McDonald’s, Best Buy and LaserShip

Learning from other organizations how to survive and prosper

    "Change is a part of our business, to keep up with customer demands, and there have been a lot of changes.”  This could be a quote from any number of LaserShip people, but it is not.  It is a quote from a McDonald’s franchise owner in Georgia. 

   From LaserShip to McDonald’s, and to Best Buy and the federal government, the one common theme today is for organizations—and the people who inhabit them—must be flexible and able to adapt quickly to their changing environment.   

McDonald’s

   Though the name McDonald's is synonymous with burgers, the chain's ability to adapt to changing customer needs has helped make it the nation's best-performing restaurant company even through the recent economic downturn.

   Even though the company has had to make many changes menu-wise to stay relevant, McDonald’s—which is operated largely through franchises—has had to stay true to its core ingredients. "Our business is driven by keeping things simple and being able to deliver in a fast and efficient manner," said one McDonald's franchisee.  “The more complexity you bring into the system, the more challenges you'll have," he says.

   Change with stability seems to be the appropriate term to describe McDonald’s.  Franchisees want to keep things simple in order to keep labor costs down and profits up, yet the company needs to be constantly changing to stay in tune with their customers.  "I don't want it to feel burdensome to add new menu items, but we have to stay relevant,” said the President of McDonald’s USA. 

   "It's a delicate balance between being simple and not responding to what consumers want,” said a restaurant industry analyst.  If McDonald's sticks to just dong or offering one thing, consumers will go somewhere else.”

Best Buy

   Going somewhere else is exactly the lesson Best Buy learned.  The largest name in electronic sales heard from customers and had to change.  For years the retailer charged a 15% restocking fee on returns—annoying customers to the point that blog and Twitter comments about Best Buy impacted sales negatively.  Chastened by complaints Best Buy rescinded most restocking fees. 

  “What it really boiled down to is this: Our customers were telling us they wanted Best Buy to make it easier," said a Best Buy spokesperson.  "If we want to be the best technology destination we have to listen to our customers and that is what we did."

The National Transportation Safety Board

   While government agencies are not usually an example of forward-looking, customer-conscious, change-oriented organizations, is seeking a role in identifying aviation hazards before they can cause crashes. 

   “We need to change to remain relevant,” said the new head of the board.  “As the industry evolves, the safety board has to evolve, too," she said. "We can't be static."   Government agencies, in general, are not very good at being dynamic and nimble," she said last week. 

LaserShip

   The lessons for LaserShip from other organizations are that change is part of our business; to remain relevant we must listen to our customers and adapt to the needs of the marketplace.  If not, customers will go someplace else.  Being a dynamic and nimble company is not always easy—it requires a committed and connected family of people who listen to the customers and provide feedback throughout the organization on what our customers are thinking and needing. 

   It also requires a group of people who are willing to learn, to be flexible, to adapt to the changing business environment:  To take on the new challenges while remaining true to who we are as a company—change with stability.  Taking care of customers, improving our performance, demonstrating integrity to all and providing opportunities to those who are willing are some of the core values that we must carry forward at we and the business environment evolve. 

The Lessons of the Wolves

The attitude of the wolf can be summed up simply: it is a constant visualization of success; Focusing their energies toward the activities that will lead to the accomplishment of their goals

  One of the easiest things you can do to bring more success to your life in any area is to visualize it.  High performing athletes do it…and so do wolves.                                                                                                                                                      

   The attitude of the wolf can best be summed up simply: it is a constant visualization of success. The collective wisdom of wolves has been progressively programmed into their genetic makeup throughout the centuries. Wolves have mastered the technique of focusing their energies toward the activities that will lead to the accomplishment of their goals.

   Wolves do not aimlessly run around their intended victims, yipping and yapping. They have a strategic plan and execute it through constant communication. When the moment of truth arrives, each member of the wolf pack understands his role and understands exactly what the pack expects of him.

   Wolves are extremely efficient, persistent and skilled pursuers of goals, able to size up a challenge quickly and develop a realistic plan for achieving their goals.

   Because of training, preparation, planning, communication and a preference for action, the wolf's expectation is always to be victorious. While in actuality this is true only 10 percent of the time or less, the wolf's attitude is always that success will come-and it does.

