“Always stay open-minded.” This quality, once valued, seems to be fading in our society. Instead, we take pride in grounding ourselves with ideas and defending them to the death. This cultural shift is a challenge when managing a growing manufacturing organization. Closedmindedness stifles creativity, innovation, and team building.
There are also individuals cursed with the opposite trait. They endlessly analyze even the simplest issue, without ever making a decision. If you never decide, nothing will get done.
Where is the middle ground?
I believe a helpful tool can be found in a 3rd grade Science Class, namely the Scientific Method.
Science has developed a wonderfully simple tool to help us manage this frustrating byproduct of our consciousness.
The scientific method involves creating a hypothesis, testing the results, and then forming a decision based on its success or failure.
A manufacturing manager is dealing with hundreds of issues every day. While you can’t spend all your time developing elaborate experiments, the concept is very useful for daily decision-making.
Step 1: Collect information and form a hypothesis
This is where we cast aside pre-existing notions and use our senses to collect information. This data can be in many forms depending on the situation. It can be measurements of a component, a visual inspection of a piece of equipment or interviews with people. Quickly gather as much information as possible about the topic and then allow it to guide you toward a potential solution. In the real world, you don’t have time to create a spreadsheet for every issue. A capable manager must have the skill to assess the facts available for a given issue and then perform a quick mental analysis to arrive at a likely solution.
Step 2: Make a decision!
Commit to the best option available at the time and make it happen. Avoid getting bogged down if the answer isn’t crystal clear. Select the action that the data is favoring and direct your team to test the hypothesis. Brainstorm how to determine if this idea is true or false and set the plan in action!
Step 3: Follow up and evaluate results
Was the action successful? If not, did you learn additional information to determine the next action? It is critical to accept the results of your test. It shouldn’t matter how certain you were of your idea or how emotionally attached you may have been. Follow the evidence!
Step 4: Continue the process until you are successful
Depending on your nature, either exploring ideas without preconceived notions or committing to a choice of action may be challenging. Commit to a little self-evaluation to recognize which camp you belong to and make a conscious effort not to allow it to interfere with your management decision-making.
Follow the facts and have the confidence to make decisions!
Some people spend their day doing things, while others get things done. Use this tip to get more accomplished during your workday. Get in touch if you'd like to discuss more tips for decision-making and all things die-casting! Give us a call.
