Personal Investment is Life for an Organization. Make Yours Live.

Let's talk for a minute about eating your own dog food. Do you or don't you?
  
Here are two contrasting examples of organizations for which I worked, Trailways, then Swanson Foods. Let's start by being too busy to sample what we produce.

American Bus Lines, Omaha, Nebraska / AKA Trailways Bus Lines

I was Lead Transportation Supervisor for some months in 1978/79. I replaced Frank Hard, a guy who had a pretty great name and worked for an ex-WWII Marine named Chet. When we needed a second section to go east or west at Christmas, I called the next extra board operator, in order and was told they wouldn't come in until they had waited at least an hour. Either they didn't have to work if they didn't want to (unavailable) or they would delay their arrival by at least an hour over the travel time from home. We had customers standing out in the snow. That was union policy and the company was okay with it. I talked about it with Chet and he told me it wasn't his decision, it came from Kansas City, our regional HQ. I asked to speak with his manager and was offered a raise to go back to work and just mark up the pay claims and expect grievances and watch people freeze. We had a couple buses daily, back and forth to Kansas City from Omaha. When I said I wanted to at least talk about it, I was told to drive a supervisor's car to KC. Whenever we traveled we drove or flew. Nobody from management rode the bus. The excuse was it was too slow and our valuable time precluded us from riding an over the road coach. Here's the thing. It wasn't too slow to go to Kansas City. It was too slow to go to LA, I'll give you that but not Kansas City.

Do I have a point? Yes. Nobody from Trailways was invested enough in the service we provided to continuously sample it personally. What was worse, nobody rode anywhere, ever. We were too good to ride our own buses and I didn't have enough investment in Trailways to bust a gut to see to it that we did. I quit to clean sewer digesters. We actually climbed into the sewer digesters prior to cleaning them. Individual investment. Trailways failed within the next few years. Was it lack of manager investment in the product or service? Perhaps not. I don't really know. But I do know I didn't want to work there. Now let's move on to see what it's like to crunch some kibbles, almost literally.

Swanson Frozen Foods, Omaha, Nebraska

While in Omaha, I also worked at the Swanson frozen food, (which at that time was a division of Campbell Soup), production plant in Omaha. I trained as a line supervisor. Each day food was prepared, shoved through holes in the ceiling to fall into tin pans on the floor below on a conveyor line. Depending on the schedule, we made turkey, chicken, ground beef, or pork frozen dinners with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Once the tins came off the conveyor, they were flash frozen. The line never stopped. When it did, a punishing klaxon sounding with 90 db of noise with flashing blue lights went off. You'd pretty much do anything to get it going again to stop the noise. Anyway I left because I was shown that after I worked for a few months, I would get laid off and have to stay laid off for a few weeks to a few months and then go back to work and that cycle would repeat a few times until I had adequate seniority to avoid the next lay off. I wasn't married to the idea of a career in the frozen food business to put up with being a yo-yo, so I went to Trailways. But here's the thing about Swanson Foods. Each and every morning, without fail, every supervisor and team leader and manager, would randomly select from the freezer, a handful of frozen dinners. They would then thaw and cook every selection of frozen meal we'd made the day before. You didn't have to eat it all but you had to eat a decent portion for taste, consistency, flavor, color, aroma, etc. That, ladies and gentlemen, is investment in your product. Swanson Foods survived, where Trailways failed.

Let's move on from these two examples. Let's go to a situation I inherited while still thinking about what happened to me in Omaha. I went to work for Louisiana Transit Company, Inc, in 1975. I was hired as safety director but was trained as a bus operator for a couple weeks until I knew and could operate each of our bus lines as a revenue operator. In the process, I got to know some of our better operators. When I assumed my position in the office I was taken outside by some operators who asked for my help. I have not forgotten what they asked for. Here it is:

Get out of the office a few times a week as time allows and go out and observe the operation of our buses. Hide in the bushes and time the departures. Board and ride different bus lines as much as you can. Be visible on the road.

So now, if we want to, we can have our lightbulb moment. What did I learn at Trailways? We were in the bus business. Nobody rode the bus. The organization was sick. Trailways died. Each morning Swanson supervisors arrived in time to eat/sample the prior day's production meals. Swanson thrives. Nothing's that simple, right? But should it be ignored?

No.

Listen to your employees. They will speak to you while they are on duty, one to one, more than they will speak to you in the break room with other employees around. Be invested in your service enough to sample it as often as you can. The excuse that you do not have enough time to do it is specious.

Listen to customers. Ask their opinion. Hire people to ride/test/eat and sample your product or service and feed back what they see.

Remember, this is what I was asked to do by BUS OPERATORS, at least the good ones. They want to be recognized as competent and they want the incompetent to be recognized too. You will need to find ways to feed that back and reward the good ones. It's the cost of seeing them in action. You will also see (sometimes) dirty buses (speaking allegorically here, buses can represent any product or service) and missing bus stop signs and broken benches and you will not be able to hide from making the attempt to fix it. When I was out driving and riding I saw a lot of missing signs and failing anybody to do it, I went with our shop man and replaced them. We then had to have a program to maintain them.