   Wolves are seldom truly threatened by other animals. By constantly engaging their senses and skills, they are practically unassailable. They are masters of planning for the moment of opportunity to present itself, and when it does, they are ready to act.

   The wolf does not depend on luck. The cohesion, teamwork and training of the pack determines whether the pack lives or dies.

  Wolves, although they run in a pack, are actually one of nature's best examples of individual excellence contributing to team strength.  Successful "pack leaders” build strong groups around the strengths of the individual members; every wolf does not strive to be the leader in the pack. Some are consummate hunters or caregivers or even jokesters, but each seems to gravitate to the role he does best. This is not to say there are not challenges to authority, position and status - there are. But each wolf's role begins emerging from playtime as a pup and refines itself through the rest of its years. The wolf's attitude is always based upon the question, "What is best for the pack?"

   Wolves are renowned for their ability to stay on track, whether in search of food or shelter. Instinctively, they know that distractions could doom their survival.

   Wolves are actually one of nature's best examples of individual excellence contributing to team strength. By nature they are team oriented with a strong sense of pack loyalty and the ability to communicate through multiple modes.  Working together wolves focus all their energies toward the activities that will produce the results for both the individual and the group.

The Lessons of the Geese

Flying in perfect formation, cooperating as a team, unified behind experienced leadership, constantly encouraging and helping others

  If we share a common direction and a sense of unity, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily because we are traveling, so to speak, on the thrust of one another.  This is the first great lesson from geese.  As geese flap their wings, they create uplift for the bird following.  In addition to uplift, by flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if any bird were to fly alone.

 

   The uplift and forward formation momentum of the flock is reinforced among individual geese: Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.   If we can learn anything from geese, it is to stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go, and be willing to accept help from others as well as give ours to others.  Going it alone—being independent of the flock—leads to falling behind.

    When we take turns doing the hard tasks and encouraging everyone on the team we are also following the lead of the geese.  Whenever the lead goose in the V formation gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position. All the other geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. All of this creates a positive interdependence with the geese…as well as with our teams.  It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks. We should respect and protect each other's unique arrangement of skills, capabilities, talents and resources. In addition, we need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In teams where there is encouragement, productivity and results are much greater. Individual empowerment results from quality honking!

   When we display our team loyalty and stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong, we are once again following the example of the geese.  When a goose, for example, gets sick or wounded or is shot down, two geese always drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock.   It is important for our team members to not just fly in formation but to also be award of how everyone else is performing:  Let us all try to fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who might need it.

THE POWER OF TEAMWORK

   The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good. Look behind every winner and you will find a great coach or a positive role model. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find people offering encouragement, support and able assistance.

   Rising to the level of interdependent thinking can be challenging and difficult. Looking beyond one self, seeing your self as part of something larger, asking for and accepting help or giving help can feel risky. But people are not given life to simply take from one another. Our mission in life is to offer our gifts to benefit one another, to create mutual gain in the world. This is called teamwork, a win/win mindset stemming from a genuine commitment to the rules that allow it to happen.

  Everyone should take a moment to think of our organization and the teams in which they participate, and ask if those teams measure up to the lessons of the geese: Flying in perfect formation, cooperating as a team, unified behind experienced leadership, constantly encouraging and helping others

The Pittsburgh Steelers, Organizational Culture and LaserShip

Link between culture and performance is plain and proven

   The Steelers are the most successful franchise in professional football history with seven Super Bowl appearances.  With six Super Bowl trophies, the most of any team in the National Football League, the Pittsburgh Steelers have proven what it takes to win consistently and passionately as a widely admired, world class organization.

  The winning nature of the team has been attributed to the “Steeler Way” of doing things:  Play hard, play physical and play fair.    

  The culture of the Steelers organization trickles down from the owners, the Rooney family.  Yet, the Steelers culture used to be one of losers—and had to change.  40 years ago, Dan Rooney took over from his father Art, and started to change the team.  Even though the Steelers are the oldest club in their conference, started in 1933, their first Super Bowl appearance and win did not happen until 1974.  Prior to that it was all right to lose; it was all right to be the butt of jokes; it was all right to mail it on Sundays. That culture, Dan Rooney was determined to change—and it did.  Since then, the Steelers have been the NFL model for consistency on many different levels, the most important of which is coaching with only three head coaches in the last four decades.

