7/27/2019 Williams Jc

1/5

Whistle While You Work But You Better Be In Tune!

Kevin Williams, C.P.M., Manager Technology Business DevelopmentAmerican Express Corporate Services (www.americanexpress.com), P.O. Box 364,

Hebron, CT 06248, 860/228-6705kevin.j.williams@aexp.com

Win together, lose together, play together, stay together. -- Debra Mancuso

AbstractThis paper supports a workshop to be held at the 88th Annual ISM International PurchasingConference to be held in Nashville, Tennessee from May 18 through May 20, 2003. Thissession will focus on two key goals. First, the session will seek to present ways in which theSupply Management Professional can relieve tension and make the workplace moreenjoyable. But second, and more importantly, the session will provide methods to help theparticipant maintain that sense of enjoyment over the long term. Many times conferenceattendees leave the event energized and ready to tackle their toughest problems. However, as

the day to day lifestyle creeps back in, it becomes more difficult to continue the motivation topursue excellence.

Monday MorningWeve all seen it in our offices. Those departments that seem to be teeming with people whocould care less about their customers, do nothing but whine all day about their jobs and aremissing any kind of a work ethic in general. In the best selling book Fish! (by StephenLundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen), these departments are referred to as toxic energydumps. People enter the department as workers just like you or I, but they transform intopeople who seem to suck the life energy from anyone they come into contact with. The funnything is that people do not enter the environment thinking they want to be miserable. In many

cases, they dont even realize that others in the company think of them that poorly. But bit bybit, these people slip into a personality that constantly looks forward to Fridays and considerscalling in sick every Monday morning.

The Fish! PhilosophyNow lets discuss the core atmosphere in Fish!, the world famous Pike Place Fish Market.For those who have never been to Seattle to see the spectacle that is Pike Place, letsconsider the environment. The job of the market is among the most mundane you could thinkof. Fish mongering is a smelly, tiring, and at times tedious profession. And yet, there is ahuge vitality and energy level to Pike Place. The words organized chaos come to mind tomany who see the fish mongers yelling to the yogurt dudes who frequent the market every

lunch time. People are constantly surprised as they see fish being thrown (most times at greatdistances) behind and even across the counter. Children are entertained as mongers talk tothem by moving a fishs mouth.

The market wasnt always so entertaining. At one time the job was run of the mill, packing,selling and repacking fish hour after hour. But the workers of the market decided at somepoint in time that enough was enough, and something had to change.

7/27/2019 Williams Jc

2/5

Choose your AttitudeFor the mongers to change their environment, they realized that first they needed to changetheir view of the world. It seems pretty basic to think that if we looked at the world in a morepositive light, then our work environment would become more enjoyable by default. But itseems like too basic a philosophy to apply in the real world.

The best description Ive heard that explains this approach is Steven Coveys definition of theword responsible. He breaks down the word by saying that all of us are response ablethatis, able to respond to our environment. If we spend our time complaining about everythingfrom the commute we faced in the morning to the way engineering goes around our back towork directly with suppliers, then we are not responsible people. We need to recognize thatthe first step in the process of making our work environment better is to establish a mindsetthat says we are going to enjoy what we do. With this base we can start to turn things around.Without it, we are locked in an environment which ensures we will continue to be disappointed.

As the book explains, There is always a choice about the way you do your work, even if thereis not a choice about the work itself. The attitude we take into the process is the most criticalelement of the success or failure of this change. With a positive attitude, all things are

possible. Without it, none are.

So how do we change out mindset? For me, I try to carry the atmosphere of this conferenceback to my work environment. The thing I enjoy most about these conferences is theinteraction with a large network of peers. Some of the ideas and solutions that come out of theevent are nothing short of brilliant. So when I go back to my office, I remind myself that thesame peer network exists around me. The network is virtual instead of physical, but its there

just the same. When I get stumped, I pick up the phone and call a peer to discuss whats onmy mind. I end up with the same feeling of collaborative success at the end of theconversation and Im able to move on with a positive mindset.

PlayOnce we have the right mindset going in, we can proceed with taking more visible stepstoward making the work environment a better place to be. The first is to do something we allhave naturally inside us, but have tucked away under the guise of becoming adults. When wewere kids, we would constantly make up games. Everything became some form of play. Thiswas the one thing that managed to keep our interest when our attention spans were very short.

A great example of Play engaged with work were the Shanteys sung aboard sailing ships fromthe late eighteenth until the early 20th century. These songs were belted out by Shanteymen,quite often with responding lines from the rest of the crew. The songs carried cadences whichmatched the work to be done. Everything from hauling lines to turning the capstan or windlass

had a tune to accompany the work. Even passing time on the voyage home was usuallyjoined by singing of a Homeward Bound Shanty. Work aboard these sailing vessels wasgrueling, yet the use of music was employed in a playful manner to provide a choice in how thetask was completed.

But we dont work on board a ship, and belting out songs at the top of our lungs might beconsidered a little distracting in the office. So how does a Supply Manager introduce theelement of Play into their environment?

7/27/2019 Williams Jc

3/5

Start with the basics. Drab cubicles with traditional gray or beige coloring add to the dullnature of the work environment. Dress up your office with more color. Add some pictures orposters that reflect peaceful or happy locations like beaches and mountains. The next time acoworker is in another part of the country, have them bring back dcor from that region. Forexample, a trip to Phoenix may bring back a cactus or two to place in the office back East.The coworker who goes to New England for a visit can bring back a sap bucket from a MapleSugaring operation. The bucket can be hung in a public spot where requisitions could beplaced in lieu of the dull plastic in box. An aquarium or terrarium could be added to providesome peaceful companionship.

