Rubbing Off

A few weeks ago, I complemented a client who had made a sincere effort, against his habit, to involve a team of employees, instead of just himself, to solve a longstanding problem. He smiled and, reflecting on the success of this experiment, joked, “Yeah, I think you’re rubbing off on me a little – you know, everybody everyday”

'Everybody Everyday" is GBMP’s slogan – our aspiration for a workplace that encourages everyone to be a problem solver as an everyday part of their job. The slogan is front and center in our work, and is frequently adapted by our customers.

“Rubbing off,” I thought. “Is that what others take from our slogan?”   When we spend time with others, our habits, beliefs, and behaviors can influence them in subtle ways. But in the end, does that make a difference? For all the time and effort we spend teaching, coaching and persuading, is ‘rubbing off a little’ something to celebrate?

Then this morning, I read a short article on CHALKBEAT about the state of Rhode Island Department of Education’s efforts to overcome a student attendance problem facing schools nationwide. Check out the slogan: Every Student Every Day. Where’d that come from? It turns out that back in 2015, then Governor of Rhode Island, Gina Raimondo signed the Lean Government Initiative Executive Order with the goal of making government more responsive to the people it serves. Since then, while Raimondo has moved on to become the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the effort now called “LeanRI”, has rubbed off on nearly three thousand state agency employees to reduce waste in their jobs. GBMP was a small part of that transformation, but someone else got Raimondo’s attention.

Who rubbed off on the Governor of Rhode Island? I suspect it was my friend, Karl Wadensten, the entrepreneurial CEO of Rhode Island based Vibco Vibrators, and self-professed Lean zealot. Karl’s passion for continuous improvement has extended well beyond his company and in particular into state government. In fact, Governor Raimondo, actually signed the 2015 Lean Government Initiative proclamation at Karl’s company.

We  are so excited that Karl will be keynoting at our 20^th Annual Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference on November 7-8 in Providence RI, reflecting on “the future of continuous improvement in a world where job satisfaction and social responsibility are as important career advancement and profits.” How do we pass the baton to the workforce of the future? We hope you'll come hear him at the event to find out.

Oh, and incidentally, Karl and I first met in 2003, and we’ve been “rubbing off on each a little bit” for all of that time. Maybe that’s how continuous improvement spreads. See you in Providence.

O.L.D.