WEBVTT
00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:02.640
Hey everyone.
00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:03.919
Welcome.
00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:13.599
We are discussing our conversation about solution 44, a business solution that was created by Brian Whitley.
00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:15.519
We are joined once again by Brian.
00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:17.519
Thanks for joining us.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:18.800
You're welcome.
00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:19.760
I'm glad to be here.
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.280
It's always a pleasure to talk to you.
00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:21.920
Awesome.
00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:25.440
So on the last episode, we discussed this idea of culture.
00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:30.399
And you walked out some of the steps for how you've developed good culture in your company.
00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:36.000
But I want to dive into this next idea of Solution 44, which is the round table workforce.
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:42.159
In Solution 44, this is a pretty interesting inspiration you had here.
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:47.600
So before we break it down, can you give us a little bit of the backstory and what inspired this concept?
00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:48.719
Yeah.
00:00:48.960 --> 00:01:00.880
So you know I'm a parable and love to give metaphor type example person, but another thing about my life is that I'm usually on one end of the spectrum or I'm all the way on the other end of the spectrum.
00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:09.519
And what that means is that I like old stuff like old school folk stories, legendary tales, mythologies, things like that, right?
00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:15.680
And King Arthur uh provides a great example for, you know, what this lesson talks about.
00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:39.120
If you look at the principles that were surrounding King Arthur and how he had the Knights of the Round Table and the way the story was told, um, it's a common thread through the entire part in every rendition of it, no matter how many different movies you watch, or if you read the book, or whatever the situation is, and it boils down to how did he treat his people?
00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:40.719
How did he treat his subjects?
00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:50.560
The even the enemies, everyone had a voice, everyone had an opportunity, and at the end, the most important thing was that justice prevailed.
00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:58.799
So companies that follow a philosophy similar to what we're going to be talking about today don't have to read about this stuff in fairy tales.
00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.359
I mean, you know, they get to live it every day.
00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:02.799
Yeah.
00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:11.759
So in undergrad, I studied behavioral sciences, and one of the theories that I spent a lot of time with was empowerment theory.
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:19.360
And I think that upon introduction of empowerment, it can feel threatening to managers.
00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:28.479
But what ends up happening is that empowerment ends up creating opportunities, it increases skills, it fosters creativity, it enhances wellness.
00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:34.719
So whenever I was reading this section, the roundtable workforce sounds a lot like empowerment through engagement.
00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:39.520
It's this systematic way to enable participation of your employees.
00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:50.479
Um and ultimately that participation helps to facilitate this feeling of shared decision making and ultimately creates a real buy-in from employees.
00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:52.479
That's very true.
00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:53.520
Um, very true.
00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.840
I'm actually glad you mentioned that.
00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:08.240
One of the first jobs I had, uh, I would say as a professional or at least aspiring to be a professional, uh, we had a powwow, a meeting, a meeting of the minds.
00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:11.360
We all met at the division manager's house.
00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:21.199
The owner was there, his wife was there who also worked at the company, and every major manager from all across the United States, we were all there, right?
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:23.520
And the discussion was the policy book.
00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:24.879
We're gonna make the policy book.
00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.360
We're gonna talk about the things that needs to happen, right?
00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:33.759
Prior to this job, I um, you know, I did construction work and worked as a laborer and different things like that.
00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.680
So being in a room like this at this point was so new to me.
00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:38.800
It was, it was different.
00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.199
You know, I didn't most of the time I didn't even get to meet the people at that level.
00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:47.680
And now I'm sitting in a room with them to discuss what the policy should be.
00:03:47.919 --> 00:04:05.039
And I made a suggestion about sick time and lost time and PTO and and some type of payouts that would basically encourage people to work when they can, take off when they need to, but not ever feel like they were totally losing uh what they did work for, which is the PTO.
00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:06.479
They accepted that.
00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:25.360
It ended up being in a policy book, and uh, and I'm saying this story because I'm trying to uh actively articulate how I felt when I looked at the book, the printed book, and I saw my suggestion in writing as something that the entire company for all the United States was going to follow.
00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:26.480
It was a bond.
