The great thing about the world today is that just about anything you want to know about anything can be found on the internet. With all that information at our fingertips, I sometimes wonder how people can really be as incompetent as they are, but then, I had an epiphany:
What if they are not incompetent, but have just had terrible teachers?
Many people struggle with knowing where to begin. If managers have not been trained, how are they supposed to train others? Many managers are promoted because they became good at completing tasks and getting work done. Many of these managers are left in a state of flux, having to fend for themselves and figure it out.
This inability to be able to train or train others reminds me of a story.
A young manager in training and his manager went out to the shop floor one morning. After a few quiet hours out on the floor, the young manager, full of zeal and wanting to learn, became curious about what was going on around him.
He looked at his manager and asked “How does this system work?”
His manager thought about it for a moment, then replied, “I really don’t know.”
The trainee sat quietly from another moment, then turned back to his manager and asked, “How does this process work?”
Once again his manager replied, “Don’t know.”
Pondering his thoughts again, a short while later, the trainee asked, “How does this machine work?”
Again, his manager replied. “Don’t know.”
The zealous young manager, worried he was annoying his boss, asks this time “Do you mind that I’m asking you all of these questions?”
“Of course not.” replied his manager, “How else are you ever going to learn anything?”
This story seems to be symbolic of our current state of a company’s ability to train its management. So, if you are one of these companies, I want to help you out. I am going to give you five free tips as to why you do not need that desired training program, nor competence within your facility.
- Remember, you already know everything there is to know, therefore you do not need help nor training.
- Remember, your plant is hemorrhaging money, but be sure to glorify the door replacement project that, once completed, will save you a boat load of money on your electrical bill. Based on the ROI, this project is so good that the company will be able to sell electricity back to the utility company.
- Remember, who needs to max out capacity at this plant when wasting money building another plant will solve all your problems.
- Remember, engineering projects and replacing equipment will always change the culture and your inability to maintain the equipment.
- Remember, operations should never do maintenance nor solve problems on the shop floor. Therefore, there is no need for you to waste the money teaching them how to do things right.
These five tips were free. I know, mind-blowing. This was a $1.95 value. Follow these five simple tips and you will get what you pay for.