Today my son, Mike, send me a text message that says,
“It is no use saying ‘we’re doing our best’ you have go to succeed in doing what is necessary”
Winston Churchill
What a quote. Getting the text made me smile for many reason. The first reason is because it came from my son. Getting that quote from Mike told me that he has been listening. He is actually catching what I am saying.
The second reason the quote made me smile is that I love Winston Churchill and getting a quote from him is golden.
The third and most important reason it made me smile was because of what it meant. It is a home run of a quote. Today’s society has evolved into a culture that gives too little attention to results and rewards effort far too much. Let me state my case here.
“It the thought that counts.”
“I gave it my best shot.”
“We need 110% from you.”
To most people that hear clichés like that and think they are positive remarks. I don’t. I think they are lame and full of excuses. Don’t get me wrong. They have their place in polite conversation. For example when drawing a picture for Grandma “it is the thought that counts” not the quality of the picture. When learning a new hobby or playing a game for fun “giving it your best shot” is acceptable.
Do I like it when my team has dirty uniforms because they went all out? Yes and I expect it. But in cases where winning is what matters it isn’t the team that sweats the most that wins. Idea that “it’s not who wins or loses but instead how you played the game that matters” is another clichés that has run its course. True you need to follow the rules. I don’t believe in winning at all cost if the way to winning is cheating or breaking the rules.
But in the real world it is results that matter. Over time we look at the scoreboard and not the jerseys to see who won the game. In backyard volleyball games at the family reunion winning and losing might not matter but unless you’re the Chicago Cubs or Detroit Lions continually losing will cost those players and coaches their jobs (and fans). You will likely continue to invite all the cousins, aunts and uncles to future family reunions regardless of the final score. You may even continue to have your high school buddy on the slow pitch softball team regardless of his lack of results. But in the parts of life that count we need to make sure we are delivering results.
Let me give you an example.
Do you prefer to work with somebody that does their job as required with a minimum number of mistakes or work with somebody that is trying their hardest but often embarrass the organization with what they produce or make you work harder or differently to cover up for their short comings?
Because at work we depend on winning. When people perform poorly it can result in horrible results for co-workers. Injuries, job loss, and customer loss are all common results from a co-workers poor performance. It isn’t always just the person that makes the mistakes that suffers.
A poor performer actions can result losing a customer and everybody that depends on that customer plus some overhead personal will lose their job when we lose the customer.
My unsafe behavior can result in your injury. (Have you ever been rear-ended in a car?)
Should we try our hardest? Yes. But more than effort we need results. An electrician that works hard and installs 180’ of conduit in a day isn’t has handy to have around as somebody that puts up 240’ with ease. (Assuming the quality is to our standards.)
Let me tell you a story.
When my daughter was in elementary school they had baby chicks in their class room. The chicks need to go home with a student on the weekend. Finally after a few weeks our turn came to host some of the birds.
Our dog wasn’t good with sharing our home with chicks. He didn’t want to leave them alone. So if wanted a break from playing keep the dog from the chicks you had to move the birds to a safe place.
We put them inside the tub in our master bath. The dog couldn’t get into the tub and it meant he had to open 2 doors to get in the room.
The neighbor girl come over and our daughter wanted to show the chicks to her friend so she took her into the bathroom and showed her the chicks.
About 30 minutes later the dog came down stairs with a chick in his mouth.
I raced up stairs to find two open doors and tub full of water. A trickle of water was coming out of the faucet.
The neighbor girl admitted that she had bumped the faucet but thought she had turned it off. The dog took advantage of the fact that the chick was now floating and “rescued” it from the tub.
The Chapin family did everything they could to keep the chicks safe. Maximum effort. But very bad results. The class forgive us for not delivering live chicks on Monday (It helped that another family had lost a chick over the weekend.) But they didn’t send any more chicks with us. We weren’t equipped for the task (mostly because of the dog).
______________________________________________________________________________________
I realize you might be angry at this blog and be thinking I am too harsh but winning isn’t everything. If that is the case I would love to hear from you.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Workforce Development
As many of you may already know I am active in ABC. You might wonder why I give so much time to ABC. Watch this video and it will give you a very good idea why.
