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Component Manufacturing dverti$er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$er
May 2019 #11238 Page #20
Looking at Your Operation from a Different Perspective Ben Hershey 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC
M
y wife recently saw a book online (direct from the publisher) that she thought I would enjoy reading: “Lean Production for Competitive Advantage,” by John Nichols. There was, though, a funny thing about the book; it was printed upside down compared to the binding. I considered sending the book back to the publisher, but I decided to read it anyway—and frankly, I thought there might be a hidden message in the print being upside down. Did the author want the reader to take a different perspective of what was written? I was into the book about 100 pages before I gave up on that notion. Out of that experience, I was reminded of the importance for everyone in management to truly observe their own situations, especially within the context of making improvements. I am reminded of how, when my brothers and I were young, Mom and Dad would head out on a “vacation.” If you knew my Dad, Don, very well, then you knew he did not take normal vacations. They were adventures. We would take off from Chicago on a circuitous route to visit component plants, lumber mills, OSB and plywood plants, and many other manufacturing operations until we arrived at the spot we were going to vacation. It was my Dad’s way of getting outside of his own operations and observing other manufacturing techniques—and, more importantly, looking outside of our industry and observing how manufacturing was done at other types of companies. He was gaining a different perspective. One of the challenges I see managers get caught in is they do not take time to get out of their operations—be that lumber, component, millwork, etc.—to observe manufacturing at a different plant and outside our industry. Part of the reason we see companies from outside of our industry entering the building market is they are bringing a different perspective. In fact, the 4Ward team has enjoyed working with several of these companies, because they are not “stuck” in trying to do things the way we have been doing them for so long. But, at the same time, this interaction also gives our team a different perspective—which we then can use when we work with many of the established companies in our industry who are making or ready to make changes. It is not that we are sharing the ideas of these new companies; rather, we are helping established companies more easily gain a new perspective. It is this understanding of other perspectives that is a key leadership skill for managers who are successful. Let me give you a few ideas on how to change the way you see things, or how you seek new ideas. Continued next page
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