   The franchise’s approach to football emphasizes coaching stability, character, fundamentals, hard work, loyalty, sensible business practices and putting what’s best for the team ahead of the interests of individuals.  It is a very simple blueprint based on ethics, dedication, selflessness and an overwhelming desire to be the best.

   The Steeler Way seems so simple; one wonders why every team doesn't copy it: Practicing well means playing well. Be unselfish. No small, divisive cliques among teammates. Character—being counted on to do the right thing at the right time—counts.  

  Organizational Culture
   If you cannot define it, you recognize a company’s culture when we see it.  Organizational culture was first defined as “the way we do things around here.”  Later it was dressed up to mean the shared basic assumptions that during problem solving have worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.

     As with the Steelers, the link between culture and performance is discernable and proven.  A healthy culture is a positive influence—absolutely necessary in preserving and growing a company.

   LaserShip

    Organizational culture exists in LaserShip.  Just looking around, anyone of us can see the “LaserWay;” there is evidence of it every day in the willingness of people to work together on a deadline, and the dogged commitment to provide the best overall solution to customers. 

    For 25 years we have emphasized stability in customers and employees and loyalty to those who made us who we are.  In addition, LaserShip has adhered to the fundamental premise that honesty and hard work will produce results, as well as the belief in the twin goals of growth and improvement.    

    As with the Steelers, it is a very simple blueprint based on values, consistency, commitment, teamwork, and an overwhelming desire to be the best.

  

Specialty Shippers Look to LaserShip: The "Peace of Mind" Shipping Co.

   Horse breeding—involving animals worth millions of dollars—is a serious and not too simple of a business that has a billion dollar impact on the economy of the United States alone.  

   LaserShip’s Global Critical Deliveries division not only provides same-day, cross-country shipping solutions for this industry, but also provides “peace of mind” (POM) technological support for horse breeding professionals. 

   LaserShip’s POM-Tech involves two small devices that can be placed inside shipping containers: The first device—LaserLocator—tracks and transmits shipment location updates every few minutes; the second device—an FDA approved temperature monitor—records and reports temperature data. 

   Location and temperature are especially critical to horse breeders; equine practitioners ship refrigerated stallion semen (worth millions!!) across the country or around the world for insemination into mares; this process, to be successful, must often occur within a few short hours. 

   LaserLocator, along with the temperature monitor, provides horse breeders with absolute verification and documentation of the location and condition—recorded and transmitted while the shipment is en route.

  POM-Tech was a “big hit,” says LaserShip Vice President Joe J., when it was displayed at the December convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP).  “Many potential shippers in this industry found the solution offered of temperature controlled and tracked shipments especially attractive.” 

  The temperature data provided by LaserShip assures breeders that the viability of the high value shipments has been maintained.  The location updates solves two problems: 

1)     Tracking: No package can every truly be misplaced or lost in transit.  Tracked on the ground every 15 minutes (or less as needed), no package can every be misplaced or shunted to the side as can happen in large airline cargo operations—if so, the package can be quickly found and retrieved to continue its journey.

2)     Scheduling: Inseminating mares is a very time sensitive and elaborate procedure.  Knowing precisely where a shipment is located allows veterinarians to know exactly when a package will arrive and when to prep the mare. 

   The horses—both stallion donors and mare recipients—are very valuable animals: The stud fees for stallions can range into the millions of dollars, and the mares are so valuable that their embryos are often removed and implanted into another mare for gestation so as not to put to much stress on a priceless animal.  

   It is not just the animals under stress—the shippers are too.  “Stress relief,” reports Joe, “is what LaserShip is providing through POM-Tech to the breeders and veterinarians—the equine practitioners—that have so much at stake in these delicate matters.” 

What Inspires You to Greatness? Ask for greatness in yourself first

   A year ago this week the movie “Invictus” about Nelson Mandela was released.  In the movie, Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela asks “How do we inspire ourselves to greatness, when nothing less will do?” 

