Coffee Lids

Adjacent to American Airlines terminal 44 at Los Angeles International Airport is a Burger King. Sequestered in the corner of that restaurant is a small stainless steel shelf with an even less obvious label affixed upon it. It reads Coffee Lids. I am writing this - seated no more than 100 feet from that very label - and I am thinking about strategic process.

If you are reading this you are of the small percentage of people who care, people who are driven to refine the less than efficient processes in their lives. You are a leader. Most however are not. Most do as they are told and in fact, are somewhat content to exist and live there. You are not. You want to make a difference. You understand that things can be improved. You abide by principles of excellence and streamlining of process.

Let me tell you about Bob. The first fact you need to know about Bob is that Bob is not his real name. I am watching Bob right now. Early 50's, probably a great father, a hard worker and dedicated to the task that provides for his family. Bob works right there, next to terminal 44 at the Burger King. I know he is a hard working man because I am observing him as I write. Besides, it's just after five in the morning and only Bob knows what time he had to get up this morning to be here on time. Though I only just rubbed shoulders with him ten minutes ago, I like Bob... Now back to you.

You understand that the tasks of the day can be draining. You engage in the tactical events of the day without complaint because your eyes are on the process and you are always looking for strategic opportunities to better the system. You realized that the tactical responses yesterday have a common thread with ones that you performed last week and that those correspond to what you will be doing this afternoon. Deep in your mind you are already thinking about the commonalities of the tasks and how they can be combined into a streamlined effort to produce a better, simplified, result. You see, that's what you do! You streamline process by finding simple solutions to common problems. You identify a bottleneck or repetitive tasks and you streamline them by revising the process. And it works.

So, let me tell you how I rubbed shoulders with Bob. To properly convey this, I need to give you the layout of our infamous Burger King, it's drink station and the little tiny label marked Coffee Lids. You see, there are actually two drink stations about 10 feet apart there at terminal 44. Both stations serve customers with a soda machine and a coffee dispenser. Both have both! However, the soda cup lids are on the stainless steel shelf over the leftmost drink station, and the coffee lids are over the right. So, regardless of which station you get coffee at, you have to force your way in to a crowded corner of the restaurant to get your lid. The process is broken. While I am trying to get to my lids, I am swimming upstream against the flow of people who just filled their sodas and are coming my way to get their soda lids. I ask myself, how many years has this bottleneck been here and why can I see it so quickly and no one in all these years, not even management, has noticed. Then I realize, it's the label: "Coffee Lids." This mayhem has been created by a misaligned attempt at organization. However, I still have not met Bob.

So here you sit. Surrounded by process. Have you asked yourself what bottlenecks you live in? Just look for the confusion. You'll see it. Then look deeper, into the bottleneck. If you cannot see it, ask someone in your organization. Ask them about those things that, to them, do not make sense. Bring in an outside observer to see what you don't see. Unlike Bob and his managers, there are those who are gifted to see logistical problems and less than ideal systems. Strive to be such a person. Identify and remove the misaligned attempts at organization. Remove the labels.

Ok, so I just met Bob. I pushed and shoved my way to the coffee lids. I grabbed one of the lids and placed it on my cup, but before leaving, I grabbed a handful and carried them to the stainless steel shelf above the leftmost drink station, the one without the label. For one (and only one) millisecond the dysfunctional process of cup lid gathering was solved. The masses, as if they were a school of fish, naturally flowed under my power in directions that for the first time in perhaps years made sense. The sky opened, rose petals fell at my feet and a choir of angels sang the hallelujah chorus (though I was the only one who could hear it). I smiled. I had changed my world. I was responsible for happier people, less missed flights, pleasant flight attendants and passengers. In that moment, I was the center of my universe! Then, over my bumped shoulder (this is where Bob and I are acquainted), I see Bob pick up my stack of coffee lids and return them to the place of origin. Back to where they were supposed to be. Back above the label! Good ol' Bob was doing what he knew to do, and in his hard working diligence destroyed the process. Back to square one.

The point? Look past the label! See beyond the way things are "supposed" to be...

Great!!! I got so inspired by this whole thing my coffee is now cold. Here I go, back into the mayhem... Back to meet Bob.

