Are You Delighted or Dulled by Drudgery?
- Post By: Greg Crumpton
- Date:
- Category: Blog
Date line: Maiden, NC.
No, this isn’t another story about Apple’s big solar farm or another expansion, quite the opposite. This is a glimpse into what totally amazed me last week when a co-worker and I went to Maiden to sit and discuss an upcoming project with the owner of an electrical contracting firm.
Here we were sitting in a rather large training room, which was also a repository for some rather 
sophisticated arc-flash protection and thermal imaging equipment, when I looked over at the white board and had a jaw-dropping moment. In nice print I read:
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Upon further investigation of the board, beside Dr. Covey’s eloquent words, I read the word FIXES. When I asked about FIXES, the owner of the company said, “We needed to take the meanings of those habits and get them into terms our electricians, truck drivers, and everyone else could understand.”
In no way was he down-playing the intelligence of his crew, just tweaking the vernacular so that they all could speak the same language within their company. For example: Begin with the end in mind simply became, “Know what you need to do, make a plan, then execute it”. Number 7, Sharpen the saw, was transformed into: “Educate yourself and others.”
I followed up with another question, “How did these words come to be written on the board to begin with?” He said, “One of the ladies within the office had been to a class on Covey and she thought it was relevant to their side of the business.” She asked him if she could host a portion of their next safety meeting and use it as a kick start session for the “7 Habits” introduction. Now, this is a 30 year-old firm, and yet they’re still working to become better. It sure was a bright spot for me.
Looking at these 7 habits in reverse order, the lady that spear headed this followed things in a very linear way. She was:
• educating herself
• bringing the group together for synergy (I am sure Dr. Covey would be dismayed at how worn out that word has become, nonetheless, it’s applicable)
• understanding her teammates needed it
• knowing it would be good for them and great for their customers
• putting first things first
• developing a plan for the team to follow
• being proactive.
She didn’t just sit there and complain that this person did that wrong again or whine about “Why did Mary do that?” Nope, she put into action what she knew was the proper thing for them.
Is it just her that made a difference? Absolutely not. There were many years of sweat, financial burdens and human issues that made up the resolve of this great company, the gracious thing she did was to add to the PLUS side of the equation.
I bet they are better for it. How much, who knows? I do know there are over 100 families that eat from the plate of knowledge that dwells there. How are you making your gig better?