   Nelson Mandela is a very inspirational leader and the movie Invictus is a very inspirational dramatization of the 1995 Rugby World Cup victory by South Africa (buy on Amazon for $11.99).  However, inspiring others to greatness is not necessarily dependent on great leaders or great events.  Greatness can also be inspired by ordinary people doing the right things. 

     Senior Transportation Consultant Chris H. provided an example of how anyone’s actions, even seemingly insignificant ones can inspire hundreds around the world.  Chris received a forwarded email from a friend whose son received the email from someone totally unknown.  The son of Chris’ friend had been the captain—a year ago—of a high school basketball team; the son in his role of captain took himself out of play because he thought it was best for the team.  Soon afterwards a Washington Post sport writer wrote about the situation.  This article went around the world...which brings us back to the email received yesterday:

   “The article from the Washington Post last year on you,” wrote the email writer, “the team captain who pulled himself from the starting lineup, was so inspirational.  I sent that article to everyone I work with, and I’m in an Army unit in Germany, a civilian.  We have about 50 soldiers in the organization in addition to about 150 civilians, like me.  We see articles almost every day about Iraq/Afghanistan and the incredible deeds done by soldiers in combat.  Ironically, however, at no time was I ever inspired enough to do what I did when I read about you.  Like I said, I sent that to everyone here, and many people I’ve served with previously who are now all over the country, and some overseas like me.  What you did is the kind of selfless act that leadership is all about, and the kind of act that we spend a lifetime trying to develop in soldiers, but you already had this trait as an 18 year old high school student.  I wish you the best with college.  No doubt you don’t need luck because you’re the kind of person already that successful colleges produce.”

 “Did what was best for the team”   

   The Washington Post article described how the high school basketball team started their season with wins but soon suffered a series of inexplicable losses.  The team captain approached the coach and asked to be pulled from the starting lineup.  After making the change the team won 8 of 9 games and became the Virginia AAA Northern Region champions.

   When asked about his decision to take himself out of the starting lineup, the 18 year old team captain explained how his presence was “clogging up the middle and drawing an extra defender” to the team’s 6’ 11” center.  “Being out of the starting line up (still with plenty of playing time) helped with spacing on the floor,” he said.  "I just did what was best for the team.”

   “He had been watching ESPN since he was age 4,” reports family friend Chris, “so he picked up on the problem before the coach figured it out which could have been too late to save the season.” 

  “It just goes to show you,” comments Chris, “that leadership sometimes comes from an unexpected source and what inspires others to greatness might just be a simple, unselfish act on behalf of the entire team.”

   To Answer Nelson Mandela's question (“How do we inspire ourselves to greatness, when nothing less will do?”):  Ask for greatness in yourself first…then you can ask for it in others.

Leaders Can Change the Weather

Sunny and Bright or Stormy and Cloudy

Every team, office, organization takes its cues from those who lead it.

    Can’t change the weather outside? 

   Perhaps you are in a position to change the “weather” inside.  Teams and extended organizations take their cues from those who provide leadership and reflect whatever the leaders are projecting.  If the leaders have a sunny and bright outlook, the organization is sunny and bright.  If the leaders’ outlook is stormy and cloudy, the weather in the office and amongst the team is pretty much the same.

While you may not have thought of the climate of your office it in terms of a weather forecast, still you’ve probably experienced this phenomenon from one end or the other. Most people who have been around teams and organizations for any amount of time have worked for a boss where the question on everyone’s mind was, “What kind of mood is he in today?” 

   It’s the same dynamic. Leaders control the weather.  So, if you’re a leader, it’s worth thinking about what kind of weather system you’re creating:  Warm front or cold front? Sunny and pleasant or stormy and blustery? 

   But more importantly, what kind of impacts do your weather systems have on the team’s results?
If you’re interested in becoming a more effective leadership meteorologist, here are a few things to pay attention to:

v     Your Energy Level:   What combination of factors do you need to radiate to create the environment for your team to create the results that are needed?

v     Your Choice of Words:  What kind of climate are you creating with your words?  Is that the kind of climate that will sustain long term results?

v     Your Visibility:  How visible you make yourself to the organization. Weather savvy leaders pay attention to their visibility.

v     Your Protective Cover:   What are you doing as a leader to let your team know that you’ve got their back?