The process of developing and achieving goals
Up to this point, we’ve just been laying the groundwork for setting goals and I’ve tried to get you psyched about actually doing it. Now we're going to start and get into the meat of it.
For those of you familiar with LEAN or Continuous Improvement, we’ll use the Plan/Do/Check/Act or PDCA cycle for developing and implementing your goals throughout this course.
I’ve mentioned previously that throughout my working life, I was blessed to work in an exciting career that was full of growth opportunities. For the most part, I worked for wonderful leaders who helped me in my career and provided opportunities for growth and learning. We already know that volunteering for special projects is an excellent way to learn new skills and meet influential people who can help you with your career. Besides special projects, specialized training that helps you learn new skills can help your career. I was fortunate to have two such opportunities to become involved with Continuous Improvement. In its most simple definition, continuous improvement is an ongoing business effort to improve processes, reduce errors, reduce costs, and improve products or services. In many cases, undertaking a LEAN initiative can achieve dramatic results. See Note 1 for a link to the American Society for Quality (a professional organization that I am a member of) for a better understanding of this process.
The Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle
The PDCA cycle is a continuous improvement process that I have used many times and is the process used at Afterburner Success Partners. When you take the course, you will be using this process as follows:
Plan-We are learning about and developing goals, and this is the “plan” portion. To achieve your dreams and live your best life.
Do-When you finish the course, you will implement your goals. This is the “do” part.
Check-As you are implementing your goals, that is achieving your dreams, occasionally it is prudent to stop and assess your progress. I recommend, in the early part of your journey, about four times a year. As you gain experience, about twice a year is fine. I always caution people when you are checking your progress not to make changes too quickly. Just like having your 401k or other investments in the market, those who change too quickly or chase the next best thing often find they miss out on the big gains.
Act-When you are well into your journey and your plan is being implemented, you are checking yourself and making course corrections as necessary. You could say you are acting out your plan.
For those of you who like to consider a system in everyday language, consider the process a farmer uses. Farmers understand that to maximize their output, the right tasks must be done in the right season, that is, at the right time. This simple system includes planning, preparing the tools, tilling the soil, planting the seed, fertilizing and watering, plant growth, harvesting, and giving back. Now, if you have kept up with farming over the years, it’s not like planting a home garden. Not at all. There are sophisticated methods to determine exactly how to plant the seed, often using GPS or other exact locating methods, at the exact correct time, how much to water the crops and when, how much fertilizer, and when to harvest for the best yields. Then, there are processes to determine exactly when the right time to sell is. No, commercial farming is nothing like what you do at home. Modern farming is a fantastic example of utilizing the PDCA cycle.
Doing the right things at the right time in the right amount
Let me tell a little story to make the point and I’ll bet it’s one you can relate to. I’ve always enjoyed keeping my yard looking nice. When I lived on base at Luke AFB, AZ I even won ‘Yard of the Month” once. Sure, it was a lot of work and of course some expense, but as I looked out on my little yard, or when I drove up, it made me feel good and I was proud of it. When I first moved to Tulsa, I learned that unless you had a sprinkler system, it was very difficult to keep a lawn looking nice due to the summer heat. Oh sure, Bermuda grass loves the heat if you pump enough water on it, but it won’t grow under trees in the shade. So if you have a yard with trees, then you need fescue under the trees and Bermuda in the sun and you just about can’t keep up with the watering requirements.
When Diane and I bought our first house together, we had a sprinkler system. The professionals call it irrigation, but that seems like an industrial term to me. Finally, I thought, an easy way to keep my yard looking nice! But I was soon to learn another lesson in yard maintenance. You see, besides figuring out how much water to put on your lawn, expressed in inches of rain per week (or inches of watering), you had to figure out what weed killer, what fertilizer, and what seed to use in Oklahoma’s fickle climate. And then, you had to figure out the timing to apply these treatments.
The end result of all of this is that even though I had a sprinkler system, as a layperson, I just did not know enough, nor did I have the time, to apply the right kind of seed at the right time (with fescue, you have to overseed every fall and you need a blend customized to grow in Oklahoma), the right kind of weed killer (and pre-emergent to stop the weed seeds from germinating) at exactly the right time, and finally to apply the right fertilizer at exactly the right time. Whew! So, I hired a lawn care professional, and my lawn looks great. The point of this story is to say that if you desire to develop and achieve goals so you can reach your dreams and live your best life, then you must act intentionally, doing the right things, using the right tools, in the right order, and at the right time. Like the business process improvement specialist, the farmer, and the homeowner who wants a nice lawn.
Another example of continuous improvement is manufacturing. The most visible to all of us is the improved quality of automobiles. Before Edwards Deming was invited to Japan during the 1950s to teach them to improve quality, automotive quality was not something to be envied. During the 1960s, if a person got 100,000 miles out of a car before it needed to be replaced, that was considered a good car. Today, well over 200,000 is the norm. We have over 275,000 miles on our 2006 Acura MDX and it’s still going strong. Besides a good-looking reliable SUV, we save money every month by not having a car payment and on more reasonably priced insurance. All because of a focused effort to improve manufacturing quality.
Nearer and dearer to my heart are the improvements in aviation safety. As I write this in 2024, we are in the safest period of commercial aviation history, and rarely do we hear of a mishap. This all started in the 1980s with a focus on what was called Cockpit Resource Management. CRM was an intensive effort to improve communication and coordination between cockpit members to improve safety. Over the years airline and aircraft safety has improved greatly.
Afterburner Success Partners is built on principles proven to stand the test of time
Where am I going with all of this? The answer is that the process we use at Afterburner Success Partners builds upon proven principles known to make things better. It has stood the test of time. The course, using a proven process is now offered to you in the form of a course designed to help you achieve all your lifetime goals. If you take the course and meticulously follow the recommendations, you will almost surely be successful in getting what you want. LEAN, Continuous Improvement and Six Sigma improvement processes often result in 70% or better improvements and more are common. This often comes with little cost. Typically, the best opportunities to improve are as simple as changes in mindset, low-cost process analysis, and other simple changes. This is what you will do when you take the course. You will change your mindset and make positive changes. So you can achieve your dreams and live your best life!
The agricultural process mentioned giving back. If you don’t already give back, that is to others less fortunate than yourselves, or to society in general, I hope that as part of this process to achieve your dreams this is something new for you and something you will want to do. Because there is nothing better than giving back.
What’s in it for Me
Before you spend your hard-earned money and your valuable time on a course that says it will help you, you want to know that it is legitimate, and you will get the results you desire. At Afterburner Success Partners you can be sure if you follow the process and the recommendations, you will almost certainly be successful. I’ve done it myself, others have too. Start your journey today!
Call to Action
Learn all you can about the process of continuous improvement (Note 1), the LEAN process (Note 3), and Six Sigma (Note 4). Ask yourself, then ask your manager if there are opportunities to utilize these methods at your business. Being proactive in seeking to improve your business is a superb way to gain additional opportunities and set you on a path to achieving your dreams and living your best life!
Recommended Resources
Purchase and read the book Lean Thinking by James Womack to better understand how you think, and act can improve the company you work at and you individually (Note 2)
Up Next
The psychology of setting goals.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Lean Thinking by James Womack: https://amzn.to/4eSA1or