George the Janitor likes to stare at glass. While he may look like he’s lost in thought, he is one of the most productive people you’ll ever meet.
You may find him in a hallway with a towel and a bottle of windex, saying, ?I?m looking for smudges,? as he stares at a window or a glass door.
George has redefined his job to the point that he literally has the most job security of anyone in his organization. The office he cleans is spotless and it’s because everything he does is built around looking for smudges.
For many of his counterparts, cleaning an office is about getting rid of the mess. For them, that’s perfectly fine.
But George is different. He views clutter like a doctor looks at an infection. He gets rid of it and then makes sure “the patient” doesn’t get sick again. George doesn?t look for a mess to clean up. His focus is on keeping things clean. So you?ll find him searching out the first sign of smudges.
In your company, are you focused on cleaning up messes or are you looking to keep things clean? If you want to Clear the Path to increased productivity, you need to understand the difference.
Cleaning up a mess means that you are always reacting to situations. There is no time for long range planning. You go from one emergency to the next. You come to accept the mess and mean to get around to cleaning it one of these days.
George would say that cleaning up a mess is just phase one. After that, you need to make sure that things never get dirty again. George does long range planning armed only with a bottle of windex.
He knows that on a certain glass door, people tend to leave handprints. George looks for the smudges and removes them before anyone else even notices them. George knows his marketplace, anticipates needs, and executes a clear plan of action. He does all of these things without a minute of overtime.
Why aren’t you looking for smudges?
