Small Mistakes Big Impact

I know someone who works in a shipyard. He is one of the most detailed project manager that I have ever met. In every meeting, he would say, there should be no leakages. He would pour through every single aspects of the project. This project manager delivers successful project but everyone was groaning behind his back due to his thoroughness.  I never fully grasp his idea and beliefs in project management.

Nonetheless, I have learn his lesson through the hard way. Recently, I managed a tax project for a China business. I have gathered the necessary resources, gotten all the approvals signed well ahead of time, and everyone knows the vision of success.

Of all the preparation, there was a tiny component that one of my resources did not look into. Due to that careless, the project came to a halt and I have to seek approval for additional 50% funding to get it working again. The analysis shows that it was really not my fault but as the project manager everything stops at my level. I should be fully accountable to the failure of this project.

It is an important lesson for me. I cannot make any further assumptions and could have handled better by going through the project's critical path. A small leak would no doubt sink a big ship. Yes! There should be no leakages.

Planning, Adjusting and Mistakes

Last Saturday I visited a cousin's newly opened cafe. It was one week old. He told me that he is not getting the crowd or the desired revenue. Curious, so I decided to pay him a visit.

I asked for the shop's actual address. He said he is not sure and asked me to check out the Facebook page. Instead of registering as a local business, the cafe was registered as an individual. The address was not even there, good news was there is a location map. Maybe a map would be clearer? Wrong! The map contains two marks, one mark for his house, the other for his shop. I have to guess which was which. The page only has a picture of the cafe and did not show what was offered on the menu.

It is obvious that him and the partners did a poor job in planning. In any business, the first impression matters a lot. Even though the cafe is only one week old, I wonder how many customers had turned away.

At the cafe, I wanted to know the cafe's maximum capacity. He was not sure either. In any food retail outlet, the owner has to know how much each customer must spent and how many turnarounds per table in order to make a profit. On average, there should be at least three turnarounds in one business session.

As I spend more time with him, the more issues I noticed. Besides just poor planning, he has thrown himself into the deep end by dealing with customers and adjusting the operation issues. It would have been better to if he had a dry run with family and friends instead of enraging the wrath of the customers. In my opinion, he has 7 more weeks to get his act right. All the issues and mistakes are costing the business money. The business would have run out of money if the mistakes still remains.

I am a strong believer in making mistakes and taking risk. However, going into anything without proper planning is pure suicide. Thus far, he has adjusted his Facebook page. Hopefully he can sort out his operation kinks soon.

Food That We Wasted

I grew up in a modest family. My family are not exactly rich, both of my parents worked hard to put food on the table. One important lesson that I always remembered was never to waste food.

I held on to this beleive since I was a kid, and I have made sure my children knows it too. According to CNN, 1.3 billions tons of food has been wasted every year. This piece of news just made my blood boil. In 2010, there are 925 million hungry people. Imagine, how many people that wasted food can be fed?

Christmas is a few days away. I encourage whoever is reading this blog to make a point to eat what can be finished and waste no food. Think about the people who are less fortunate. It is a season of reflection and gratitude.

Have a wonderful celebration.

An Hour with Jim Collins

I am a fan of Jim Collins. My first book was Good to Great. Now I am reading Great by Choice. If you want to spent the next hour learning something. Check out the four videos below.

 

  

A Thought About Employee Empowerment

Over the weekend, I took my family to visit a newly opened theme park. One of the rides that we were waiting had a problem and has to be shut down. At that point of time, we have already waited for at least 40 minutes in the line.

I started to notice problems when other park visitors are walking against the line leaving the ride area. The family have to hear the news about the breakdown of the ride through other park visitors. At that time, no announcement was made nor any park attendants were to be seen. By the time, an announcement was made. The announcement was made over the blaring Christmas music where I can hardly make out what was being said.

At the moment of that crisis, the theme park does not have any leadership at the local level to take charge of the situation. In any business and organization, empowering employee to take charge in an usual situation is very important. Imagine, if the situation is not a breakdown but a small fire. It would have caused a stampede. In a production line, if there is any problem employees are expected to resolve the problem while making reports or suggestions to the local leadership.

The management should be able to nurture employees to show initiative and willing to take charge. One of the main root cause of the unwillingness is the fear of failure and getting into trouble. Problems are not like wine, it does not get any better through time. Employees are expected to take charge and solve the problem as soon as possible. Whether the initiative is success or not, employees should be given the credit for trying.

As organizations are getting flatter and less hierarchy. It is important for employees to have a sense of belonging and understand the amount of influence they have towards the company. Gone are the days of lets wait for instruction. If it is the right thing to do, employee should go ahead and do it.

A Thought: American Airline's CEO THomas W Horton

Recently I came across a Time magazine article titled as The Worst Job in America. It is a three pages article on how Tom Horton the current CEO of American Airlines trying to save the company.

If you think you got a difficult job, Horton has it worst. This airline has lost 10 billion dollars in the last 10 years and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November of 2011.

American hasn't hire a flight attendant in 12 years. It has too many of them because too few of them worked a full schedule. yet all claimed full benefit..

Many CEOs would have resigned and leaved for greener pastures. Not Horton who joined the company in 1985. He wants to tough it out and bring the airline soaring back into the skies again.

I don't really know whether Horton would actually succeed in breathing life into the company. Nonetheless, I admire his resilience towards in making the company successful again. No doubt he would be going to bed thinking about his organization's problem; waking up each morning muster enough courage to get back to work. He will not be doing all these unless he knows he is going to be successful.

Nobody wants to bet on a losing horse. Yet, I was truly inspired by his actions. He chooses to take the difficult path. Many times, I would complain both about my job and my business. Nothing that I faced is as complex and uncertain as American's problem. Horton action has breath a new life into my perspective towards surroundings.  Things are just not as dire as I have thought so.

I know only Thomas W. Horton through a magazine article. It is actually enough for me wanting to work or spent time with this individual. He may not have succeeded in turning around the company yet, but I hope many of those who are struggling can learn something from him. I for sure I know I did.