Is this specific to transit? Of course not. If you deliver a product or service, you must be invested in that product or service enough to routinely sample it or expect to fail. We watch "Restaurant Impossible." The first thing Chef Robert does is have the restaurant cook a selection of their food, have it served and then eat it. It is amazing that the owners do not sample what they are serving for quality. They don't know what the food they are serving tastes like. They often don't know what their expenses are either but that's another topic.

When I was an unforgiving supervisor, I had a sign posted in my office:

What's your excuse for not doing your job today?

Excuses are for losers.

Not very positive? Do you know who read that sign more than anybody else? I did. I didn't know it at the time but it was for me as much as anybody who came in to talk. You might want to make yourself a sign to go along with your proper motivational posters, even if it's only for you to see. Get out of your office and start to sample what you produce. Stop making excuses.

If you would succeed, become personally invested in what you do, where you do it. Become your own customer. Sample it, yourself, routinely, without fail. That's what eating your own dog food is all about. Working to produce uniform quality, that is properly controlled. Some days that quality will be questionable but you will know it immediately. Your employees will also welcome you. Encourage you. Give you individual feedback. You will be able to make changes and refinements before your customers react by going someplace else. Even if you are a government monopoly and the pubic has no choice but to use your service, you should still sample it, refine it and make it better. As good as you can make it. The satisfaction of your workers and customers is the reward and it's heady stuff. Try it. Once you invest, it's hard to go back to ignoring who you are and what you do for a living. 

BTW: In 1990 and 1991, Louisiana Transit Co., Inc. was named the best small transit bus operation in the United States by the North American Transit Research Group. I became President and General Manager in 1998. Is anything that simple? No. But being invested in what you do can't hurt. 

Investment is life for an organization. Make yours live.

Farmington Arkansas public library move / Jan 7, 8 & 9, 2014

Just a few pics to document the Farmington library's move from 241 Rheas Mill Rd, Farmington, AR 72730 to 175 W. Cimarron Place, Farmington, AR 72730. The new location is only a quarter mile southeast of the old location, just across Hwy 62 (see map below). The move occurred (is occurring) Tuesday, January 7 through Thursday, January 9, 2014. Further info here:

http://www.cityoffarmingtonar.com/index.aspx?nid=379

 The library's book collection is loaded onto carts, shrink-wrapped, loaded onto moving vans and transported to the new location. Some shelving from storage as well as current shelving is then transported and erected at the new site. Then the book collection will then be restored to shelves. The work is done by hired professionals and volunteers.
 

Imagine yourself who you want to be

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? The simple answer is, "I see myself." That self-image defines who you are, to yourself, at that moment in time. What your brain is reporting back to you though, is often informed by a set of perceptions and preconceived notions that have also been defined by others to whom you listen. You've had it drummed into your brain that you are pretty or plain, smart or slow, funny or dull and everything in between. What you believe is flavored by others' perceptions. But try looking a little closer. How do you really perceive yourself? Because you are a collection of physical attributes, defined by skin tone and quality, hair color and length, physical height, weight, musculature and sexual orientation. When you speak, it's how you sound, to yourself. You also hear what others say about you and that goes a long way toward your own definition. What your parents have said, your friends, your enemies, even casual acquaintances who made a comment about you. What you perceive is a composite of your experiences. Who you are is also defined by how you act. How you treat yourself and others. Do you listen more than you speak? Are you fast, slow, quick, dull and so on. We have a combination of inner qualities, defined by actions and outward qualities, defined by appearance.

Who we are is combination of those two qualities:

Appearance (the protoplasm your parents willed you)

Actions (the ghost in the machine)

Which of the two do you think we can refine or alter most easily? Which depends on the other for alteration?

How we perceive ourselves and how we are perceived by others. Which is most important?

Speaking of perceptions, let's think about everybody else. the images you hold of others, in your head and when you see them. You hear some people say that they see something in others that makes them take on "qualities." Qualities beyond physical attributes. The qualities defined by their actions. Observers pass along personal attributes to define people. Sometimes the observer makes positive comments. "He may look dumpy, but I've see him scale that fence back there." "She looks stuck up but I noticed she smiles at the lepers in home room." Those are positive interpretations often made by people with a positive self-image. When people are developing a personality, however, the tendency is to run others down to appear better by comparison. They aren't trying hard to accomplish anything but by running others down, they can forgive their lack of ambition. "Look at ugly over there. Oooh, she should stay home on these fugly days." "I hear she's pregnant, otherwise why would she gain so much weight?" To simplify, people are either downgraded or enhanced by others. Which do you prefer? How can we avoid the negative?

Here is a thesis statement: Your actions, fueled by faith, defines who you are.

You begin by creating a positive self image. Upgrade yourself, purposely. You write down the attributes of others that you admire and you begin, today to take on those attributes. If you begin to truly believe you are attractive, personable, likable, kind, forgiving, studious and athletic, you have taken the first step toward being that person. Some people feel you have to move to a different community to become a different person. I disagree. My thesis is this. You define who you are, not others. You embody the attributes you admire. If you aren't tall, stand tall and be proud of your stature, which isn't defined by your height, it is defined by how you hold yourself and move. If you are chubby begin to think of yourself as that person who is developing from an endomorph into a mesomorph, a day at a time. First you define who you are. then you fulfill the reality of that perception. You become that person. Your actions define you more than your appearance. Your attitude and your effort elevate your existence beyond that appearance.