I love the USA and all it stands for. Construction is a vital part of our American economy. I think workforce development is a key to making the construction industry better.
Let me preface the video by telling you that I am a college graduate and I have a daughter currently in college. So obviously I’m not opposed to going to college. I am opposed to sending everybody to college.
I can also tell you from personal experience that at Willmar Electric the compensation for the top level non-college graduates is higher than the college graduates.
If you have teenagers you need to watch this video. If you want to develop a better workforce you need to watch this video.
http://workforceunderconstruction.com/featured/success-in-the-new-economy-technical-skills-vs-college/
If you are interested in more check out this even shorter video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSRaglKr3lk
I love the USA and all it stands for. Construction is a vital part of our American economy. I think workforce development is a key to making the construction industry better.
Let me preface the video by telling you that I am a college graduate and I have a daughter currently in college. So obviously I’m not opposed to going to college. I am opposed to sending everybody to college.
I can also tell you from personal experience that at Willmar Electric the compensation for the top level non-college graduates is higher than the college graduates.
If you have teenagers you need to watch this video. If you want to develop a better workforce you need to watch this video.
http://workforceunderconstruction.com/featured/success-in-the-new-economy-technical-skills-vs-college/
If you are interested in more check out this even shorter video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSRaglKr3lk
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Going Lean
This is going to be a very short blog. Many people at Willmar Electric have been studying and reading about subject of LEAN construction. The book we are focusing on is "2 Second Lean" by Paul A Akers.
It is a great book. To learn more check out this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pDcmUvtL6w
To learn a lot more check out this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPUmY8WnnpU
The website http://www.2secondlean.com/ has many more interesting videos that will get you fired up about continuous improvement.
It is a great book. To learn more check out this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pDcmUvtL6w
To learn a lot more check out this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPUmY8WnnpU
The website http://www.2secondlean.com/ has many more interesting videos that will get you fired up about continuous improvement.
Friday, January 10, 2014
A Tale of Two Basketball Players
My oldest daughter Anne has gone off to college. That means we only have two children living with us full time.
Mike is a junior in high school. Sara is a freshman in high school. They both play basketball and that means my wife, Sue, and I get to spend our winter in the stands watching a lot of basketball.
Mike was recently promoted to the varsity. It is dream come true for him. (As a former basketball player that had to quit for health reasons in the middle of my sophomore season I will admit it is a dream come true for me as well.)
Well done Mike you are awesome. I was told by the coach that it came from hard work and practice.
Sara is a very good basketball player but has had injury problems the last two years. It has cut into her playing time and made getting on the court hard this season. But she is gutting it out and has told me that “she has three years left” and we are sure she will get back to 100%.
As a parent it is fun to watch your children play basketball. Especially fun when they score points.
But Mike’s position as the new guy on the varsity and Sara’s health means we haven’t seen huge point totals out of either of them.
That leads into the next two stories about this basketball season.
A few weeks ago we saw Sara sitting in the stands watching Mike play and talking to a girl that is about 3 years younger than Sara. Later that day that same youngster posted on Social Media how awesome Sara was.
It isn’t anywhere close to the first time we have heard from somebody about what a huge positive impact Sara has had in the life of a young child. In fact we hear it a lot. Sara wants to grow up and be a 4th grader teacher. It seems like a perfect fit.
Over Christmas break we were told on multiple occasions about how a younger high school player was excited because something made him more like Mike Chapin. The player had brought up many examples of being like Mike. But younger player wasn’t talking about jump shots or rebounds. It wasn’t Mike’s basketball life that he wanted be like.
He wanted to “be like Mike” the person.
If Mike or Sara finishes their basketball careers with 1,000 points we won’t be as impressed with them as we are with these two stories.
(P.S. We are sure that the same stories are going on at Bethel but we don’t know those students parents and siblings.)
Mike and Sara are People Making a Difference for People!!!