00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:30.240
It was a bond, it was a it was something that I felt a part of.
00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:34.639
You know, if you're listening to our other stuff, culture and everything, it was bigger than me.
00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:38.879
Instantly it became bigger than me, and I just wanted to continue to be a part of it.
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:45.759
So we've all heard people say, like in the real world, in the workforce, when you go out there, who am I?
00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:46.480
I just work here.
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:47.759
I'm just a number.
00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.079
These statements are company killers.
00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:58.959
When when a customer service is your main business and this is the type of people that you have, you're in a you're in a you're in a big you're in a bad place.
00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:00.399
There's a bigger picture.
00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:05.279
You want to engage your employees and you want them to be able to see there's a bigger picture.
00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:14.240
So I love the sentiment of everyone having a voice and you know, seeing one of your ideas come to fruition.
00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:17.759
But I am ever the practical voice.
00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:26.480
It's obviously unreasonable for any company to expect to include all of its employees at the table, right?
00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:33.120
So at some point you are kind of having to filter through who gets to sit at the table.
00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:42.240
So can you talk to us about how you decide who is represented there and maybe how other companies can as well.
00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:44.879
Yeah, you're right, Alyssa.
00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.000
How smart you are.
00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.879
If everybody's sitting at the table, that's the quickest way for nothing to get done.
00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:49.839
Yeah.
00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:53.519
I'll tell you what my mom told my sister.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:59.600
And this is advice on men, so it it may apply to many other people out there listening, but Okay, I'm leaning in.
00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:08.480
She says, uh pay more attention to what a man does and hardly any attention to what he says.
00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:10.800
There is where you find his true nature.
00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:12.879
Amen, Mama Willy.
00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:14.879
Words to live by.
00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:16.480
Words to live by.
00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:25.680
So from a company standpoint, I realize that what people say, uh, what they say and what they do, that tells you a lot of information.
00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:30.560
But you also can learn just as much from what they don't say and what they don't do.
00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:41.680
You know, and the things that you gotta remember is, you know, who's volunteering for overtime, who's not, who's the first person to get to work, who's not, who's the last person to leave, who's the first person to leave?
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:51.199
Like all these things are little bells and and whistles of bits of information that you can stack in your brain as you're looking at your group and decide.
00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:52.399
Who really cares?
00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:53.360
Who's really bought in?
00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:54.240
That's right.
00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:55.199
That is right.
00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:00.800
And the thing that I love about the solution 44 methodology is that it all works together.
00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:11.519
So there's other parts to fully uh uh ID what you're asking about, like the fractionation method, or when we talk about the ground truth, and it'll go into more depth to this question.
00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:20.560
Um I think your comparison to the round table of King Arthur um reminds me of this idea of common goals.
00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:25.040
Um and one of the most unifying principles is common goals, right?
00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:34.800
So, um, you know, just researching a little bit about King Arthur, most of the mythologies agree that the men at the round table were the bravest or the truest or the strongest.
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:48.240
Um, but what was really unique about it is that they were all united in their goal to protect the kingdom and the most vulnerable people, like women and children, um, and all of those things are um really valuable.
00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:53.600
Um, but what really spoke to me is that it wasn't for their individual interests that they gathered.
00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:57.839
It was really to hash out um their pursuit of their common goal.
00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:05.360
Would you say that this ideal is true of your round uh your roundtable workforce, or am I just idealizing it?
00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:16.800
Well, what I will say is that helping people at the very core to get what they need for success will automatically give you the things that you need for success.
00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.480
A company's leaders should realize that from the very beginning.
00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.560
That sounds like we're offering a service to our employees.
00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:34.320
Sounds like I'm saying that supervisors are service providers to their employees, not people to tell other people what to do.
00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:42.000
Um if you want people to be aligned with what you're doing, then make it known what you're doing.
00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:45.039
That's why we see mission statements out there for companies.
00:08:45.679 --> 00:09:03.840
For for example, right, by the MSI, our mission statement is founded upon the core principles of environmental consciousness, customer service, accountability, preservant perseverance, and teamwork, offering you a partnership that you that will change the way you think about environmental compliance.
