Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:10 pm Post subject: I Don't Think You Can Improve With A Big But
I was recently invited to speak before a large group of shop owners. The talk centered on improvements I felt had been successful for me and how I implemented them. Everyone in the group agreed, in general the state of the trade left a lot to be desired. Not one person stated the auto repair trade was just fine as is, nor that they were happy with the way things were. In principle there was room for improvement.
Everyone could easily cite things they felt were issues. These largely revolved around management training. People made suggestions and for each thing mentioned there was a “BUT.” For instance, “We could each contribute to a fund and bring trainers into the area that would benefit everyone.” Yes, BUT, my shop is different. Yes, BUT, I don’t need any training. Yes, BUT, I don’t have the money for training. Yes, BUT, I don’t have time for training.
“We could look into this “Deming thing” Louis is talking about.” Yes, BUT, that wouldn’t work in my shop. Yes, BUT, my customers are different. Yes, BUT, that won’t work for a small shop. Yes, BUT, that won’t work in a big shop.
“We could establish a committee in conjunction with the BBB to arbitrate client complaints.” Yes, BUT, I don’t trust the BBB. Yes, BUT, I don’t have time to serve on a committee. Yes, BUT, that would only encourage people to complain. Yes, BUT, suppose they decided against the shop.
I thanked everyone in attendance for their time and came away with a thought. You really can’t pass through the narrow gate of improvement with a “big BUT.” It also occurred to me that I have my own share of BUTS and that’s where I need to look first for improvement.
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 5:49 pm Post subject: Re: I Don't Think You Can Improve With A Big But
[quote="louis"]I was recently invited to speak before a large group of shop owners. The talk centered on improvements I felt had been successful for me and how I implemented them. Everyone in the group agreed, in general the state of the trade left a lot to be desired. Not one person stated the auto repair trade was just fine as is, nor that they were happy with the way things were. In principle there was room for improvement.
Everyone could easily cite things they felt were issues. These largely revolved around management training. People made suggestions and for each thing mentioned there was a “BUT.” For instance, “We could each contribute to a fund and bring trainers into the area that would benefit everyone.” Yes, BUT, my shop is different. Yes, BUT, I don’t need any training. Yes, BUT, I don’t have the money for training. Yes, BUT, I don’t have time for training.
“We could look into this “Deming thing” Louis is talking about.” Yes, BUT, that wouldn’t work in my shop. Yes, BUT, my customers are different. Yes, BUT, that won’t work for a small shop. Yes, BUT, that won’t work in a big shop.
“We could establish a committee in conjunction with the BBB to arbitrate client complaints.” Yes, BUT, I don’t trust the BBB. Yes, BUT, I don’t have time to serve on a committee. Yes, BUT, that would only encourage people to complain. Yes, BUT, suppose they decided against the shop.
I thanked everyone in attendance for their time and came away with a thought. You really can’t pass through the narrow gate of improvement with a “big BUT.” It also occurred to me that I have my own share of BUTS and that’s where I need to look first for improvement.[/quote]
Louis, you raise some interesting points. I've been waiting for the month to roll so that an article became available on the web. I think it may offer some ideas worth considering. Below, I'm posting something I posted on i-ATN eralier.
_________________
The same laments work their way around here almost like a
circuit. It's been many years since the first Reader's
Digest article on auto repair fraud. Some of our members
weren't even born when Mr. Sikorsky first wrote that piece.
Recently, one of our members felt victimized by the same
thing. The only difference was that this was a local TV
station doing the investigation and not a national
subscription periodical. Below is an editorial on how the
trucking "industry" is attempting to ensure they're given
equal standing in the most important court of all, the court
of public opinion. (Note: I tend to call our end of things
the auto "trade" because an "industry" has standards. We
don't have any. Those that we could have are low and many
strive not to meet them.)
Anyhow, without getting gripped that this article does NOT
directly state "auto repair", see how many different issues
our trade shares with theirs. Then see if their approach can
work for our trade. Well, hopefully to be an industry.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:25 pm Post subject: Re: I Don't Think You Can Improve With A Big But
Guido wrote:
Anyhow, without getting gripped that this article does NOT
directly state "auto repair", see how many different issues
our trade shares with theirs. Then see if their approach can
work for our trade. Well, hopefully to be an industry.
