Welcome to Minute with Mallon!

Something I Taught:

Over the years, I've worked with countless people who tell me that they just "can't" get on track with certain things that they want to do in their lives.

As I explore their reasons, it almost always comes back to their not having a way to track their progress. Over the next two newsletters, we'll explore this.

One of the companies I work with makes transmissions for companies like Aston Martin, Chevrolet, Alfa Romeo, Ford, and BMW. I was working with one of the head guys at one of the plants who had a problem: the day shift line was not producing the number of transmissions needed per day.

I asked him how the teams tracked transmissions built during the day, and he told me that their system was to check every few hours to see how many transmissions had been produced to that point and to write it on a sheet attached to a clipboard. Sometimes they remembered to record the results, other times they didn't. Often, they were surprised at the end of the day by the low number produced.

This was not an effective system for recording and reporting progress.

We came up with this goal:

On average, we have consistently increased daily production output from 82 to 96 transmissions by July 31st.

We then started brainstorming with the team on how to make this happen. We came up with an idea of an automated counter that would be placed high up so that everyone on the team could see it clearly at all times. It had bold, red numbers on it. Each time a transmission was produced and came off the line, the counter would automatically add to the tally. It took a little while to set up, but they did. Once installed, everyone on the factory floor knew EXACTLY how many transmissions had been produced to that point of the day.

Almost immediately, 96 became a BASE number, 14 more than the previous BASE number of 82. Soon they regularly began running over 100 transmissions produced per day! It almost became a game for the workers to see if they could beat yesterday's number.

So the key is this:

Pearson's Law highlights how tracking and sharing results can boost performance. When we measure and report our actions, we're naturally driven to improve them, leading to better progress.

In some upcoming newsletters, we'll discuss how you can use this to your own advantage! Until then, begin thinking about an area or two where you'd like to see progress in your life.

Something to Ponder:

"Without data, you're just another person with an opinion."

W. Edwards Deming

Something I Learned:

I was having a conversation with my son-in-law over the weekend. He’s a brilliant guy and graduated from a top 10 university. I asked him how he learned to study, and he didn't really have an answer, it just came naturally. (People like that make me so jealous! 🙄 I know you read this newsletter Corey!) 🤭 So I looked online and found a book called Teach Yourself to Learn by Sandra Yancy McGuire.

Fantastic read! There are things in that book that I wish I had learned 40 years ago! I’d highly recommend this book to anyone because as you know, we live in the Information Age. The ability to learn quickly is becoming more and more important. And if you have kids who are in high school or college… Well, enough said!

A concept from the book that is resonating with me is that there is a difference between Studying and Learning. Here is a passage that may interest you:

"Studying is memorizing information for the exam; learning is when I understand it and can apply it. • Studying is short term; learning is long term. • Studying is like being force-fed a plate of gruel; learning is like being set in front of a gourmet table where you get to choose the delicacies you want to eat. • Studying is what I do the night before the test to make an A; learning is what I do if I know I’m going to have to use that material later on."

The book is all about how to become a Learner instead of just a Studier. I am liking it so much that I bought a copy for a client who has a son in his first year of college.

So, if you're interested in learning and retaining more, far more easily than you could imagine, I'd highly recommend this book! Also, if you have a child who is in high school or college, it’s a no-brainer!

Something I Saw:

Stay Ahead of the Curve!

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Have an Incredible week!

Robert

Minute With Mallon: From Tracking to Triumph!