00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:08.879
Refacing replacing faith with full service compliance you can trust.
00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:24.320
Founded upon the core principles of environmental consciousness, customer service, accountability, perseverance, and teamwork, offering you a partnership that will change the way you think about environmental compliance.
00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.240
Replacing faith with full service compliance you can trust.
00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.080
This needs to be at the heart of every employee.
00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:36.159
In, you know, it's a lot of words, so I don't expect them to necessarily memorize it.
00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:36.399
Right.
00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:45.679
Or myself for that matter to even necessarily memorize it, but there's things that stick out in it, and you want people to know this is who we are, this is what we're about.
00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:51.519
So we need to make sure that the people that are working with us recognize what our goals are and what our obligations are to that.
00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:56.559
In this industry, you know, we have what we like to call the X factor.
00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:59.519
And the X factor for our company is our people.
00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:01.440
That is what makes the difference.
00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:12.240
So when their voices are heard, that's when we're able to get things accomplished because we're able to make moves in accordance to move the whole unit, the whole the whole company.
00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:19.120
So um I'm curious, was this mission statement written in collaboration with your employees?
00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.519
Yes, actually, uh it took us over a week.
00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:31.759
And what it is, uh the culmination of it is one of the most beautiful things, I think, from a company standpoint that you'd ever want to see.
00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:38.240
Because um we passed around a string of an email string with all these brainstorming ideas, right?
00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:50.000
And the string kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller, not in the p people that were participating, but as we were narrowing down this big list of all this stuff and coming down to finally what we are.
00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:50.799
Right?
00:10:50.960 --> 00:11:03.440
And then the icing on the cake, I think, is that once we realized that we put it all to ink and we had it where we wanted to, we put it in a frame and you know, we dialed it up and put our logo and everything on it.
00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:10.879
And then we, the people of the company, presented it to the president and asked that this be our mission statement for the company.
00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.360
And uh he was happy, he accepted it.
00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.639
And I I mean, I think it was one of the best works coming together.
00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:19.840
People from all over the United States that work for us were participating.
00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:20.320
So yeah.
00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:21.279
That's really cool.
00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:22.000
I love that.
00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:35.039
You can kind of feel excitement when things like that happen, you know, like there's just like more energy um happening in an office environment and people, you know, gathering and they're talking about their ideas, or we love this, we hate this, this is awesome, this sucks.
00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.360
Um, so that's always a really fun experience.
00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.600
So back to the round table.
00:11:40.240 --> 00:12:01.759
When I'm reading this, I can't help but think that the people who end up sitting at this table are concerned with protecting or advocating for employees who either don't feel that they have a voice or they have not cultivated that sense of empowerment yet within the organization.
00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:03.919
Can you speak to that?
00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:05.039
Yeah.
00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:11.039
I I I I really wish I can say that it's a kumbaya moment and that it's true.
00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:17.200
But the fact is that most of the time the people we we're just imperfect, right?
00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.399
We have to we have to expect that the people are imperfect.
00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.919
We're ungrateful, we're greedy, we're deceitful.
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:32.000
So generally, at this point in time, any board that houses just a couple of voices for the people is a victory.
00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:36.799
So the truth of the matter is really all you need is one to make the difference.
00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:50.720
What solution 44 does with culture, with the round table, with fractionation, with the you know, ground truth, all the different modules that it offers to help enlighten your mind, it is so that you do grow that number.
00:12:50.960 --> 00:13:00.879
But I would I wouldn't I wouldn't be able to tell you that all the boards that we have sitting here today are 100% thinking about their people, or even 50% thinking about their people.
00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:02.720
That's that's not a true statement.
00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:06.320
But I can tell you some of the happiest and most prosperous companies.
00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:22.720
And, you know, once again, timing is everything in right now, like the things that we're experiencing right now in 2020, those companies that do have this type of workforce and these type of people are willingly doing things that set them apart from the others.
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:29.519
Yeah, so just in rating it, building this round table is quite involved.
00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:35.840
Um, and in any organization, identifying key players is not an easy task.