Communication is Key

Communication is Key. Communication is Key. Communication is Key. Communication is Key. Communication is Key. Communication is Key.

Before you jump to any conclusions, let me say that I did not stutter, nor was my message repeated for emphasis. I was not playing the message on vinyl which resulted in a Milli Vanilli moment. And no, I do not have a problem with my memory. In fact, while it may appear that I am being repetitive, I fear that I may not have adequately conveyed my message. In reality I have only said it once! Perhaps less.

Once by Phone.

Once by Email.

Once by Letter.

Once by Txt Msg.

Once by Facebook.

Once by Twitter.

And yes, it was inadequate. I just realized that I forgot my “Once by Mouth.” Oh the difficulties with “better” communication.

While we are at it, what else can we add: MySpace (so over it), LinkedIn, Foursquare, Forum Post, Blog. VBlog, Skype, Oovoo, Podcast, Vodcasts, YouTube, Web Site, Google Voice, Yahoo Groups, and my personal favorite… Smoke Signal!

Granted, I left out 16,000 other methods but this piece needs to be under five hundred words.

What are we to do?

One thing we know for sure. As organizational leaders, we cannot force those we lead to come to our well, we must reach out and drink from theirs. I find it ironic that reaching out to them, and understanding their preferred communication method, starts with the one method we left out: Once by Mouth. We have adopted all the latest methods for communication and yet our communication is worst than it has ever been. Just because you adopt a method does not mean your communication will improve. Start with the conversation. Find out how those you lead are communicating and work those methods into your communication strategy. It’s all about information. It always is.

You want the One Grand Solution? Sorry, this piece will be a let down because there is no One Grand Solution. Besides, great leaders never adopt a solution, they design one that meets their current reality. Let me give you one simple word to help you begin designing yours; BEEP!

Think about the beep. The beep is what rules the day in modern society. The beep is what stops the train of thought, interrupts the meeting, starts people down another road, and wakes people from their dreams. (Oh that’s good! The beep wakes people from their dreams… WOW! I’m need to write another piece on the BEEP and how it’s killing creative strategic thought…) I regress…

You need to be the beep! The beep is never ignored!

The Old Man and the Sea

You may or may not know this, but I am a borderline workaholic (some may say there is no border to be seen). I am rarely to bed before midnight and I am always up early to start the day. After a full day of work, I spend the evening with my family, and then once everyone has gone to bed it is back to work. The only thing I let interrupt this evening work time is study or a good book. I read many books, and from time to time I will share something about them with you. I love the classics.

This week’s book was Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. It is a tale of… you guessed it… an old man… and the sea. Really, it is a book about perseverance and struggle. You see, the old man, though his history was one of fishing fame, was ridiculed in his Cuban town because he had not caught in 84 days. He was considered unlucky. He didn’t care, catching fish was all he knew and he used to be the best at it.

How long has it been since you caught a fish?

He was determined, and believed that he would catch the biggest fish ever. HE DID. The fish he catches, he catches with great struggle and pain. In fact the struggle nearly kills him. It drags him to sea for several days of sleepless battle, taking his boat into uncharted waters. He watches as the island of Cuba disappears from view and he fears he shall never return. But, it is acceptable that he should die as long as he catches the fish. He respected the fish, and in that respect desired to kill it.

“The fish is my friend too,” he said aloud. “I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him.” Then he was sorry for the great fish that (like him) had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. “How many people will he feed, he thought”

If you do not see what I see in this paragraph, allow me to comment. If we are to be fishers of men then we must struggle to do so. We may go 84 days without leading another to Christ (I hope not). But, we must keep looking for the big fish. We can catch numerous small ones, and that is good. However, the fish that comes with struggle, although we may be dragged beyond what is familiar and comfortable, when landed has the potential to feed many. We should even be willing to lay down our lives for it. It may in fact mean that we need to ruin their life as well. What I mean is that their life will have to change.

"Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him."

We all know people, that if we bring them to Jesus, their lives will necessarily change. Certain comforts must go. We can feel sorry for them, but knowing that a life with Jesus is the priority, we determine to allow Jesus to redirect their lives. We kill their “comfortable life” so that they and others will live. It is worth it! There really is no choice in it!