Sometimes you just know when someone is going to have a difficult life. I can always spot problem people by how many Tim Horton's they're banned from. If Tim Horton's places a restraining order against you, you might need more adult supervision.
True story, a New Brunswick man was banned from two Tim Hortons, for life. I feel some guilt in repeating this silly story but its Google hits went through the roof! People care about who gets banned from Tim Hortons.
Mr. Jimmy Craig, - our discerning customer, didn't like the coffee at Timmy's. Jim complained, called the manager, harangued the staff and generally made a pain out of himself. This went on for a while, with several formal attempts to sort it out. Fresh pots of coffee were made, free coffee poured. The Timmy's manager felt so bad he asked for another meeting with Jimmy Craig. Instead of free coffee he gave Jimmy a restraining order. And that was the end of that. Banned for life from Tim Horton's! Put that on your resume!
Why did Mr. Craig keep going back for coffee he didn't like and inadvertently knew would be bad? Well, there is some human truth's buried in this funny tale. Humans, (me included) often keep repeating something that doesn't work and may never have worked. For example, we coach and hope our slackers will become productive. It's not a successful strategy, but managers keep on doing it. Accepting reality and firing a person, is not something we do easily. Like Jim Craig, who couldn't fire Tim Hortons, - he just kept going back even though it wasn't working. It ended only when Tim Horton's quit.
Problem employees often survive in companies for decades. It would have been so much easier to fire them, but like Jimmy Craig, we ignore the obvious simple solution, - go somewhere else, hire someone else. It doesn't work, it's never worked, and it will never work. Move on.
Sometimes managers are lucky and lousy employees do us a favour and quit. Tim Horton's did Jimmy Craig a favour, - they just quit him.
If it's not working, help that person to get on with their life. Fire them, offer them help finding another job and sleep well. You freed up their future. You did the right thing.
See you for breakfast!
Wolfgang
a.) If you care, double check the facts yourself. I'm writing this from what I remember about the incident.
b.) What's worse, Mr. Craig drank decaf. How much quality should one be looking for when ordering decaf? Are there discerning near beer connoisseurs?
c.) Great interview question, ";have you ever been banned from a Tim Horton's?"
d.) 2010-2011 Workshop schedule for the year ahead has been posted on our website. Plan and reserve your attendance today.
e.) Come join us! Individual tickets & company memberships available for the workshop. Purchase on line or call the office.
f.) Similar logic from another time. "In the old days, when the milk was sour, you threw it in the garbage. Today, you hold a meeting."
Friday, 19 February 2010
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
How my Timex held my boat together
Boat people are funny anyway. Not funny ha ha, but funny strange. Back when I had my own boat, various self styled dock sages would tell me, - “Wolf, - time is the only thing that keeps all the stuff on your boat from breaking down at the same time!”
That seems to be a common and repeated wisdom on most docks, always spoken in soft oracle tones, as if sharing the secret of life after death. But, that aside, let’s have a look at the logic.
Imagine taking away time, and watching ten years packed into one minute. Time is gone. Your boat implodes. The hull cracks, propeller drops off, deck’s tear, sails blow out, the keel separates, all in an instant. What used to be a small yacht with life on board and beer in the fridge, has turned to dust in the blink of an eye. The boat is gone! Thousands of little particles glitter in the sun as they sift slowly to the ocean floor. Time stopped. Everything broke at once.
I developed an entirely different and respectful relationship with my wristwatch after that. “You my dear Timex Chronograph, is all that’s keeping me from sinking in the middle of the Strait of Georgia. Don’t ever stop running.”
Having the questionable gift of over thinking the irrelevant, it occurred to me that by the same logic, It would also be true that time was what kept companies from going form $0 to $1B in the flash of an eye! Again, time was that barrier which kept both good and bad happening all at once. If time didn’t exist you could compact ten years into 1 minute. You could literally bring the future into the now. Into right now!
