The ability to identify and quickly implement technology change is often the difference between mediocrity and excellence.
It’s
hard to believe that a new year is upon us. Maybe I’m showing my age,
but for some reason for the last few years, whenever January rolls
around I begin to feel a bit like Bill Murray’s character in the movie
Groundhog Day. It may be a new year, but it feels like I’ve “been
there, done that,” and I am about to do it all over again!
I
am a firm believer in consistency – doing something the same way (and
hopefully well) establishes a pace and cycle that makes it easier for
everyone to excel. While consistency is good, sometimes this
consistency can lead to complacency or a sameness that can sap creative
juices and enthusiasm. When creativity and enthusiasm wane, every day
feels like the one before it and becomes a template for the next as
well – with neither as productive nor entertaining as Groundhog Day.
The
challenge is to create an environment that maintains consistency while
encouraging improvement and promoting enthusiasm, allowing product
quality and customer service to excel. In my opinion, it is easier for
large companies to create a culture that balances this consistency and
change. For years General Electric has fostered such a corporate
culture, rewarding creativity but doing so in a consistent, button
down, numeric matrix of measures. If a company has the resources, this
type of culture can work well. In our industry, however, most companies
small or large share one important trait – the very thin financial
margins that don’t allow for additional resources.
One
of the best people I ever had the privilege to work with was definitely
not afraid to shake things up and create change. I still am not sure if
he was a visionary or just plain crazy – but working for him was always
exciting and every day was a new experience. Another great mentor was
someone who, at the time, I considered an “old timer.” His mantra was
“consistency with a twist.” He always made sure that essential tasks
had clear, easily understood processes that all could consistently
follow, but he also had those “special” projects that required, as he
put it, “free thinking.” He would pick teams for these projects, making
sure they included representation from all levels and disciplines
within the company. Also, if any two people on the team did not get
along, it was they who would be appointed team leaders and be held
equally accountable on the project!
Which brings me
back to the New Year, and how to make each day seem less like a carbon
copy of the previous one rather than exciting and new. While ours is an
industry that is always looking at the latest thing, whether in new
product design, fabrication, new product or new materials, many of
those who are around today have survived because they have kept their
noses to the grindstone, focusing on daily, essential tasks. But maybe
that level of consistency needs some counterbalance, and that
structured proactive change is what a New Year needs to make it truly
“New.”
Looking forward, it is clear that the
challenges that the electronics, manufacturing and technology
industries will be facing will be far more demanding than we have yet
experienced. Higher petroleum and metals pricing will continue to
escalate costs, and higher costs will result in smaller margins for all
of us. So this New Year is one that could especially benefit by
embracing change proactively and consistently.
We
will be challenged with finding new ways to use less materials, methods
to increase yields and reduce waste. This task will require that all
levels of employees work together in an environment that rewards quick
and creative solutions. This year, maybe more than ever, increased
communication at all levels, especially between customers and
suppliers, will be key to timing material cost increases and
appropriate pricing adjustments so that already thin margins can be
improved. “Free thinking” project teams that can identify, understand
and implement technology changes quickly may make the difference
between mediocre performance and excellence.
Finding
a way to make special projects as well as routine tasks more
challenging and more fun is what makes the New Year seem genuinely
“New.” Simple things such as changing the mix of people on a team can
reinvigorate the process. Shifting when and how meetings take place can
change how the content is viewed. Embarking on some unthinkable new
initiatives can be the catalyst of changes far more valuable than
otherwise could be achieved.
And while proactive
change can be good, consistency is how that change manifests itself
into results. Sticking to the task – maintaining a meeting schedule,
keeping a project on point – is one way to easily benchmark progress.
Changing but consistently working the process is the optimal balance.
Looking
forward I know that I really want this New Year to be a great one – one
where I can accomplish much despite whatever the prevailing economic
conditions may bring. Most of all I do not want to sit here next year
thinking about how the year seems like the year before. A little change
during the New Year – to foster renewed enthusiasm – may be just what
is needed to successfully make it past Groundhog Day! PCD&F
Peter Bigelow is president and CEO of IMI (imipcb.com); This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
