– No, I don’t dare, says the little boy standing on the side of the pool.
– Yes, it’s fine,” says Mom, standing in the pool with her arms outstretched. I will welcome you, and besides, you live here.
I see the boy hesitate and then hesitate some more. The mother encourages the boy to jump, cheerfully repeating “you can”, “it’s okay”, “it’s all right”, and so on.
The scene reminds me of what one of my mentors said:
“I consider it my job to have a bigger vision for your future than even you have, because I know what’s possible.”
I have thought about that from time to time.
- That someone else sees something in me that I don’t see.
- There are opportunities that I do not perceive.
- Opportunities that someone with experience I don’t have sees are there.
- Opportunities that even someone “just” standing on the sidelines sees.
When I thought about it further, I realized that it is the same for me in my job. I have around 30 years of experience in leadership and improvement. Do I see things that others do not see? The answer is yes.
You and your business have your challenges for the future. You need to take action to meet these increasing challenges. The pace has increased and some parts are developing exponentially, which means that the challenges, and opportunities, are also exponential.
You can choose to either just be the one who stands in the middle of the activity and does not “dare to jump”. This is because you are not aware of the opportunities, as you are fully occupied with your business. You are the boy in the scene described above.
Or you can choose to be the one who, like me, can see the big picture and thus understand and take advantage of the opportunities available. You then become the mother in the above description.
I myself am often the boy when it comes to the work of our company, Clean Stream. Because there I work in our processes to provide training and help businesses.
But when I help the organizations in their improvement work, then I am the mother, because I have a different focus.
For ourselves in Clean Stream, we need help from someone who can support us to see the big picture. When we help you, we see your business as a whole.
My advice to you if you want to work with improvement work is to learn the art of seeing the whole picture and using methods and tools to create an improved business. If you don’t learn this and acquire knowledge, you won’t see the big picture either, as you will remain in the business with your focus.
Right now, you have the chance to take part in the training that starts this week. The training takes place throughout the year and is largely online and on demand, so don’t feel stressed because “it starts this week” and you have a full calendar for a few weeks.
You can choose to either train for the role of an operational designer. This means actively working with your business processes to map them, design them the way you want them, then develop and implement them in your business, and finally support the process manager in leading the new improved process.
Or you can choose to train for the role of improvement manager, which means that in addition to learning all of the above, you will also learn how to lead your improvement initiative. You work “in the spirit of the boss” as we say in the Armed Forces, to ensure that the whole improvement process moves forward.
Both courses run in parallel and there is an exchange of participants between them.
The courses have a limited number of places. There is now one seat left. Take the opportunity to apply for that seat. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn about the latest version of the Shaper of Business Excellence method, which we have updated and which forms the basis of the training.
To speed things up and make it easy for you, just send me an email back to this email and I will contact you.
Let me say to you, in the field of improvement, as my mentor said to me: I consider it my mission to have a bigger vision for you and your future than you can imagine, because I know what is possible.
– Jump now, says the boy’s mother.
The boy rocks back and forth and then shouts, “I’m coming mummy” and then he throws himself into the water. The mother does exactly what she promised and accepts him. Splash!
The boy laughs happily and then shouts loudly: “one more time mom!”
It won’t be just one more time, but probably 20-30 before both are quite satisfied.
