December 5, 2018
Several years ago, Adm. William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, was asked by a young man what he should be doing to one day become a U.S. Navy SEAL. McRaven’s response was short and direct: “When you get up in the morning, make your bed.”
While it sounds like the least likely response possible, it could not be more on point. Success in any job or endeavor is not a destination, it is a journey—a journey that requires sacrifice, dedication, innovation, and the courage to get up in the morning and keep moving forward with the attitude to never, ever give up. Sometimes the journey is difficult. Those challenges are teachable moments that prepare you for later success.
Success has no permanent address. It is a vagabond, constantly moving and shifting as times and circumstances intervene. Occasionally you get to restrict it to a narrow patch that you can claim ownership of and shout “mission accomplished.”
Though nebulous by nature, there are certain characteristics that successful teams and companies use to get the best from their people and processes:
- The team members must believe in the project and the leadership. Everyone wants to play on the winning side; no one likes to lose. The team thrives when communications are clear, schedules are known and attainable, and the communications flow freely in both directions between the staff and the management. Leave out one of these components, and the staff will be prone to drift out of focus. In the world of sports, we have seen a coach lose the team, and it invariably leads to a breakdown of morale and performance, and things spiral out of control.
- Keep plans clear and concise. During World War II, by law the president of the United States had to provide the orders for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to invade Europe. The logistics were impossible, the manpower requirements were huge, and then there was the matter of moving millions of soldiers to their point of attack. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s orders boiled down to five words: Invade Europe, defeat the Germans. Concise, clear, and when you think about it, there was really nothing else that needed to be said.
- The individual doesn’t win; the team wins. No matter how well an individual performs, it is the team that gets the reward or the blame. It is incumbent on every member of the team to put the next person or the next process in a position to be successful. Leaving things undone or shoddily performed destroys budgets and timelines, but most significantly, it kills morale.
- The leader is always responsible. Someone has to be responsible; someone has to be accountable. The project leader is the person who selects the team, provides the direction, and builds the information and reporting channels to keep the project exposed to all stakeholders. The project leader sets the tone, defines the agenda and the lines of communications, establishes the timelines, and holds people accountable. With a strong project manager who knows how to manage, you have a great chance at success. Without such a leader, your chances of success are diminished.
Preparation Meets Anticipation Meets Opportunity
In a mature and competitive industry such as packaging solutions, the introduction of lighter-weight papers, digital printing, and decreased order size repeated more frequently has created a world of opportunity for those converters who are willing to adapt and change to face the new normal of business and commerce. Time frames are condensed, response times border on instantaneous, and with cellphones and computers, there is no place to hide. Rather than fight this new reality, embrace it.
As it invariably does, it all comes down to people. It comes down to leadership. Develop leaders, buy leaders, or be a leader. But take the bull by the horns and make things happen.
And at the end of the day, when the workday is done, the talented project manager gets to go home to a bedroom where the bed has been neatly made.
John Clark is director of analytics at Amtech Software. He can be reached at jclark@amtechsoftware.com.
