Biz Tip #8: Avoid the Left Turn

Wisdom worth its weight in Gold... I am pleased to do a fair amount of mentoring. Have since my early days in Personnel (before "HR" become a buzzword). Recently, this has become a favorite expression of mine:

"Avoid turning left, when you should turn right. Not only do you lose the time spent going the wrong direction, but you must drive that wrong section of road twice, in order to get back to square one. So that you can turn right and continue making progress."

I had mentioned in Purple Curve Effect (and/or perhaps TV program interviews promoting it) that while doing TQM (actually, the "Americanized version of TQM — which is a poor substitute compared to what Deming actually meant — but I digress...") in the Department of Transportation for the State of Ohio, we empowered all these teams to "go fix things," that unless you were the one (and only) team working on the true core constraint (the weakest link), all your effort was wasted. Guess what? It is even worse!

Not only was your effort wasted, but now those finite resources you sucked out of the organization are no longer available to apply to the real bottleneck.

Did that register? Please reread that last paragraph. I can wait... Get it? Hence, my "Avoid the Left Turn" metaphor. Or mnemonic. Need help putting the wheels back on your business? Give me a shout. I offer a "Results Based" fee structure that will have you jumping up and down in the car as you try to write me a five or six figure check. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey Desk: 843.564.4.SKI P.S. Need a Made to Stick kind of reference? Okay, I was traveling and missed the turn. I was on a tight budget, heading home after a great (and expensive vacation), when I discovered that I had went about 60 miles west, when I should have been going north. Yes, it was dark. Still no excuse. However, many of you know the challenge near Wytheville, VA where I-77 splits from I-81. So, I get to retrace my path to catch I-77 North. So 120+ miles at say two bucks a gallon and 25MPG average equals $10 wasted that I did not have to spare. Ever look under the seat for spare change to pay the toll in West Virgina? I have. (c)Copyright 2009, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.