I enjoy being in the kitchen. I go there to cook or to help with the dishes. I don’t go there to think. Actually, I go there when I don’t want to think. When I am in the kitchen I like to give my brain a little break. However, most of the times when I am in the kitchen cooing or cleaning, I realize that my mind continues to work on new ideas while my hands are doing the other job.
I have some favorite tools in the kitchen. One of them is this peeler. I am sure you have one of those. It is a simple and a very inexpensive tool which makes the job of removing the outer skin of potatoes, carrots and cucumber a lot easier. When I can’t find my peeler, I find myself a bit frustrated. Of course, I can use a knife and I do from time to time. But the results are not the same. Because a peeler is a simple and an expensive tool, we can easily ignore its value.
Now when we think of tools, we don’t always mean a tangible product. A tool can be a process or a system we use to make a job we do very frequently more efficient. Therefor having and using the right tool for the right task is paramount to the quality and the speed at which we want to perform that task.
A process or system can be very simple. Have you ever found yourself looking for your car in a parking lot? When we are going somewhere, we are usually in a hurry. We park and rush to our destination. A friend of mine who is in his late sixties shared with me a process he used to find his car in a parking lot. This process is very simple. He always finds a pole or a tree. He said there are times it may take a little longer to find that spot. But that simple system always saves him time when he needs to find his car.
I am sure that many of you have a photographic memory. I can tell you I am not one who is blessed with a photographic memory. Another friend of mine loves to joke saying that he has a photographic memory. But now it is running out of film. Many people often complain that they can’t remember things or wish they had a photographic memory. In reality, all they will need to do is to take time to develop a system or a process that could help them recall key information.
Thinking of tool, process or system here are some questions that deserve our attention:
1) Do we have the right tools for the right tasks and are we using them?
2) If yes, how long we have been using these tools and do we take time to sharpen them? It may difficult to sharpen some tools. When this is the case, it might be better to replace them.
3) Are these tools still the right tools for these tasks? Tools or processes that were appropriate for a given task five years ago may no longer be effective today.
4) If we have processes, systems, and tools to do our job, do we take time to learn how to use them? Do we train people who work with us so they know how to use them? When I used to work in the engineering field, I sometime had clients who had purchased expensive products just to let them stay on the shelves and never used them. When I asked them why, they often responded that they either did not have time or they did not have people that could use them.
5) Do you have a culture that encourages people to take time to develop processes and systems that can make their job and that of their fellow workers easier? We don’t have to always buy tools or hire someone to create processes and systems for us. We can create them.
In summary, having and using the right tools for the right tasks will make your job more enjoyable. It will also help save time, increase productivity, employee satisfaction, employees’ engagement and retention. Needless to say, that it will also help with the bottom line. It always pays dividends to invest in the right tools and to create the right processes for the right tasks and to invest in your people.
Illens Dort is a Certified Speaker, Coach, and Trainer with The John Maxwell Team. Thank you for your time!!! Illens Dort – author of Thinking and Acting with a Compassionate Heart. To buy a copy go to https://www.amazon.com/author/Illensdort.