Put yourself in complete control of who you are. Be a positive, heroic person. Start with being supportive of yourself. Who you are. How you look. How you act. What you do. Be comfortable with your appearance. You'll want to be well groomed and clean. That helps and shows a sense of pride. Make your behavior a reflection of who you intend to be. Apply the same positives toward others. Be supportive. Listen more. Say positive things. It is often enough just to listen to others and show empathy. It helps them form their ideas, which can't come to fruition without adequate expression. You will instantly be a better person, who is perceived positively by active listening.


Smile at others as a greeting. Say, "hi." Right away you'll define the people you want to pay attention to and be an active listener to. They will respond with a smile and or a "hi." Those who scowl at you are negative people. You may convert them to friends, in time but to begin with, respond to people who are outwardly positive. Build your friend base on people who want to be your friend. They will be glad to listen to you after you listen to them. They will tend to be empathetic. You will both grow from the experience. Heroic people try to listen to everyone. You'd be surprised how people that tend to look down on you will come around if they realize you want to try to support them. It's not brown-nosing, it's being a decent human being. It's what decent people do. They support each other. Never be afraid to be the kind, generous, helpful person. To be the hero. To do the right thing.

Gradually you find yourself doing more heroic things. Falling on a land mines? That won't come up every day, will it? But standing up for the weak is heroic. Thinking of others before yourself is heroic. Speaking the truth when a lie is easier, is heroic. You won't always have the chance but that won't stop you from pursuing the goal. What separates the dark from the light is those who try, each day to be a positive influence on themselves and others.

Faith is a constant, completely fulfilled belief in something not yet fully realized. It overcomes doubt like a tsunami. Faith precedes all determined, successful action. It makes something difficult inevitable. Persistence and preparation then flow naturally fueled by attitude and effort. Faith primes. Preparation initiates. Persistence cements.

The next time you look in the mirror, see your own hero, then be your own hero.

Pat and Diane's Fantasia Snorkel Cruise, Freeport Bahamas

 These were taken in Freeport. We were met by Pat at the cruise terminal. Our reservations said we should take a cab to Count Basie Square (Port Lucaya) but the gals at the cruise terminal wouldn't have it and called Pat and told him he had us (along with a couple dozen others) waiting for him. We got up early and got off the boat as soon as they'd let us off at around 8:15AM because we wanted to get over to Port Lucaya by 9:15AM or so but ended up waiting around for quite a while. I think they want you early because they know things don't always go according to plan. Anyway, after waiting about an hour, Pat scooped us up along with the others and put us on the large bus (a real parlor coach - you know, Greyhound size) and we rode to Port Lucaya with the rest. We had pre-paid $65 bucks each for the snorkeling cruise and paid the extra $10 (each) for the round trip bus ride at their ticket booth in Port Lucaya. We'd already ridden out and they gave us a ticket for the return trip. The buses return on the hour and half hour from Port Lucaya back to Freeport Harbor. It's during the bus rides that you get your briefing on the Bahamas by the bus drivers. It's a fun ride. I booked the snorkel cruise with Expedia early on but later found Pat and Diane's website. I would say that weather can have an effect on the snorkel adventure and if you book with them online,  you only pay when you show up, which means you won't have to cancel and ask for a refund if you can't go (my understanding).  I don't really know if it would have been cheaper, etc. to go that route. I thought they did a good job of giving us a nice outing and we saw tons of tropical fish and coral and the crew, the boat, the equipment (they provide masks and snorkels) was just fine. We didn't try the slide but after the slide on the cruise ship, it would have been pale. My stomach got pretty twisted up on the cruise ship slide. What a hoot. I separated my underwater camera's battery from the camera and didn't use it, so there aren't any underwater pictures, of which I could have shoot several hundred. I did just want to snorkel and look and we probably had about 90 minutes in the water, which was probably plenty to see everything that was at the anchor site. I have snorkeled in the Cayman islands and I would say this is close to that. Clear water and lots of fish and coral, especially here at the anchor site, where they show up and feed them every day. If you want to check out their website, here it is:

http://www.snorkelingbahamas.com/

Apparently they have more than one boat/trip type and this boat followed us out and back and apparently did the same thing we did but on a smaller boat. In fact there were several boats anchored at the reef while we snorkeled with others snorkeling around the area but not in the same spot.

Es Mi Esposa, eh?

Big boat, pretty smooth, no one got sea sick but everybody had sea legs by the time we got to Freeport.

Yes, that's me. I had on water resistant biking shorts with pockets and a water proof pouch for my wallet and money and had it tied off to my belt and in the pocket while I snorkeled. It worked pretty good.

We started at Freeport Harbor and rode the bus to Port Lucaya (Count Basie Squre) and back to do the snorkel cruise.