Again I looked at my watch. “Sorry Timex, you’ll have to go. You are now part of the problem, and I’m pretty sure I can swim to shore, so sink already. By the time I get there, I’ll be a billionaire.
If we can agree on Pareto’s best t-shirt idea, then 80% of what’s going on is not needed. Not bad, According to Pareto, one year’s work is really 10 weeks poorly managed and needlessly stretched to 52 weeks? Yes? Are we still in agreement? 80/20 and so on?
I’ll explain it more on April 14th at the Planetarium, (the big Crab on kits beach). I may not solve all your problems but you will be entertained.
See you for breakfast, we’ll talk time management.
Wolfgang
P.s. If you don’t have a company membership, individual tickets may be purchased for $125. You can do it on our website which accepts Paypal and credit cards or call the office where we’ll take your credit card information over the phone. Go to managing.ca or call 604-931-6813
These events are always sold out and have been for the last four years. Reserve today.
P.s. When your cat begins to work off a calendar, you may want to become a bit more guarded around it. Structuring time is one of the first signs of consciousness.
P.s. Great line, “When you want different business results, you almost always have to tinker with the social system.” - Ram Charan
P.s. If you need too many weeks holiday, you may be working at the wrong job. Nobody needs holiday’s from their calling. Only “jobs” need holidays. A calling is the most fortunate way to spend a life.
P.s. Suit speak for sick minds. Your sales aren’t down, your numbers are simply retracing. (It took me a minute also).
That seems to be a common and repeated wisdom on most docks, always spoken in soft oracle tones, as if sharing the secret of life after death. But, that aside, let’s have a look at the logic.
Imagine taking away time, and watching ten years packed into one minute. Time is gone. Your boat implodes. The hull cracks, propeller drops off, deck’s tear, sails blow out, the keel separates, all in an instant. What used to be a small yacht with life on board and beer in the fridge, has turned to dust in the blink of an eye. The boat is gone! Thousands of little particles glitter in the sun as they sift slowly to the ocean floor. Time stopped. Everything broke at once.
I developed an entirely different and respectful relationship with my wristwatch after that. “You my dear Timex Chronograph, is all that’s keeping me from sinking in the middle of the Strait of Georgia. Don’t ever stop running.”
Having the questionable gift of over thinking the irrelevant, it occurred to me that by the same logic, It would also be true that time was what kept companies from going form $0 to $1B in the flash of an eye! Again, time was that barrier which kept both good and bad happening all at once. If time didn’t exist you could compact ten years into 1 minute. You could literally bring the future into the now. Into right now!
Again I looked at my watch. “Sorry Timex, you’ll have to go. You are now part of the problem, and I’m pretty sure I can swim to shore, so sink already. By the time I get there, I’ll be a billionaire.
If we can agree on Pareto’s best t-shirt idea, then 80% of what’s going on is not needed. Not bad, According to Pareto, one year’s work is really 10 weeks poorly managed and needlessly stretched to 52 weeks? Yes? Are we still in agreement? 80/20 and so on?
I’ll explain it more on April 14th at the Planetarium, (the big Crab on kits beach). I may not solve all your problems but you will be entertained.
See you for breakfast, we’ll talk time management.
Wolfgang
P.s. If you don’t have a company membership, individual tickets may be purchased for $125. You can do it on our website which accepts Paypal and credit cards or call the office where we’ll take your credit card information over the phone. Go to managing.ca or call 604-931-6813
These events are always sold out and have been for the last four years. Reserve today.
P.s. When your cat begins to work off a calendar, you may want to become a bit more guarded around it. Structuring time is one of the first signs of consciousness.
P.s. Great line, “When you want different business results, you almost always have to tinker with the social system.” - Ram Charan
P.s. If you need too many weeks holiday, you may be working at the wrong job. Nobody needs holiday’s from their calling. Only “jobs” need holidays. A calling is the most fortunate way to spend a life.