00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:54.000
Um so I just want to encourage the listeners to continue with our future um sections of Solution 44 where we talk about um fractionation, ground truth, um, and just kind of learning how to zoom out a little bit and build some of these processes for their own organizations.
00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:01.519
Um thankfully you've given us some of those strategies to help identify that talent and and build that infrastructure.
00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:12.720
Yeah, the the round table, really, if I was summing it up, it's it's really all about not putting yourself up so far above other people.
00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:16.080
Be with the people that you want to lead.
00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:17.840
We've all seen the pictures.
00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:31.200
We've all seen the the little uh I guess you call them pictrograms on on LinkedIn or whatever, and they show the one guy in red and oh, this group of 10 or 15 people in blue, right?
00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:41.840
And the one guy in red is on some platform on top of the people and they're carrying him, you know, or maybe he's even behind the people and they're going up this mountain and they're pulling him.
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:43.440
And then you have the other one.
00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:52.000
It's the one guy in red, and he's at the front, but with the people suffering what they're suffering, going through what they're going through.
00:14:52.240 --> 00:15:02.159
The round table to me is about being with your people to understand how they feel and giving them a chance to be a part of the movement that is moving forward.
00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:06.480
If they agree with your mission, then let's work together.
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.559
I I'm not the smartest person in the room.
00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.679
In any room I go into, I think that might be true.
00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.840
But I am wise enough to learn that you can learn from others and listen to others.
00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.080
And if you put two heads together, that's better than one.
00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.679
Three heads are better than one, you know, and so on and so forth.
00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:22.320
Yeah.
00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:29.200
Yeah, and I think that buy-in that you're looking for, you you're gonna identify who's bought in, who's not, and then how you can make it better.
00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:33.759
So I definitely think those um sections will be paramount to building this whole thing.
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.879
Um so I just want to encourage you guys, you don't want to miss those episodes.
00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:38.720
I know it will be a game changer.
00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.960
So thank you everyone for tuning in, and thanks, Brian, for your insight as always.
00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:43.600
Thank you.
00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:44.960
We'll see you soon.
00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:02.640
Hey everyone.
00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:03.919
Welcome.
00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:13.599
We are discussing our conversation about solution 44, a business solution that was created by Brian Whitley.
00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:15.519
We are joined once again by Brian.
00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:17.519
Thanks for joining us.
00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:18.800
You're welcome.
00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:19.760
I'm glad to be here.
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.280
It's always a pleasure to talk to you.
00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:21.920
Awesome.
00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:25.440
So on the last episode, we discussed this idea of culture.
00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:30.399
And you walked out some of the steps for how you've developed good culture in your company.
00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:36.000
But I want to dive into this next idea of Solution 44, which is the round table workforce.
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:42.159
In Solution 44, this is a pretty interesting inspiration you had here.
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:47.600
So before we break it down, can you give us a little bit of the backstory and what inspired this concept?
00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:48.719
Yeah.
00:00:48.960 --> 00:01:00.880
So you know I'm a parable and love to give metaphor type example person, but another thing about my life is that I'm usually on one end of the spectrum or I'm all the way on the other end of the spectrum.
00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:09.519
And what that means is that I like old stuff like old school folk stories, legendary tales, mythologies, things like that, right?
00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:15.680
And King Arthur uh provides a great example for, you know, what this lesson talks about.
00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:39.120
If you look at the principles that were surrounding King Arthur and how he had the Knights of the Round Table and the way the story was told, um, it's a common thread through the entire part in every rendition of it, no matter how many different movies you watch, or if you read the book, or whatever the situation is, and it boils down to how did he treat his people?
00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:40.719
How did he treat his subjects?
00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:50.560
The even the enemies, everyone had a voice, everyone had an opportunity, and at the end, the most important thing was that justice prevailed.
00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:58.799
So companies that follow a philosophy similar to what we're going to be talking about today don't have to read about this stuff in fairy tales.
00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.359
I mean, you know, they get to live it every day.
00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:02.799
Yeah.
00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:11.759
So in undergrad, I studied behavioral sciences, and one of the theories that I spent a lot of time with was empowerment theory.