Mike is a junior in high school. Sara is a freshman in high school. They both play basketball and that means my wife, Sue, and I get to spend our winter in the stands watching a lot of basketball.
Mike was recently promoted to the varsity. It is dream come true for him. (As a former basketball player that had to quit for health reasons in the middle of my sophomore season I will admit it is a dream come true for me as well.)
Well done Mike you are awesome. I was told by the coach that it came from hard work and practice.
Sara is a very good basketball player but has had injury problems the last two years. It has cut into her playing time and made getting on the court hard this season. But she is gutting it out and has told me that “she has three years left” and we are sure she will get back to 100%.
As a parent it is fun to watch your children play basketball. Especially fun when they score points.
But Mike’s position as the new guy on the varsity and Sara’s health means we haven’t seen huge point totals out of either of them.
That leads into the next two stories about this basketball season.
A few weeks ago we saw Sara sitting in the stands watching Mike play and talking to a girl that is about 3 years younger than Sara. Later that day that same youngster posted on Social Media how awesome Sara was.
It isn’t anywhere close to the first time we have heard from somebody about what a huge positive impact Sara has had in the life of a young child. In fact we hear it a lot. Sara wants to grow up and be a 4th grader teacher. It seems like a perfect fit.
Over Christmas break we were told on multiple occasions about how a younger high school player was excited because something made him more like Mike Chapin. The player had brought up many examples of being like Mike. But younger player wasn’t talking about jump shots or rebounds. It wasn’t Mike’s basketball life that he wanted be like.
He wanted to “be like Mike” the person.
If Mike or Sara finishes their basketball careers with 1,000 points we won’t be as impressed with them as we are with these two stories.
(P.S. We are sure that the same stories are going on at Bethel but we don’t know those students parents and siblings.)
Mike and Sara are People Making a Difference for People!!!
Monday, January 6, 2014
Elmo Chapin Day 2014
Today would have been my Grandpa’s 92st birthday. Every year I send out a tribute to him and encourage others to consider leaving their world better than they found it in honor of him. I call it Elmo Chapin day.
Last year I posted this note and I am reposting it today.
Here is how my Grandpa worked. He was a servant. He thought that you should always leave a room or any other place in better shape than you found it.
So if he saw a piece of garbage on the floor he didn’t wonder who put it there. He picked it up and threw it away. If he was leaving a room he turned off the lights when he left the room.
He wasn’t perfect.
At times he left you wondering how a person could so easily notice and take care of three scraps of paper in a public restroom but was unable to clean the stacks of useless piles of paper out of his own office. The temptation to ask him how a 6 year old magazine on a subject he could care less about wasn’t garbage just like the paper towel you picked up off the floor ten minutes ago came to me quite often. His office was always beyond a mess.
My Grandpa not only used this concept on the small level I have suggested above but he carried it out to a much larger level. Thing that he worked on in his life like give to and supporting missionaries at church, starting the alarm division at Willmar Electric, and helping widows or the underprivileged are larger examples of his wanting to make the world a better place. Giving people a hand up in the world made his day.
Finding a job or a place to live for somebody down on their luck was typical of Elmo Chapin.
Over the past few years of my declaring an Elmo Chapin day I have received several warm responses from people about how much they appreciated and loved my Grandpa. They are always fun to receive. I have also seen countless examples of people being like Elmo Chapin. That is even more fun. (Even when it was Dan Williams shutting off the lights on a room full of people leaving us in complete blackness as he left the room. He laughed and we reminded him that shutting off the lights when you leave a room applies only if you are the last to leave!)
But his concern for his fellow man and the world around us was something we all need to try to emulate.
A link to another post on “Elmo Chapin Day 2012” is below.
http://willmar-electric.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-birthday.html
Last year I posted this note and I am reposting it today.
Here is how my Grandpa worked. He was a servant. He thought that you should always leave a room or any other place in better shape than you found it.
So if he saw a piece of garbage on the floor he didn’t wonder who put it there. He picked it up and threw it away. If he was leaving a room he turned off the lights when he left the room.
