blogs, complaining seems a normal part of human nature.

 

As I sat and listened, I wanted to throw my hands up. After almost four years into high performance teams, I felt like some of our leadership wants to stop. At my core I know this is not the right answer. So I addressed the group. Over the last four years, 359 problems were solved as improvements with an 85% sustainment rate.

 

So I wonder aloud to the group. What if we stop? As of today, no more meetings, no more employees working on improvements. What will happen? I ask everyone to think about this. Every day in manufacturing, employees will encounter problems. Most problems are disguised as frustrations and may even fester for years. If we stop, the only avenue for employees to resolve these frustrations is through their supervisors. But when a supervisor has 20 or more people reporting to them, they may desire to help solve problems but due to the sheer quantity accumulating on a daily basis, they are unable. There is only so much time in a day. They also have those above them asking them to solve problems.

 

I challenge the group with this thought. If we stop, yes complaining will cease…regarding coming in for meetings. Instead a new complaining will arise. The complaints will instead center on, “leadership is not solving our problems”.

 

I also am afraid we will hear another type of complaint return. Before high performance teams began four years ago, I used to consistently hear complaints regarding how one shift left another in bad condition and vice versa. After teaming started, these complaints nearly evaporated. So if we stop, I am afraid shift to shift bickering will once again start.

 

Unfortunately complaining is part of human nature. Why? I believe at its core is a spiritual longing, of which most people do not realize. In a TOIL environment, people look to leadership to solve this longing within, but even the best leaders with the best intentions, will find it difficult to fill a void never meant to be filled while on this earth.

Building Up…the Body of Management

12/16/13…I continue to find the Bible full of TOIL truths if I keep my mind open. Today in a discussion with a colleague, numerous thoughts finally came together regarding the SILO effect in management. In today’s manufacturing environment, as I am sure in other sector environments, there are leadership job functions with specific job titles. In ours, there is a Supply Chain Manager, a Continuous Improvement/Quality Manager, an Office Manager, a Human Resources Manager, a Compliance Manager, an Employee Performance Specialist, a Technical Manager and a Production Manager. Within each of these job functions, there are job duties. The problem is every duty each of these manager’s performs is not a strength and yet these duties are a requirement of the job. As an example every manager probably has some administrative duties, some training duties, some oversight duties, some strategic duties, etc. Each manager is in their role because they show an aptitude for certain functions within the role. Unfortunately this is short sighted. Not every manager is a good administrative person. Not every manager is a good trainer. Not every manager is a good strategist and on and on.

 

In tying back to a post I did on Strengthsfinder, I am aware I am made in the image of God and in His wisdom, he has built certain strengths into my DNA. The journey in my maturity is embracing my strengths, and not dwelling on my weaknesses. Using the 80/20 rule, I can spend 20% of my effort on strengths and accomplish 80% or I can futilely spend 80% of my effort on my weaknesses and accomplish only 20%. And this is where I think we are missing the boat in our thinking of management. Most management functions in SILO’s. There has to be another way. I think to a Bible passage where Paul conveys each of us has a gift and when all of use our gifts, it builds up the body of Christ. Indeed, something beautiful happens.

 

I once involved myself in a community group through Grace Fellowship church. I experienced first-hand what Paul conveyed to us. Karen’s gift of hospitality, Jen’s gift of friendship, Jeff and Denise’s gift of wisdom, David and Pam’s gift of discernment, and others in our group all came together and built up the body of Christ. This group individually were special, but when they all came together, something beautiful occurred. We served others at a whole different level because each of us optimized our gifts.

 

So why can this not be applied in management. For example, I wonder if a Plant Manager could bring in a group of eight leaders with nothing more than a job title of Leader. That is it. Leader. Maybe add some marketing and call the position a Performance Leader. The Plant Manager hires aptitudes, not job functions. Strategic objectives are developed. Then the Plant Manager lets go, sits back, and patiently sees what happens. Indeed, I wonder if each person gravitates towards their strengths. Let’s use administration as an example. Now instead of everyone focusing on administrative duties within their SILO, the person whose strength is administration focuses their effort in helping everyone else. Same thing for training, planning, leading Six Sigma projects, etc. Using the example of Christ as the body, everyone uses their strengths and builds up the body of a Leader.

 

So I wonder. If we really dig into God’s Word, and keep our minds open, I wonder if paradigm shifts can occur within the TOIL.

Laundry and Expectations

12/20/13…What happens when desires become expectations? The answer. Not much fun. I find some parallels between the Toil and Marriage. Let me explain. Recently I listened to a sermon by Tom Oyler, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church. The message centered on this idea of desires and expectations. Desires before a marriage are ok. Desires in a marriage are ok. However, Tom cautions desires in a marriage should be kept as desires and not moved into an expectation box. Once desires become expectations, there is no acknowledgement of appreciation from the other party. He also cautions against delight becoming duty and covenant becoming a contract. For now though, I would like to comment more about desires versus expectations.

There can be many desires one brings into a marriage. Here is one I thought of. I do not expect my wife to make dinner for me but she does a lot. And I consciously make a point of saying thank you on numerous occasions. I really do appreciate how she expresses her love for me in this act of cooking dinner. But honestly, I am a big boy and I can take care of myself regarding finding something to eat. So although I have a desire for a prepared meal after a long day’s work, I do not expect it. On the other hand, laundry is a different matter. I was single for almost 8 years. If I do some quick math, I probably washed, dried and hung clothes over 500 times during this time period. So I know how to do laundry. When I married Melody, she began washing my clothes on a regular basis. At some point around year two though, I realized my desire of having clean clothes became an expectation. I acknowledge at this point in our marriage, if the laundry has not been done, I actually am a little miffed about it. Tom Oyler would point out my desire for clean clothes suddenly became an expectation. Why? For one, I never thank my wife for clean clothes. After all, why would I express gratitude for an expectation? There are no kind words for the countless hours she spends cleaning my dirty socks, and I try to rationalize my lack of gratitude by saying I work all day while she stays home. This is a sure sign of an expectation. And if I am not careful, my expectations put on her will soon cause her delight in doing my laundry to become a duty. This is what Tom warns me of. When desire on my part becomes expectations, then soon Melody will feel doing my laundry is a duty more than a delight. Once the other party begins feeling like the delight is really a duty, the relationship is in trouble.

Now I think of this in a work mode. In particular between leadership and employees. I wish this category did not exist but it does, and no matter how one tries to break this down, the categories still and will always exist. When the leadership of a company or a plant does something for the employees, the newness of it generally energizes people. But repeat this a number of times and watch what happens. Expectations creep in. Once employees expect something, there is no longer appreciation or gratitude. Now leadership begins feeling like the activity is more of a duty and they become worn down. Pretty soon the activity has no meaning to anyone. The reverse also happens with employees who desire to please leadership.

So this is the question. How as leadership do we move expectations by employees back to the desire box, so we can continue feeling delight in serving them and doing what we can to make their work life joyful?

I end with this. Last week, I carried all the laundry down and started two loads of laundry. First time in two years.