00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:19.360
And I think that upon introduction of empowerment, it can feel threatening to managers.
00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:28.479
But what ends up happening is that empowerment ends up creating opportunities, it increases skills, it fosters creativity, it enhances wellness.
00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:34.719
So whenever I was reading this section, the roundtable workforce sounds a lot like empowerment through engagement.
00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:39.520
It's this systematic way to enable participation of your employees.
00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:50.479
Um and ultimately that participation helps to facilitate this feeling of shared decision making and ultimately creates a real buy-in from employees.
00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:52.479
That's very true.
00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:53.520
Um, very true.
00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.840
I'm actually glad you mentioned that.
00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:08.240
One of the first jobs I had, uh, I would say as a professional or at least aspiring to be a professional, uh, we had a powwow, a meeting, a meeting of the minds.
00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:11.360
We all met at the division manager's house.
00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:21.199
The owner was there, his wife was there who also worked at the company, and every major manager from all across the United States, we were all there, right?
00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:23.520
And the discussion was the policy book.
00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:24.879
We're gonna make the policy book.
00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.360
We're gonna talk about the things that needs to happen, right?
00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:33.759
Prior to this job, I um, you know, I did construction work and worked as a laborer and different things like that.
00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.680
So being in a room like this at this point was so new to me.
00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:38.800
It was, it was different.
00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.199
You know, I didn't most of the time I didn't even get to meet the people at that level.
00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:47.680
And now I'm sitting in a room with them to discuss what the policy should be.
00:03:47.919 --> 00:04:05.039
And I made a suggestion about sick time and lost time and PTO and and some type of payouts that would basically encourage people to work when they can, take off when they need to, but not ever feel like they were totally losing uh what they did work for, which is the PTO.
00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:06.479
They accepted that.
00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:25.360
It ended up being in a policy book, and uh, and I'm saying this story because I'm trying to uh actively articulate how I felt when I looked at the book, the printed book, and I saw my suggestion in writing as something that the entire company for all the United States was going to follow.
00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:26.480
It was a bond.
00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:30.240
It was a bond, it was a it was something that I felt a part of.
00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:34.639
You know, if you're listening to our other stuff, culture and everything, it was bigger than me.
00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:38.879
Instantly it became bigger than me, and I just wanted to continue to be a part of it.
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:45.759
So we've all heard people say, like in the real world, in the workforce, when you go out there, who am I?
00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:46.480
I just work here.
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:47.759
I'm just a number.
00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.079
These statements are company killers.
00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:58.959
When when a customer service is your main business and this is the type of people that you have, you're in a you're in a you're in a big you're in a bad place.
00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:00.399
There's a bigger picture.
00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:05.279
You want to engage your employees and you want them to be able to see there's a bigger picture.
00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:14.240
So I love the sentiment of everyone having a voice and you know, seeing one of your ideas come to fruition.
00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:17.759
But I am ever the practical voice.
00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:26.480
It's obviously unreasonable for any company to expect to include all of its employees at the table, right?
00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:33.120
So at some point you are kind of having to filter through who gets to sit at the table.
00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:42.240
So can you talk to us about how you decide who is represented there and maybe how other companies can as well.
00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:44.879
Yeah, you're right, Alyssa.
00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.000
How smart you are.
00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.879
If everybody's sitting at the table, that's the quickest way for nothing to get done.
00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:49.839
Yeah.
00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:53.519
I'll tell you what my mom told my sister.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:59.600
And this is advice on men, so it it may apply to many other people out there listening, but Okay, I'm leaning in.
00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:08.480
She says, uh pay more attention to what a man does and hardly any attention to what he says.
00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:10.800
There is where you find his true nature.
00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:12.879
Amen, Mama Willy.
00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:14.879
Words to live by.
00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:16.480
Words to live by.
00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:25.680
So from a company standpoint, I realize that what people say, uh, what they say and what they do, that tells you a lot of information.
00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:30.560
But you also can learn just as much from what they don't say and what they don't do.
00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:41.680
You know, and the things that you gotta remember is, you know, who's volunteering for overtime, who's not, who's the first person to get to work, who's not, who's the last person to leave, who's the first person to leave?
