There were three friends Tom, Dick and Harry. They lived in same street, identical houses and they all had the same problem. Each wanted to put up shelves in an alcove beside the fireplace. Not so difficult, you might think. But the standard shelves did not fit and this would mean some awkward measuring, cutting and fitting. As you might expect, each chose a different method and that forms the crux of our story.
Tom talked to a relative & her advice was that the measurement was extremely important. This seemed sensible enough to Tom, so he sought out a piece of equipment that would be up to this precise job. After a little effort, he came across Sigma Saws. That had assurance of max. 3 out of every million pieces would be the wrong. This looked perfect and he ordered for it. Dick searched the internet for the solution to his shelf cutting problem. Everyone was blogging about Japanese saws. He was drawn in by the popularity of these saws. He placed order for saw. Sometime later, the three friends were sitting drinking coffee at Harry’s house. The conversation turned, enough to the problem of the shelves. Tom puffed his chest out and stated proudly that he was training to become a master of Sigma Saws. “But where will you put your saw? Those things are huge.” asked Dick. Tom answered, “I am clearing the garage. I never used that place anyway. Before Harry could ask anything else, Dick launched speech about Japanese saws. “Did you know that Japanese saws are not like normal saws? There is a whole art to learn about these saws. I have signed up with a Japanese sensei, who will guide me through the process towards becoming a Japanese saw master. There is so much to learn, that this will take at least 18 months.
Tom and Dick turned to Harry as if to say, “What have you done?” Harry seemed a little sheepish, but said “Oh, I have not tried anything near as complicated as your systems. I remembered that I had a simple tool, called a hand-saw, in my toolbox. I was not sure how to use it or what to do about the shelves, but I found a book that showed me a simple step-wise process. I may not have the precision or the fancy tools, but my shelves are up.
Do you want to see them?”
The three friends went to other room, where, true to his word, Harry had installed the shelves. Tom and Dick inspected, trying to fault it. But the shelves looked good and were obviously strong enough to hold up all the things that Harry had put on them. Harry had solved his problem using a simple tool and a simple step-wise method. He turned to the other two, “I have a few other simple tools in my toolbox and I plan to use them to fix some other problems that I have around the house. Once I do that and move on to more complicated problems, I may need your Sigma Saws or your Japanese implements. But that will be some time in the future.
Lessons Learned
- Keep things simple – don’t let the method get in the way of making improvements.
- Never avoid quick wins – Can be easily implemented, cost effective, & easily reversible.
- Timelines are very important- sometimes project gets out of the hand & it is important to reel it back even it requires stretching ourselves a bit.
- Always encourage situational leadership.