SimplyLooking™ IS
The art of clearing your mind to bypass habits and biases, to be able to simply look where the action is. The work floor or sales floor or wherever the work of adding value for customers is really done.
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It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.
I was visiting a client. The production manager wanted to show me some charts he made to improve their work. As we walked through the busy production room, my eyes were drawn to:
- waste accumulating on the floors,
- machines haphazardly placed in traffic zones,
- spills left unattended,
- and employees struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of the production line.
Good managers know that they don't have all the answers and might miss some things happening around them, so when we reached the office, he asked me what I had noticed as we were walking. If I told him what I saw, it would only make him uncomfortable. Instead, I seized the opportunity to introduce him to a powerful tool: Simply Looking.
We took deep breaths, closed our eyes, and focused on how our bodies felt for a minute or two. Then, with clear minds, we went back to the production floor adopting a wide view and simply looked at our surroundings, without thinking about what we were seeing.
Soon, the manager noticed the same things I had seen. At first, he wanted to talk to the supervisor about it. But I suggested that we ask the supervisor to join us in Simply Looking as well.
Simply looking helped the manager and the supervisor see what was happening more clearly together, without feeling cornered. By engaging in this simple exercise, they were able to identify areas for improvement and develop some ideas for addressing them. By inviting the supervisor rather than ordering him around, the operations manager showed humility and respect. And I didn’t have to say anything more than let's have a look.
Simply looking can improve any workplace. It helps everyone pay attention, improve, and talk openly. Doing it every day, we see things and understand our world better. This makes it easier to solve problems and makes our work even better.
I don't agree that the boss, or the consultant, has to be the smartest person in the room. “We are human and wrong half of the time. If that is true, then those you manage will be right half the time. In the end, having a sense of humility is one of the conditions for developing strong powers of persuasion.” as Taiichi Ohno wrote in his book Workplace Management.
No one can know more about their business than the people who work in it, if given the tools they need to see it clearly. That is the reason we created the IDW Method™ (Innovate Your Daily Work). To flip consulting and give people the tools they need to see. We are actively seeking 6 to 10 small to medium business owners or managers to participate in the pilot of our online Rapid Earnings Workshop, the first module of the method, which we call change your glasses. The cost is extremely reasonable given it is a pilot. However, we are only accepting those who will commit the time and effort and will give constructive feedback. It is going to happen soon, so if interested, visit https://bit.ly/idw1 for more information, or simply send me a message. People who have learned the skills, both online and in person, have enjoyed rapid earnings growth. You will love it!
SimplyLooking™, in its Purest Form Means:
- Learning how to clear your mind and keep it that way, to bypass habitual thinking and seeing.
- Going to where the work is done
- “Mapping” or drawing what you see in simple diagrams
- Discussing those diagrams with the people who do the work, on the work floor, looking for ways to improve it.