Next turn to physical play. Lighten up the environment a little bit. Keep kids toys (like paddleball, slinkies and play-dough) on top of a cabinet to be used when needed. When explaining astrategic plan, model the flow using an etch-a-sketch. When showing the design of a product,build a prototype using Legos.

Be sure to consider play when creating much needed breaks. Many businesses have addedbasketball courts or similar areas for a release of energy. And the use of foosball tables in

technology firms has been well documented. But you dont have to get that elaborate. Afterall, we didnt as kids. Bring in a can of tennis balls and sidewalk chalk. At an appropriatebreak (maybe at lunchtime), draw a middle line on the parking lot and play hand tennis. Withassistance from your facilities group, identify a concrete wall that could be used for impromptuhandball games. Anything will do, just allow your imagination to create what you need. Whenyou get back after your break, you will find yourself much better rested and much better able tofocus on the task at hand.

The solutions need to be your own in order to work in your environment, but the list ofpossibilities are endless.

Make Their DayThis is the point where you engage your customers (internal departments you service, yoursuppliers, even management) in your play. You need to build an inclusive environment whereall people who rely on you get wrapped up in the action. This means proactively looking foropportunities to do something your customer does not expect.

So what can we do in a Supply Management arena to Make Their Day. First we need toknow how our customers feel about the service they get from us. You will need to conduct abrief survey, or hold a small focus group to learn areas where you are doing well, and toidentify those areas where you need to improve.

Once you have identified opportunities for improvement, you can then come up with ways tochange business as usual. If a complaint is that orders are too often delayed because they sitin purchasing too long, look for ways to get purchasing out of the order placement processaltogether, such as e-procurement, purchasing cards and blanket orders. Then, dont run thesolution as a pilot, but introduce the solution to your constituents as a full program, ready tobe used fully upon an agreed start date.

7/27/2019 Williams Jc

4/5

For suppliers, consider shaking up your next series of Best and Finals to an RFP. When youprovide the format and agenda to be followed by your supplier team, propose that yoursuppliers must deliver their information in a different and unique way. For example, you couldsuggest that each supplier must present their information in the form of a TV game show,where the supplier is the host and you are the contestants. This will not only liven up thepresentation, but will also help you to identify those suppliers who are the most creative andmost likely to come up with solutions that are outside the box.

For those departments that constantly are complaining about your service, try extending anolive branch to them by doing something they would never expect. For example, if theirtraining budget is empty toward the end of the year and you still have some funds remaining inyours, offer to the cost center manager that you will send people from their group to thetraining of their choice, up to a certain dollar amount, and your group will pick up the tab. Workwith their suppliers to design a special gift for that group at the end of the year as a thank youfor their continued business, such as full color posters of the team (or better yet, a celebrity theteam likes) printed by the office equipment supplier you use.

Again, the exact solutions are up to you based on your environment. Use your creativity to

develop unique ways to shock and amaze your customers.

Be PresentThis is the toughest solution for me to implement. I still struggle today to Be Present. In Fish!,Be Present is noticed when the group scans the workers at Pike Place. Those talking withcustomers are focused on the customer, completely ignorant of the chaos around them.Those workers who are not tied up with a customer are constantly scanning the crowdlooking for someone who wants to be engaged by the team.

In a way, this environment is not unlike our own. Instead of fish flying by us and loud crowdnoise all around, we are buzzed by a phone, beeped at by email or our door or cube wall is

knocked on. We attempt to remain focused on a task, or even more importantly a person, butwe find ourselves shifting thoughts to other things.

There are some steps we can take to try to move toward Being Present. First, turn off theaudio alert that indicates you have received email. This will ease the tension we have toimmediately open it and respond to it. Check your email in batch mode, allowing you to focuson the message and the proper response. Never, ever read email while on the phone with acustomer or colleague. You cannot Be Present for the person on the phone and try to addressemails at the same time. This goes double for attending web conferences or teleconferences.Pay attention only to the audio commentary and the slides or demonstration on the web, thenaddress email at a later time.

Second, openly tell the person trying to communicate with you about your status. If you aredeep in thought on a project or trying to pump out some significant work, ask the person whocalled if you can call them back in an hour or two. Set up an appointment with the person,and then hold to it. Call them on time, and ignore email while you are on the phone with them.This is even more important with live visitors. When someone knocks on your office or cubiclewall, let them know if its not a time when you can focus on their needs. ISM has a great tool intheir offices. They have a pyramid of sorts, with red, yellow and green shapes stacked up.

7/27/2019 Williams Jc

5/5

Depending on the red, yellow or green status, the availability of the person to talk is visible toall who approach their cube or office.

Fish! makes a great suggestion for ensuring the person you are approaching is going to BePresent for your issue. You can ask things like Is this a good time? Are you present? whenapproaching the other party. If it seems like they are not 100% focused on you, you can stateYou seem distracted.. This becomes a signal to the other person that they are not presentand need to be honest with you about focusing on your issue.

In an age where technology makes communication instantaneous, it is very difficult to BePresent. But it is critical that we shut down the distractions if our environment is going to beone of energy and excitement.

Summary and ConclusionsWe can choose to have a great work environment, even if we cant choose the work we mustcomplete. By applying the four concepts outlined in Fish!, I am convinced the workenvironment can be energetic, exciting and, most importantly, fun! To make this felling last,you need to pick up a copy of Fish! Read it cover to cover right away, but dont bury it on a

shelf. Each quarter, put an appointment on your calendar to remind you to read it again as areminder of the changes that need to continue. In addition, each quarter you should reviewyour notes from particularly moving workshops during the conference. This will allow you torefocus on the things that are important in your life, and how to both improve morale andstrengthen your productivity.