Chucka,
When taking a job in the military many years ago, I got some good advice from a predecessor who left me three envelopes. Inside the first was the advice to evaluate the organization and set goals for its success. Inside the second was the advice to reorganize to match the goals and insure success. Inside the third was the advice to "Make three envelopes if the first two did not work"!!
Over the years I was in receipt of many envelopes, but made none.
There are ways to success for an organization and almost always, it begins under very unpleasant circumstances. I have been there and been injected against my will. The first envelope is good advice. My method is to get into and understand the clockwork of the organization. That might envolve rolling up the sleeves and driving the forklift or throwing out the trash. In doing that, the manager begins to understand and communicate with the workers. He learns who is good and who is not. The results come later. He learns who will help him move the boxes and who will stand aside. He learns who will help throw the trash and who will not. If I know what switch the maintenance man should be throwing, then I will know whether he is good or bad. Sounds like a lot of detail, but it is very educational. When you go to meetings, and the head maintenance man tells you he does not have enough staff to get the job done, you have an edge if you know who was at work and who was drunk and could not make it.
Management has its own unique set of problems, and I know about them. Much higher concerns than the workers. I will not go into that, but let us say that management is responsible for the success or failure of the enterprise, and there are no excuses, period.
If the forklift is broken, then the worker sits idle. Not the workers fault. Successful organizations all have their problems, but in successful organizations, problems get fixed quickly, and in unsuccessful organizations, they become a problem which goes on and on and perhaps overcome the company.
The most critical items must be fixed first, period. If I have only one forklift and only one truck, and I am in the business of shipping bulky goods, then I certainly need them both, in addition to competent operators of both. I need folks to do the paperwork and take the orders and do the billing and all that, but if the core of my business involves moving heavy things, then I need the truck and the forklift, no question. I must get them fixed if they are broken!!
Now, what is broken with GPGI, and how can I help fix it, Jack!! |
