It’s sometimes not enough to have the right answer. This is a lesson I’ve learned repeatedly, and will likely need to learn a few more times before it finally sinks in.
Liquid - We Make It Easier! often comes into a plant with instructions from our client’s Corporate headquarters to improve production. “We’re losing too much money,” they might say. “Please fix our production challenges so that we can increase our profitability.”
But plants are run by people, and people don’t like to be told that the way they are doing things is wrong… especially by someone they personally did not hire.
I have a tendency to think in simple and straightforward terms: do ____ and your numbers will go up. Everything will get better.
When you communicate in such a manner, people sometimes only perceive criticism or even a threatening presence. That’s not my intention, but I am aware it sometimes happens that way.
It’s not enough to know production. To improve a plant’s performance, you also have to know people (and people are much more complicated than equipment).
I’m learning that the fastest way to improve production is often not a theoretically correct answer rooted in how machines work, but rather a somewhat less efficient path rooted in how people work.
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