Too Busy to Get Better

I have spent most of my career improving processes. Early on I was an Industrial Engineer assigned to do time studies at Checker Motors, the taxi cab manufacturer. My job was to find the causes of “wasted time” throughout the company and determine how to remove them. Help people work smarter, not harder.

Later in my career I was involved in Purchasing and Inventory Management for two different companies. Both times the inventory was too high when I was given the assignment and I was able to reduce it significantly. In one of the two companies inventory turns were increased from 6 times a year to 18 times a year.

Another scenario I have been involved in is the hiring process for a multi-plant manufacturing company. This process took much too long. I took what was a 6 to 8 week process down to no more than 2 weeks. We had times when the process was completed start to finish in 2 days.

One of the comments I often hear from managers is, “We are too busy to work on improvements right now. We can do that when things slow down.” The problem is if you don’t work on improvements things will never slow down. It is very costly to be “too busy to get better”.

Problem solving does not have to be a monumental task. The truth is your people already know what makes them inefficient. All you really need to do is give them the freedom to brainstorm the issue. I have found the best way to do this without taking away productive time is to do it at lunch. Ask for volunteers, bring in sandwiches or pizza, and have a brainstorming session. It might take a few lunches to finish, but people seem to be more comfortable and open while eating. They also feel special to be part of the group.

You might spend $200 or $300 on food to solve a problem, but the answer will typically pay you back multiple times over. Can you afford to be “too busy to get better”?