Just change the words trucking to auto repair and it's a lot of the same problems. The image this trade suffers with will not change itself. When the trade changes and lets folks know they have, things will begin to change. Thanks for the link and the insight.
Joined: 17 Aug 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Tuneresville NJ
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject:
Sorry I could not finish my thought. Your right Louis its very easy to make excuses but only results make money. Many ideas that work to improve other companys can be altered to suit and better our own.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:26 pm Post subject:
Fred W wrote:
Sorry I could not finish my thought. Your right Louis its very easy to make excuses but only results make money. Many ideas that work to improve other companys can be altered to suit and better our own.
Hi Fred,
That's something a lot of folks never seem to realize. Excuses mean absolutely nothing in business. There are folks who produce results and those that don't, clients learn the difference pretty quickly and react accordingly.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 146 Location: Garden City, KS
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject:
Okay. I have some links here for your viewing and thoughts. I urge you, however, to try to watch them all. They feature Gordon Ramsey. If you know him, you will already be familiar with is "style", but I feel there are lessons to be learned here. Watch them, digest them (pun intended ), and give me your thoughts: not so much on Ramsey himself, but the business and how it can be related to this topic and shop management in general. Thanks! Later, Matt.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject:
MattFMN wrote:
Okay. I have some links here for your viewing and thoughts. I urge you, however, to try to watch them all. They feature Gordon Ramsey. If you know him, you will already be familiar with is "style", but I feel there are lessons to be learned here. Watch them, digest them (pun intended ), and give me your thoughts: not so much on Ramsey himself, but the business and how it can be related to this topic and shop management in general. Thanks! Later, Matt.
I finally got a chance to sit and watch and you are right. Sebastian is a pretty big but Interesting is to see his staff and how they respond to the improvements. Asked before the show I would wager Sebastian would have named his employees and the clients as the biggest problems.
Change the words menu to services, food to auto repair and frozen food to cheap parts and you could be in any of a great many shops. Also interesting is how defensive, hurt and even hostile the owner becomes when shown he is the better part of the problem.
The chef directing the show has my respect, for his efforts if not his methods. I have bought, revamped and sold a few businesses, but I don't think I would wish to fight with an owner like this one.
Thanks Matt, your perception is as keen as ever. I hope everyone takes time to watch and think about these.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 146 Location: Garden City, KS
Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:56 pm Post subject:
Thanks for the response, Louis! I've watched many, many episodes over the last few weeks. It is amazing to me how it is the same issues with many of the restaurants (businesses) over and over. Pride and leadership. Put pride in your product.
Chef Ramsey, in essence, goes in and starts removing obstacles that prevent the current employees from feeling that pride. Ultimately putting them into a position to succeed, and the business succeeds with it. It is also surprising that even though what they have done in the past isn't/hasn't worked for YEARS....they still cling to it. So resistant to change. I've only seen a few episodes where Chef Ramsey has fired employees. One was stealing from the business, so that was obvious. The other surprised me as it involved a Chef with many, many years of experience and fine culinary training...yet he was amazingly stubborn. He and his sous chef were going to do it their way and that was that. So...they are doing it their way somewhere else. It was hard to watch, actually, because so many improvements were made that made and would have made their jobs much easier.
There are also episodes where Chef Ramsey shows a tremendous amount of tenderness, if you get my meaning. One particular occasion Chef Ramsey took a business owner for a walk. He explained that the owner's hesitation to change was a fear of failure, and that considering his current position and the direction his business was going that fear could no longer be a deterrent. He then made, what I thought was, a HUGE disclosure. In fact, HE had failed! His first restaurant in the town he grew up in flopped. He, at the time, thought he knew enough (everything) and that he would (was) be a great restaurateur. He credited that failure for every success he has seen. I thought that was extremely important and fell into Point 8. It would be fun to somehow dissect an episode with everyone involved and discuss how the businesses and their rebirth fall in-line with Deming's Philosophy. Thanks, Louis, I appreciate the response. Later, Matt.
_________________ Matt Fanslow
ASE CMAT/L1
Crag-Technologies, Inc
www.wavehook.com
Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 206 Location: Camp Verde, AZ
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 9:22 pm Post subject:
Our business is not our life. Our business is not us. I think this is where we have problems.
