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Meanderings from Jean's Desk....
Blog Archive
Feb 1, 2012: Transforming Our Thinking
Jan 2, 2012: Looking At Life From The Third Person This Year
Dec 15, 2011: There Is No Standing Still
Dec 1, 2011: Scarcity or Abundance?
Nov 15, 2011: Am I a Human Doing or a Human Being?
Oct 17, 2011: Seek Fresh Eyes To Ask Better Questions
Oct 1, 2011: Solving For A Greater Purpose
Sept 15, 2011: If Not Now Then When
August 22, 2011: Consider That Heaven Has A Better View
August 1, 2011: Though I May Not Be Gracious I Want Attention Too!
June 1, 2011: Albert Einstein And Problem Solving
Video
2009 Kenosha Business of the Year:
LMI Packaging Solutions, Inc.
LEARNING VS MISTAKES
Learning versus mistakes; I am reminded of the differences every day. The differences are something I just know and not yet wisdom, as it is still not second nature for me to see them right away. My executive staff often needs to remind me to stop using that word 'mistake' when I mean learning.
I was reminded of these two words recently by my daughter as she lamented a 'mistake' she had made in her business that cost her $2000.00 At the time this represented more than two months of income to her.
I quickly tried soothing her with one of my stories.
I was 33 years old and had recently taken over as General Manager of LMI Packaging, then called Label Makers. I will save the story of how I got myself into the predicament of General Manager with absolutely no management experience for another day.
On this brilliantly sunny, summer day I received a call from one of our suppliers. He let me know that a material order he was holding for us was going up in price the next week and if I released it today I could save money. I don't remember for sure how much money but I remember it was more than $10,000.00 which seemed like a lot of money to me, and still does. So I said YES RELEASE IT! I was so grateful for the warning and so proud of myself. It was the first time I had made such a major decision in the business and I felt like I had really come of age.
Fast forward one week and I am driving to work through the residential neighborhood that surrounded our building, enjoying the chirping of the birds and the warm sun beating down on my arm through the open window of my car. As I reached the street across from our building I noticed five semi trucks backed up along the road and traffic backed up for at least a mile as a result. I wondered what that was all about, happy that I was at work now and didn't need to have anything to do with that line of cars. Boy was I mistaken.
When I walked into the building everyone was in an uproar. It seemed that all five trucks and the one in the dock were for us, delivering all that material I had released the week before. A hundred thousand pounds of aluminum coils were waiting outside to be unloaded. We had no room in the warehouse to put them. We didn't have the crew or the equipment to efficiently unload them. And soon enough I would learn that we also didn't have the money to pay for them. I had never considered all this. I had thought the ten thousand dollar savings was a no brainer. I was beside myself. What did I learn that day and during the next few weeks? I learned about inventory turns, cash flow, and taking responsibility with 6 fuming truck drivers, a line of screaming drivers, bankers, and employees. Unfortunately there was no one there at that moment to remind me I hadn't made a mistake but had made a learning.
As the business grew I found out that I would not be the only one in the company making mis learnings. I remember the day they delivered the brand new lathe we had bought. Everyone was excited because we had finally spent the money to buy a highly precise piece of equipment. I couldn't wait to see the plant foreman's face after he unloaded it. He had been after me for months to make the investment. Alas you can imagine my dismay when he sheepishly walked into my office later that day and his face was a very ashen white. It seems that as he was unloading the lathe it slipped and fell off the truck onto the concrete floor. No one was hurt but its 'highly precise accuracy' was now questionable. What did I learn. I learned that people are typically harder on themselves then I could ever be on them and often when they make mis learnings all they really need is understanding and support. Oh I also learned what FOB Supplier's Dock meant. (Once it leaves their dock it's ours)
I realized that my job was not to protect people from making mistakes but to just make sure that any mis learnings they made would not cost so much that they put the company under.
There are mistakes, of course, when we do the same thing again that didn't work the first time and when that happens it makes me crazy. But typically we make lemonade out of lemons, never quit so we never fail and support each other through all the mis learnings.
Questions, comments for Jean?
If you have a question or comment, you can email Jean.
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