Are There Alligators in Your Foundry?

Several years ago, I came across a comic strip that showed a man in water up to his waist with alligators swimming all around him. The caption read, 'Sometimes it's hard to remember that the plan is to drain the swamp when you're up to your knees in alligators." (It didn't really say "knees" but I like to keep things C-rated.)

The comic strip was popular in foundries because of the "how true it is" feeling it held for most. It's difficult to remember that we're in a program of employee empowerment when we've got a ladle of metal freezing. Further, it's easy to forget the policy of not making production runs until we've received sample approval when our biggest customer's buyer is pressuring us. Of course, a lot of good things are forgotten when the ink on the bottom line turns red.

I've lived for years believing the truth of this comic, and I still do to a certain extent. When crises arrive, you sometimes have to do things that normally you wouldn't want to do. But, I recently took a new perspective on it. I called a foundry owner friend to see how things were going. When I asked, he responded that he was up to his knees in alligators because of a personnel problem. That didn't surprise me because he always was fighting alligators. If he didn't have personnel problems, he had quality alligators. If it wasn't either of those, it was production problems or something else.

It was during this latest phone call that I realized my friend's plan for draining the swamp was terrible--if he had a plan at all. In fact, I'd been trying to get him to do some long-term planning for some time. He'd always respond that he "had a plan, but just not down on paper. In reality, I think he had some dreams and then reacted to the latest set of circumstances.

Planning Your Dreams

What's the difference between plans and dreams? Dreams are great, but far different from plans. A plan is what you have when you figure out how you are going to make your dreams come true. When I was a kid, I'd dream of dating Sophia Loren or Debbie Reynolds, but I certainly didn't have a plan for dating them.

In order to take any action toward a goal, there must be a plan-- whether the plan is just in someone's head or an elaborately mapped out sequence on paper. Since I didn't take any action to-ward trying to date the celebrities, I only had dreams. Was my friend taking action toward his dreams or was he merely reacting to situations as' they presented themselves? Only he can answer that question.

If he had a plan, it wasn't a good one. If my plan is to drain a swamp, one of the first steps of the plan is to figure out where the alligators are likely to be and get rid of them. There may be some rogues left over, but I certainly shouldn't be up to my knees all of the time. If I spend all my time fighting alligators, then I should know that my plan isn't a good one.

In a way, being up to your knees can be a blessing. It's much easier to recognize that a plan is bad when you're in that situation rather than in the other common circumstance. A poor plan is one that it isn't drawing you any closer to your goal.

This is far more subtle than being up to your knees. You just keep working away. There are no big problems. You can go for months or even years and not realize that you aren't any closer to the dream. If my planning to drain the swamp was to start at the ocean with a bucket, I bet I could work for a long time without being bothered by any alligators. On the other hand, I bet I wouldn't get much of the swamp drained either.

Remedying the Problem

The problem has been identified, but what's the remedy? A remedy will not lead to the realization of all your dreams. Some helpful questions that you might ask yourself include:

* what are we trying to do? What is our dream? Are we trying to improve quality? Are we trying to increase profitability? Without knowing where you want to go, it's difficult to have a plan that works;

* do I have a plan? Can you tell yourself why what you are doing is going to help you reach your goal? Do you know when it will be time to go to the next phase?;

* if you think you have a plan and you always seem to be up to your knees, ask yourself: are these just a bunch of rogues, or do I need a better plan? Is what led to the problems something that we couldn't have foreseen? Are the problems coming from our straying from the course of our plan?;

* even if you aren't up to your knees, take the time to periodically ask yourself whether the plan is working. Are you getting closer to your goal or are you just working away without really getting anywhere?

Answering these questions will take time, and if you're up to your knees, you most likely can't afford it. But if you don't take the time, may I suggest that you start looking for books on how to make pets out of alligators.