He wasn’t perfect.
At times he left you wondering how a person could so easily notice and take care of three scraps of paper in a public restroom but was unable to clean the stacks of useless piles of paper out of his own office. The temptation to ask him how a 6 year old magazine on a subject he could care less about wasn’t garbage just like the paper towel you picked up off the floor ten minutes ago came to me quite often. His office was always beyond a mess.
My Grandpa not only used this concept on the small level I have suggested above but he carried it out to a much larger level. Thing that he worked on in his life like give to and supporting missionaries at church, starting the alarm division at Willmar Electric, and helping widows or the underprivileged are larger examples of his wanting to make the world a better place. Giving people a hand up in the world made his day.
Finding a job or a place to live for somebody down on their luck was typical of Elmo Chapin.
Over the past few years of my declaring an Elmo Chapin day I have received several warm responses from people about how much they appreciated and loved my Grandpa. They are always fun to receive. I have also seen countless examples of people being like Elmo Chapin. That is even more fun. (Even when it was Dan Williams shutting off the lights on a room full of people leaving us in complete blackness as he left the room. He laughed and we reminded him that shutting off the lights when you leave a room applies only if you are the last to leave!)
But his concern for his fellow man and the world around us was something we all need to try to emulate.
A link to another post on “Elmo Chapin Day 2012” is below.
http://willmar-electric.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-birthday.html
Friday, December 20, 2013
Merry Christmas and Happy All Year
It’s Christmas time. I am traveling for work this week and have come across many people that have wished me a Merry Christmas. Some say it to me first and at other times it is me that first uses the term Merry Christmas.
Christmas means many different things to people. Those differing views fall along a wide spectrum that has two extremes.
As the name implies Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Everybody at my house (including me) professes that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
For many Christmas is a gift giving extravaganza. Commercialism runs high this time of the year. Stores are packed and people are celebrating the Holiday Season by spending like crazy and giving very little regard to the birth of our Savior.
Some people are offended when Christians interject religion into the Holiday Season. Many go to court just to keep others from offending them with their religious greetings and celebrations.
On the other extreme, many Christians are offended by the commercialization of Christmas.
So what is a guy to do? I do both. We give gifts, send out cards with Christian greetings and don't feel the least bit conflicted.
Why? How could I?
To me it is simple. I think Jesus should be celebrated every day. I am one person and don't believe that I should compartmentalize my life. So everything I do should involve my faith. But I also like to give gifts and enjoy time with family, so I also do the commercial parts of Christmas too.
None of it makes me feel like I have sold out my faith because from Dec 26, 2013 until Dec 24, 2014 I will still be celebrating the fact that Jesus came to earth in human form to die on a cross at Easter as payment for my sins only to rise from the dead three days later and after an additional 40 days he ascended back to Heaven.
Hopefully you will be celebrating our Savor with me 365 days of the year.
Merry Christmas and be happy all year long.
Christmas means many different things to people. Those differing views fall along a wide spectrum that has two extremes.
As the name implies Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Everybody at my house (including me) professes that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.
For many Christmas is a gift giving extravaganza. Commercialism runs high this time of the year. Stores are packed and people are celebrating the Holiday Season by spending like crazy and giving very little regard to the birth of our Savior.
Some people are offended when Christians interject religion into the Holiday Season. Many go to court just to keep others from offending them with their religious greetings and celebrations.
On the other extreme, many Christians are offended by the commercialization of Christmas.
So what is a guy to do? I do both. We give gifts, send out cards with Christian greetings and don't feel the least bit conflicted.
Why? How could I?
To me it is simple. I think Jesus should be celebrated every day. I am one person and don't believe that I should compartmentalize my life. So everything I do should involve my faith. But I also like to give gifts and enjoy time with family, so I also do the commercial parts of Christmas too.
None of it makes me feel like I have sold out my faith because from Dec 26, 2013 until Dec 24, 2014 I will still be celebrating the fact that Jesus came to earth in human form to die on a cross at Easter as payment for my sins only to rise from the dead three days later and after an additional 40 days he ascended back to Heaven.
