Your Job Has Changed

by Mark Dudley

Imagine you were there in 1913 when Henry Ford set up the first moving assembly line for the production of automobiles. Your job was to do just one of the 84 steps it took to build the Model T. And you did that over and over every day, it never changed.

Now imagine it’s a century later in a Ford plant in 2013, and you try to do the very same job. How well do you think that would go? Do you think the 84 steps are still the same? Do you think the assembly line still looks the same? The answer is of course, no.

Many industries have been experiencing this for many years.  Many businesses still have employees standing at the assembly line. They clock in every day, they go to their spot, and they are still trying to do the same job they were hired to do 15 years ago. Problem is that job doesn’t exist anymore. The company stopped needing that job done almost 8 years ago.

I know what you are thinking, another blog criticizing front line staff.  Nope. Presidents and CEOs can be the biggest culprit of this mistake. The car is still moving, but it doesn’t run the same. The moving parts are different. As CEO, if you are still showing up to the assembly line, you probably are missing out. Does your staff seem disengaged? Are numbers down? Are customers less than satisfied? How did this happen?

Does the world need your product? For that to happen, you and your staff must adapt sooner than later. The job has changed; make sure you and your staff have changed with it. You shouldn’t keep building a Model T when people really want a Focus.

continue reading »