Today’s Gremlin – “I’ve got this”, doesn’t cause trouble. In fact, he’s very motivated to keep things running smoothly. He’s good at what he does and he does keep things running. But, he’s a gremlin because he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. Sometimes, he is closed to new ideas, thinking he has been there, done that and seen it all, but doesn’t realize that he really hasn’t. What he knows, he puts to good use. What he doesn’t know is where the limitation arises.
Well meaning, but …
“I’ve got this” has his heart in the right place. He has probably been in your operations for a long time, so there really isn’t much that he hasn’t seen when it comes to mistakes, failure causes, breakdowns, fixes, and work-arounds. It’s all very tactical and useful. But he still hasn’t really seen it all. His path to improvement is through the tried and true. But what if his background is all maintenance, up through the ranks from the tools. Does he know about reliability for instance?
“I’ve got this” has a lot of potential
Motivation, very detailed and site specific knowledge are all there. “I’ve got this” is one of your “go to” people, and may be in charge of maintenance. Things have probably been done the way they are for a long time, and so far it has worked to deliver the results you are getting. In that sense he really does “have this”.
But you need your operations can be run at lower costs. “I’ve got this” can’t seem to squeeze more from it and is convinced that you can’t get any better. He’s convinced you are getting as good as you can and he knows “he’s got this” for you.
Einstein – you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it
Today’s Gremlin – “I’ve got this,” needs to admit to himself first, that he doesn’t know it all. The realization that you don’t know everything is a big and often upsetting eye opener for most people. Learning something new and putting it into practice looks good on anyone, no matter how long they’ve been around. In fact, it’s an opportunity to really impress and amaze those around you.
That doesn’t mean you need to change the person, it means you change the thinking. That requires being open to learning and then actually listening to new ideas. Then, like anything newly learned, you practice first to get good at it, and then to master it. As my violin instructor told me, you don’t practice get it right, you practice so you no longer make mistakes.
Exposure to new ideas and “ways” of doing things
Today’s Gremlin – “I’ve got this” needs exposure to new ideas, and you can help him get it. If he could find them on his own, he would have done so by now. When you see how high performers do things, you can get a flavor of what is possible. You can get a sense of what they are doing and how.
Learn from others, not only from experience
As a consultant I’ve had my eyes opened to the power of human connection in paper mills. Their tight-knit informality was powerful and it produced outstanding results. In defense and the aircraft industries I saw how up-front reliability analysis resulted in high performance from day 1. No long ramp up periods. Parts are there when you need them. Mistakes are few and far between. I’ve seen how the methods they used have been applied in mines, chemical plants, pharma plants, electric utilities, a distribution logistics operation and elsewhere, to produce vast improvements in both costs and production outputs.
That exposure took many years and wasn’t cheap. But the knowledge gained is readily available to you, now, if you are open to listening and learning. Let’s talk.
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