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:51.199
Like all these things are little bells and and whistles of bits of information that you can stack in your brain as you're looking at your group and decide.
00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:52.399
Who really cares?
00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:53.360
Who's really bought in?
00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:54.240
That's right.
00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:55.199
That is right.
00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:00.800
And the thing that I love about the solution 44 methodology is that it all works together.
00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:11.519
So there's other parts to fully uh uh ID what you're asking about, like the fractionation method, or when we talk about the ground truth, and it'll go into more depth to this question.
00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:20.560
Um I think your comparison to the round table of King Arthur um reminds me of this idea of common goals.
00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:25.040
Um and one of the most unifying principles is common goals, right?
00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:34.800
So, um, you know, just researching a little bit about King Arthur, most of the mythologies agree that the men at the round table were the bravest or the truest or the strongest.
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:48.240
Um, but what was really unique about it is that they were all united in their goal to protect the kingdom and the most vulnerable people, like women and children, um, and all of those things are um really valuable.
00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:53.600
Um, but what really spoke to me is that it wasn't for their individual interests that they gathered.
00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:57.839
It was really to hash out um their pursuit of their common goal.
00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:05.360
Would you say that this ideal is true of your round uh your roundtable workforce, or am I just idealizing it?
00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:16.800
Well, what I will say is that helping people at the very core to get what they need for success will automatically give you the things that you need for success.
00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.480
A company's leaders should realize that from the very beginning.
00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.560
That sounds like we're offering a service to our employees.
00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:34.320
Sounds like I'm saying that supervisors are service providers to their employees, not people to tell other people what to do.
00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:42.000
Um if you want people to be aligned with what you're doing, then make it known what you're doing.
00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:45.039
That's why we see mission statements out there for companies.
00:08:45.679 --> 00:09:03.840
For for example, right, by the MSI, our mission statement is founded upon the core principles of environmental consciousness, customer service, accountability, preservant perseverance, and teamwork, offering you a partnership that you that will change the way you think about environmental compliance.
00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:08.879
Refacing replacing faith with full service compliance you can trust.
00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:24.320
Founded upon the core principles of environmental consciousness, customer service, accountability, perseverance, and teamwork, offering you a partnership that will change the way you think about environmental compliance.
00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.240
Replacing faith with full service compliance you can trust.
00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.080
This needs to be at the heart of every employee.
00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:36.159
In, you know, it's a lot of words, so I don't expect them to necessarily memorize it.
00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:36.399
Right.
00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:45.679
Or myself for that matter to even necessarily memorize it, but there's things that stick out in it, and you want people to know this is who we are, this is what we're about.
00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:51.519
So we need to make sure that the people that are working with us recognize what our goals are and what our obligations are to that.
00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:56.559
In this industry, you know, we have what we like to call the X factor.
00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:59.519
And the X factor for our company is our people.
00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:01.440
That is what makes the difference.
00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:12.240
So when their voices are heard, that's when we're able to get things accomplished because we're able to make moves in accordance to move the whole unit, the whole the whole company.
00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:19.120
So um I'm curious, was this mission statement written in collaboration with your employees?
00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.519
Yes, actually, uh it took us over a week.
00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:31.759
And what it is, uh the culmination of it is one of the most beautiful things, I think, from a company standpoint that you'd ever want to see.
00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:38.240
Because um we passed around a string of an email string with all these brainstorming ideas, right?
00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:50.000
And the string kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller, not in the p people that were participating, but as we were narrowing down this big list of all this stuff and coming down to finally what we are.
00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:50.799
Right?
00:10:50.960 --> 00:11:03.440
And then the icing on the cake, I think, is that once we realized that we put it all to ink and we had it where we wanted to, we put it in a frame and you know, we dialed it up and put our logo and everything on it.
00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:10.879
And then we, the people of the company, presented it to the president and asked that this be our mission statement for the company.
00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.360
And uh he was happy, he accepted it.
00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.639
And I I mean, I think it was one of the best works coming together.
00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:19.840
People from all over the United States that work for us were participating.