As men, we define who we are by what we do. We start a business, we dream about it, we mold and shape it. It represents us, it is us! If the business fails we think that we have failed. It is hard to admit that a part of the business is wrong because that would mean admitting that we are wrong. We have a hard time being objective with ourselves. We tend to make emotional decisions instead of fact based, rational decisions.
If we can look at the business as a separate entity, apart from ourselves, we will have better luck running it.
_________________ David Wittmayer
Owner / Manager
Hansen Enterprises Fleet Repair, LLC
Camp Verde, AZ
www.hefrshop.com
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:22 pm Post subject:
MattFMN wrote:
Thanks for the response, Louis! I've watched many, many episodes over the last few weeks. It is amazing to me how it is the same issues with many of the restaurants (businesses) over and over. Pride and leadership. Put pride in your product.
Chef Ramsey, in essence, goes in and starts removing obstacles that prevent the current employees from feeling that pride. Ultimately putting them into a position to succeed, and the business succeeds with it. It is also surprising that even though what they have done in the past isn't/hasn't worked for YEARS....they still cling to it. So resistant to change. I've only seen a few episodes where Chef Ramsey has fired employees. One was stealing from the business, so that was obvious. The other surprised me as it involved a Chef with many, many years of experience and fine culinary training...yet he was amazingly stubborn. He and his sous chef were going to do it their way and that was that. So...they are doing it their way somewhere else. It was hard to watch, actually, because so many improvements were made that made and would have made their jobs much easier.
There are also episodes where Chef Ramsey shows a tremendous amount of tenderness, if you get my meaning. One particular occasion Chef Ramsey took a business owner for a walk. He explained that the owner's hesitation to change was a fear of failure, and that considering his current position and the direction his business was going that fear could no longer be a deterrent. He then made, what I thought was, a HUGE disclosure. In fact, HE had failed! His first restaurant in the town he grew up in flopped. He, at the time, thought he knew enough (everything) and that he would (was) be a great restaurateur. He credited that failure for every success he has seen. I thought that was extremely important and fell into Point 8. It would be fun to somehow dissect an episode with everyone involved and discuss how the businesses and their rebirth fall in-line with Deming's Philosophy. Thanks, Louis, I appreciate the response. Later, Matt.
Hi Matt,
One of the biggest problems I had, earlier in my career was a lack of understanding how other folks felt. My mind tends to be very technical, yes/no, right/wrong, 0/1, etc. People are not that way at all.
Eventually I learned, often the way you say something is more important than what is said.
Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 774 Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:55 pm Post subject:
Hi Dave,
Dave wrote:
Our business is not our life. Our business is not us. I think this is where we have problems.
As men, we define who we are by what we do. We start a business, we dream about it, we mold and shape it. It represents us, it is us! If the business fails we think that we have failed.
I think this is normal and has always been so. My Grandfather was a farmer. That is how he identified himself and what he wished to be. He could never retire from what he was and died at 97, still a farmer.
I don't see a problem with identifying with our business nor being passionate about it. I see allowing our EGO to become part of the equation as a problem. For instance we can see not meeting our aim as failing or we can see it as a need to improve. I think the distinction is important and as important is realizing the distinction is within us.
Dave wrote:
It is hard to admit that a part of the business is wrong because that would mean admitting that we are wrong. We have a hard time being objective with ourselves. We tend to make emotional decisions instead of fact based, rational decisions.
Quite true! But we all know there are things in every business that can be better. Does that mean they are now wrong? The opposite of “being wrong” is not “being right,” it is “no longer being wrong.” There is a large difference. For example a man that quits acting at all, may quit being wrong. This will not help the situation. I find it helps me to remember almost anything in business can be more right. That does not necessarily make it completely wrong.
There is no shame in improvement. Shame is in defending an indefensible position for sake of pride. Ego stands in the way of improvement, the feeling that we must always be right. When the ego is attacked, emotional responses will ensue.
Dave wrote:
If we can look at the business as a separate entity, apart from ourselves, we will have better luck running it.
Or simply look at our businesses as what they are. A very important part of us, that like all the other parts are less than perfect. A very important part of us that we wish to make the best it can be. To this end working to remove flaws is quite desirable and the first step is realizing they exist. It is difficult, but we can see problems as opportunities, if we choose to.
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), and give me your thoughts: not so much on Ramsey himself, but the business and how it can be related to this topic and shop management in general. Thanks! Later, Matt.