P.s. Suit speak for sick minds. Your sales aren’t down, your numbers are simply retracing. (It took me a minute also).
Thursday, 4 February 2010
The Day Toyota Stopped Hiring for Character
Toyota today is recalling over 8 million vehicles worldwide. Toyota will take years to reclaim the trust they worked so hard to build.
Toyota is a great company. Maybe “was” is more correct. It’s manufacturing culture is so pervasive, industrial tourism became an industry. Manufacturing executives on tour busses rolled into Toyota city for a plant tour and a lecture so Toyota’s genius can be transplanted into their home companies, in all industries, back in Canada and the USA. The TMS, or Toyota Manufacturing System was written about in Harvard Business Review for ten or more years. TMS lead the quality movement.
The secret to TMS was culture, character, work ethic, integrity, and it produced a car and a company that eventually became bigger and more profitable than General Motors. Then somebody at Toyota started hiring for skills and forgot about character. How do I know that?
Here’s the story. A Saskatchewan lawyer has launched a class action lawsuit based on the premise that an electronic safety measure, which ensured gas pedals could not stick, which is used by every other major car manufacturer, was left out of Toyota cars deliberately. Furthermore, the fix-it patch was a low tech mechanical work around and not a solution. He’s not alone, there are several other USA driven class action suits based on the same idea.
At some point in the Toyota hierarchy somebody made the decision to take the easy route and leave out the safety measure. That somebody lacked integrity or character, or both because it was a values based decision. That lack of values is taking down a great company. Somebody hired that guy! Somebody interviewed him. Somebody said, “put him charge of ethical decisions.”
The old, great Toyota company would never have hired this guy, or taken the manufacturing shortcut. At some point character became second to the numbers.
Hire like the old Toyota. Hire for character. It may save your company.
See you at breakfast,
Wolfgang
P.s. The two facts that stick out are; 8 million cars recalled and it’s not over, and the absence of an industry norm safety device. If all 8 million people can be corralled to sue, it doesn’t matter if they’re wrong. Toyota will still lose and that’s a sad thing.
P.s. Funny, “more dogs than bones.”
Toyota is a great company. Maybe “was” is more correct. It’s manufacturing culture is so pervasive, industrial tourism became an industry. Manufacturing executives on tour busses rolled into Toyota city for a plant tour and a lecture so Toyota’s genius can be transplanted into their home companies, in all industries, back in Canada and the USA. The TMS, or Toyota Manufacturing System was written about in Harvard Business Review for ten or more years. TMS lead the quality movement.
The secret to TMS was culture, character, work ethic, integrity, and it produced a car and a company that eventually became bigger and more profitable than General Motors. Then somebody at Toyota started hiring for skills and forgot about character. How do I know that?
Here’s the story. A Saskatchewan lawyer has launched a class action lawsuit based on the premise that an electronic safety measure, which ensured gas pedals could not stick, which is used by every other major car manufacturer, was left out of Toyota cars deliberately. Furthermore, the fix-it patch was a low tech mechanical work around and not a solution. He’s not alone, there are several other USA driven class action suits based on the same idea.
At some point in the Toyota hierarchy somebody made the decision to take the easy route and leave out the safety measure. That somebody lacked integrity or character, or both because it was a values based decision. That lack of values is taking down a great company. Somebody hired that guy! Somebody interviewed him. Somebody said, “put him charge of ethical decisions.”
The old, great Toyota company would never have hired this guy, or taken the manufacturing shortcut. At some point character became second to the numbers.
Hire like the old Toyota. Hire for character. It may save your company.
See you at breakfast,
Wolfgang
P.s. The two facts that stick out are; 8 million cars recalled and it’s not over, and the absence of an industry norm safety device. If all 8 million people can be corralled to sue, it doesn’t matter if they’re wrong. Toyota will still lose and that’s a sad thing.
P.s. Funny, “more dogs than bones.”
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