A few years ago while I was Christmas shopping, I ran across an antique store. I figured I would wander in and see if they had any exotic plumbing antiques.
I stumbled upon a World War II straight razor. It was a “Dubl Duck Satinedge-Fried. Wilh. Engles — Solingen — Germany.” The box read: “This razor is in perfect condition and should be handled with care. It has been thoroughly inspected. Broken or misused razors will positively not be replaced.”
Clearly, I noted the difference between our contemporary 30-day, money-back return and satisfaction guarantee and the German’s “it’s perfect; don’t even think about sending it back” attitude. It made me think about the mystique of German efficiency and pride and their way of engineering.
A few months prior, I tested a backflow for a German who was in the states but was living here temporarily while working as a computer engineer for a major drug firm.
He explained his last job was in a manufacturing plant in Germany and how they “engineered out” the noise and dangers of the manufacturing equipment so employees were so safe they could walk around the facility without wearing any personal protective equipment. He told me it was efficient, quiet as could be, and safe as you can get, and how their workers were working less than 40 hours per week but outproducing every competitor globally by 50%.
After a lengthy discussion about how they do things, I really felt refreshed with a new outlook on how an efficient company should be managed.
IT STARTS WITH ATTITUDE
The Germans don’t have some supersecret technology that makes them more efficient than the rest of the world, and maybe for sake of argument they are less efficient than the rest of the world; but you and I don’t believe that for a second. Admit it, when you think of German engineering, you think of exceptionally intelligent, highly strict, procedural machines pumping out efficiency with a larger-than-life attitude toward excellence.
They beam a culture of punctual and synchronized experts who breathe productivity, structure and speed. They seemingly bring order to disorder and cold, direct logic with an emotionless approach to execution of tasks. But if they don’t have advanced technology, or better people, then what makes them better? Details.
They are obsessed with details like contingency plans, deadlines, benchmarks, cleanliness, efficiency, extremely high standards, top-notch quality, timelines, documentation and statistics. They make sure everything is spotless in their facility including the highest-efficiency lightbulbs with motion switches, their plumbing fixtures are the high-efficiency units, waste is proudly kept to near zero, fire exit strategies are memorized and tested, power outage situations are practiced, inspections of great detail are conducted on equipment down to the smallest detail, and it was mentioned to me that his company even changed its carpeting because it showed that it had less drag on walking and could save employees a few hours of strain per year.
So I ask you: If you showed up to work in that kind of facility tomorrow, wouldn’t you instantly become an efficient machine? Of course you would! You’d have no choice.
Mentally you can’t get better than perfect — and that is what that facility and mentality comes across as. Their attitude, presentation and expectation demands efficiency. If you were to show up in a sloppy uniform, you would be embarrassed to even walk into the office. Have you noticed we haven’t even touched on the nuts and bolts of specifically how things are done differently? It is a mindset and a standard that they set by their presentation.
TRAINING
Germans harp on training. They will provide the highest training imaginable to their workers.
They have opened massive communication portals between high schools, colleges and vocational schools and have complete access and transparency to actual companies with set apprenticeship programs. They have in essence streamlined educational facilities with colleges, vocational schools and private companies to give students a wide variety of options to consider, as well as a direct path to get there.
This is a far cry from the college or the “you’re on your own” driven society of America’s culture.
CONSIDER CHANGING YOUR ATMOSPHERE
We are inherently a dingy, dirty and tough industry. We do not work in a fixed-position factory where conditions remain a constant, but that shouldn’t prohibit us from creating a culture of efficiency. Our industry is made profitable by the slimmest of margins, and therefore efficiency is the difference most times between a profitable windfall year and a bad year.
Can you reach out to local high schools and vocational schools and work with them to streamline a recruitment strategy? Can you start upgrading your facility one thing at a time to create the efficiency environment? Can you start putting procedures in writing and have procedural meetings and quality checks once a week or month at random?
And even though it may sound ridiculous, have you noticed that when you repeat this story to someone else, one of the things that will stick in your head is the carpet drag example? That’s because even though it may sound ridiculous to us Americans, that is the difference between us and them — they have taken pride in the details and they embrace the culture it breeds and demands.
