Turbo Leadership Systems^™

Tackle bigger, better problems now!

Sheila, controller for a Clark County construction company, told Session 9 of Turbo’s Leadership Development Lab:

“Last Friday morning, prior to our weekly managers meeting, Ron, the owner and president of our company, and I were talking about Turbo and the LDL session from the night before. Ron got excited about what we had learned and we decided we would apply Turbo’s 5-Step Problem Solving process in the meeting. Mike, Jason and I have been doing a quick report at every Friday’s managers meeting about the progress we each have experienced in the Leadership Development Lab. The problem solving process was a way to show everyone what we have been learning. The biggest problem we identified was ‘subcontractors are not providing completed contract documents on time.’ We gave everyone 3 minutes to list all possible causes. It took a bit for everyone to open up and start participating. Eventually we had an entire white board of ‘possible causes.’ Then we gave 3 minutes to list all possible solutions. Again, it took a while for everyone to jump in and give their ideas. WOW, once is started, it was flowing! Then we discussed the various possible solutions and came up with what we considered to be the ‘Best Possible Solution.’ The next step was to assign a person to implement the solution, what they would do and how they would do it, and agree on when they would start.

Who: Cheri

How: Establish a formal program, such as Outlook, to list all contract requirements

When: By next Friday’s management meeting, Cheri will establish formal outline of deadlines with task to be completed

“Ron was so impressed with the results of this process that he asked that I arrange two more team problem solving sessions. The second problem solving session was this past Wednesday morning. It was also

extremely successful. We found some very practical solutions to problems that have been blocking our progress for way too long. As important as finding answers to plaguing problems is, we gained an even more important benefit; our people are feeling more empowered, included, more a part of the team.

“The most important lesson I’ve learned from this experience is how important it is to include our team in finding solutions to the problems we need to solve. I don’t need to solve plaguing problems alone; no one has to solve them by themselves. When we work together on a problem, we have a greater understanding of the problem and we have better solutions. I’ve learned how respectful and empowering it is to our team, and how the process absolutely builds trust. The action I call you to take is identify a problem, articulate it clearly, get your team together and go through Turbo’s 5-step process for practical problem solving. The benefit you will gain is a far more efficient business that develops a habit of solving problems quickly and moving on to what Turbo calls ‘bigger and better problems.’”

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