00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:20.320
So yeah.
00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:21.279
That's really cool.
00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:22.000
I love that.
00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:35.039
You can kind of feel excitement when things like that happen, you know, like there's just like more energy um happening in an office environment and people, you know, gathering and they're talking about their ideas, or we love this, we hate this, this is awesome, this sucks.
00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.360
Um, so that's always a really fun experience.
00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.600
So back to the round table.
00:11:40.240 --> 00:12:01.759
When I'm reading this, I can't help but think that the people who end up sitting at this table are concerned with protecting or advocating for employees who either don't feel that they have a voice or they have not cultivated that sense of empowerment yet within the organization.
00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:03.919
Can you speak to that?
00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:05.039
Yeah.
00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:11.039
I I I I really wish I can say that it's a kumbaya moment and that it's true.
00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:17.200
But the fact is that most of the time the people we we're just imperfect, right?
00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.399
We have to we have to expect that the people are imperfect.
00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:23.919
We're ungrateful, we're greedy, we're deceitful.
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:32.000
So generally, at this point in time, any board that houses just a couple of voices for the people is a victory.
00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:36.799
So the truth of the matter is really all you need is one to make the difference.
00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:50.720
What solution 44 does with culture, with the round table, with fractionation, with the you know, ground truth, all the different modules that it offers to help enlighten your mind, it is so that you do grow that number.
00:12:50.960 --> 00:13:00.879
But I would I wouldn't I wouldn't be able to tell you that all the boards that we have sitting here today are 100% thinking about their people, or even 50% thinking about their people.
00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:02.720
That's that's not a true statement.
00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:06.320
But I can tell you some of the happiest and most prosperous companies.
00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:22.720
And, you know, once again, timing is everything in right now, like the things that we're experiencing right now in 2020, those companies that do have this type of workforce and these type of people are willingly doing things that set them apart from the others.
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:29.519
Yeah, so just in rating it, building this round table is quite involved.
00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:35.840
Um, and in any organization, identifying key players is not an easy task.
00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:54.000
Um so I just want to encourage the listeners to continue with our future um sections of Solution 44 where we talk about um fractionation, ground truth, um, and just kind of learning how to zoom out a little bit and build some of these processes for their own organizations.
00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:01.519
Um thankfully you've given us some of those strategies to help identify that talent and and build that infrastructure.
00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:12.720
Yeah, the the round table, really, if I was summing it up, it's it's really all about not putting yourself up so far above other people.
00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:16.080
Be with the people that you want to lead.
00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:17.840
We've all seen the pictures.
00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:31.200
We've all seen the the little uh I guess you call them pictrograms on on LinkedIn or whatever, and they show the one guy in red and oh, this group of 10 or 15 people in blue, right?
00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:41.840
And the one guy in red is on some platform on top of the people and they're carrying him, you know, or maybe he's even behind the people and they're going up this mountain and they're pulling him.
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:43.440
And then you have the other one.
00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:52.000
It's the one guy in red, and he's at the front, but with the people suffering what they're suffering, going through what they're going through.
00:14:52.240 --> 00:15:02.159
The round table to me is about being with your people to understand how they feel and giving them a chance to be a part of the movement that is moving forward.
00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:06.480
If they agree with your mission, then let's work together.
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.559
I I'm not the smartest person in the room.
00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.679
In any room I go into, I think that might be true.
00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.840
But I am wise enough to learn that you can learn from others and listen to others.
00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.080
And if you put two heads together, that's better than one.
00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.679
Three heads are better than one, you know, and so on and so forth.
00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:22.320
Yeah.
00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:29.200
Yeah, and I think that buy-in that you're looking for, you you're gonna identify who's bought in, who's not, and then how you can make it better.
00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:33.759
So I definitely think those um sections will be paramount to building this whole thing.
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.879
Um so I just want to encourage you guys, you don't want to miss those episodes.
00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:38.720
I know it will be a game changer.
00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.960
So thank you everyone for tuning in, and thanks, Brian, for your insight as always.
00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:43.600
Thank you.
00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:44.960
We'll see you soon.