Hopefully you will be celebrating our Savor with me 365 days of the year.
Merry Christmas and be happy all year long.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Lasting Memory
How long is your memory?
How long of an impression do my actions last for?
Last week I can across three incidents that give us the answer to these questions.
The first incident happened in Fairmont, NE. I was in this small town to watch my son play basketball. He is on the boys JV team and that means from time to time they play at a site away from the regular school. That day’s opponent was Fillmore Central. Their high school is in Geneva, NE but this game was in the neighboring town of Fairmont.
Fairmont used to have a high school of its own. But like many small towns in the Midwest it has been consolidated into a larger district with other small towns. Now it only has a middle school and a rack of pictures of people that went to Fairmont High. (These people all looked silly since the last class was in the early 90s. Lots of big hair and some mullets.)
When the game was over and we waited in the hallway to exit the building I noticed a plaque on the wall and went over to read it. The plaque talked about the 1981 addition and on it was a
list of contractors that did the work. Under electrical contractor was Willmar Electric.
I pointed it out to my wife and she said “aren’t you glad you didn’t make fun of the lighting.”
Other parents asked if I remembered the project. I had to tell them “no, in 1981 I was 12 and I didn’t know which projects Willmar Electric was doing, I was just glad my dad had work!”
The next day I interviewed a guy that wanted to come to work at Willmar Electric. 22 years ago he worked at Quantum Electric. We found 3 of his former co-workers and asked them what they thought of this guy. They all said he was a good worker and that we should interview him. They also relayed an embarrassing story about him from a Christmas Party over 23 years before.
That same afternoon Cory Lownsbury and I went to Kearney, NE to meet with a project owner that wanted to hire us to design and build a project with them. The representative of the owner had worked with us over 16 years ago on a project in Willmar, MN and wanted to work with us again.
They liked our work from 16 years ago, nearly 500 miles away and wanted to work with us.
Seems that what happened 16, 23 and 32 years ago can leave an impact on today.
Seems it is important that we live up to the core value of meeting the customers’ needs and treating others the way they want to be treated if we want to have future success.
How long of an impression do my actions last for?
Last week I can across three incidents that give us the answer to these questions.
The first incident happened in Fairmont, NE. I was in this small town to watch my son play basketball. He is on the boys JV team and that means from time to time they play at a site away from the regular school. That day’s opponent was Fillmore Central. Their high school is in Geneva, NE but this game was in the neighboring town of Fairmont.
Fairmont used to have a high school of its own. But like many small towns in the Midwest it has been consolidated into a larger district with other small towns. Now it only has a middle school and a rack of pictures of people that went to Fairmont High. (These people all looked silly since the last class was in the early 90s. Lots of big hair and some mullets.)
When the game was over and we waited in the hallway to exit the building I noticed a plaque on the wall and went over to read it. The plaque talked about the 1981 addition and on it was a
list of contractors that did the work. Under electrical contractor was Willmar Electric.
I pointed it out to my wife and she said “aren’t you glad you didn’t make fun of the lighting.”
Other parents asked if I remembered the project. I had to tell them “no, in 1981 I was 12 and I didn’t know which projects Willmar Electric was doing, I was just glad my dad had work!”
The next day I interviewed a guy that wanted to come to work at Willmar Electric. 22 years ago he worked at Quantum Electric. We found 3 of his former co-workers and asked them what they thought of this guy. They all said he was a good worker and that we should interview him. They also relayed an embarrassing story about him from a Christmas Party over 23 years before.
That same afternoon Cory Lownsbury and I went to Kearney, NE to meet with a project owner that wanted to hire us to design and build a project with them. The representative of the owner had worked with us over 16 years ago on a project in Willmar, MN and wanted to work with us again.
They liked our work from 16 years ago, nearly 500 miles away and wanted to work with us.
Seems that what happened 16, 23 and 32 years ago can leave an impact on today.
Seems it is important that we live up to the core value of meeting the customers’ needs and treating others the way they want to be treated if we want to have future success.
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