When Michigan State University Basketball’s head coach Tom Izzo was asked if he thought the players were starting to take on his personality, his response was, “I hope so. Not because I want them to be my personality, as much as I want basketball, I want games, I want playing good or playing bad to matter enough that a guy will fight, cry, care each and every day,” he said. “You’re damn right I’m looking for that. I really am looking for that. And this team is getting better.” He went on to comment, “We’ve had a couple games that weren’t as good as others. But we’ve been in every game with two minutes left, one way or the other. And that’s what’s gonna be important as we move on.”
Don’t you just love it?! Doesn’t it apply directly to almost everything in life that we want to be really good at? If you want to be good at anything you must practice, do it, do it often. Olympic players say they must do something 10,000 times. In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the factors that contribute to high levels of success and hits on the “10,000 Hour Rule”. I guess the old adage of practice makes perfect might actually ring true. If you want to be Hafid from OG Mandino’s Greatest Salesman in the World, you must have fire in your belly.
Let’s restate Izzo’s words as they relate to Green Belt Projects
Instead of Practice :: You must collect data and check progress every day. Don’t just keep your project on the daily Things to Do list, Schedule meetings. It’s not about the quality of work at first – if you’re good or bad, whether you are making progress or have a solution – it’s about doing something on the project every day. Now you are practicing!
Instead of Fight, Cry, Care :: Find the Passion! Get that fire in the belly to work hard, not give up, and care every day about your project. Collect the data and analyze it EVERY day. Just like players care more about the game, you will grow to care more about the customer. As you collect more data and work smarter, you will find yourself getting better at analyzing data. Players care when they win and lose. I want you to care when you find success and when you don’t. I want you to care so much you ask Why?
When you don’t identify the key variation factor, analyze and work smarter/harder tomorrow. Ask Why? Are you collecting data correctly; by hour, by shift, by machine, by day of the week, by operator? What questions did the team members ask, what questions did you ask? Is time of day a factor? Did you ask the charter question? Did you review the problem statement? Did you ask Anything Else? Were you proactive and set up a follow-up meeting?
The first step to finishing any project is the Start and the second step is to Do It Again tomorrow. While working on Green Belt Projects, I see some people get their projects done in 60 days. And I see others that never get done. When I ask myself why, I see a common theme. The people who complete their projects done are working on it a little bit every day. It is on their daily TTD list.
We are all busy, but find a way to work on your project 10 or 15 minutes every day. When it’s all said and done, you will be the winner.
“You see, Mister Og, most of us build prisons for ourselves and after we occupy them for a period of time we become accustomed to their walls and accept the false premise that we are incarcerated for life.” Remember, we determine our own success by the limits we place on ourselves.