PROCESS WILL SET YOU FREE!

 

Jeanne Brown, Chair of the Board of Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence (RMPEx) helps organizations improve performance and achieve results through the Baldridge criteria. She is a quality management and performance excellence professional with more than 30 years of leadership experience in the high technology and utilities industries.  Three simple steps to freedom are defining, writing down, and keeping current the process.  Robert Galvin of Motorola said, “To get the process exactly right is going to be cheaper and it is going to be better.” He received one of the first Malcolm Baldrige Awards.  “Common knowledge grows the entire organization towards the goal of excellence,” say Brown.  This can be accomplished by having a central repository that is accessible to anyone.  The bottom line is that, “taking time, money and materials out of the process and streamlining them but still maintaining a high level of quality and service for customers will increase profits,” Brown.

These 12 steps are good reasons to document, provided by Jeanne Brown:

1. Establishes a Baseline from which to improve - this creates a point of reference for where you are now and which direction you need to go to improve your process.
2. Streamlines and standardizes training - when the process is clearly defined, training is easy, and everybody is doing the job the same way.
3. Keeps everyone current - in a document control system, there is revision control that assures everyone is using the most recent document.
4. Captures subject matter expertise for the benefit of all – it is important to capture expertise from knowledgeable individuals.
5. Assures smoother transition during change - proper documents provide a stable foundation when people move to other jobs or organizations.
6. Frees up time & energy for innovation & creativity - once you have the basic directions, you and others will be able to look at ways to move forward rather than spend time learning the basics over and over.
7. 7.    Reduces and eliminates redundancy - documenting the process helps to identify places where there may be duplicated efforts or steps.
8. Identifies and fills in any gaps in the current process - as you document, you may discover places where things might drop through the cracks.
9. Clearly defines resource requirements - defining responsibilities in the documents helps everyone know exactly what the job requires.
10. Reduces risk on the job - clearly defined processes lead to concise and useful training, which helps to reduce the risk to the employee.
11. Provides a document change history for future reference - the document control system will provide a method to research a past event and determine the process that was being used at that time.
12. Offers a one-stop-shop for an organization’s work activities - the central location for controlled documents allows for cross-function learning and sharing.

For more information, visit:

http://www.coloradoexcellence.org/

http://www.baldrigepe.org

“Every Conversation Is an Opportunity for Success”

 

Rotary is an international service organization with thousands of members.  One of those members is best-selling author and communication expert Debra Fine.  “The Fine Art of Small Talk: How To Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills -- and Leave a Positive Impression!” has been featured on the Today Show, the Early Show, NPR, CNN, Fox Business News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Men’s Health Magazine.  Fine mentioned that small talk develops interconnected relationships and in essence is a necessity in growing any relationship; personal or business.

Fine is president of the Rotary Club Denver Southeast.  She knows "a desk is

dangerous places to view the world," John Le Carre.  And as such Rotary’s current project is Race Across Africa a “virtual” race up the Nile River raising money for water projects in Africa; www.raceacross.org.  Rotary’s mission is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

Rotary’s members comprise of like-minded people who follow The Four-Way Test;

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build good will and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

These questions can be asked to ensure ethical projects are being accomplished.

SOLAR LIGHT BULBS TO TAFERT, MOROCCO

An Initiative Promoting Environmental, Economic, and Cultural Growth

In many indigenous communities the environment provides a means for living. Keeping the environment clean is especially important for those communities, while at the same time adds to the value of life for all people. The UN’s declaration on rights of indigenous people explains they have the right to maintain and strengthen their culture, and pursue their development according to their aspirations and needs. Providing Nokero light bulbs, which does not infringe on indigenous culture but rather helps preserve a traditional culture by bringing a service such as un-polluting light, and it helps maintain a lifestyle of living off the land without the environmental impacts that an on-grid electrical system would produce. This project focuses on bringing a sustainably designed product to a community where the bulb would benefit three-fold.

Background on Indigenous Moroccans

The Berber people are indigenous to Morocco. Their origins are likely in south-west Asia, from second millennium B.C. They are united by linguistic rather than by genetic features. There are several types of Berbers throughout North Africa but the Moroccan Berbers live in the Atlas Mountains. In 40 A.D. and the following 500 years the Moroccan Berbers were annexed by the Romans which left a faint cultural imprint. As the Roman Empire faded the pastoral life of the Berbers continued. They established trade posts with whoever passed their way; often times taking on and letting fall away traditions of invaders and passers-by. By the end of the seventh century the Arab people had reached Morocco bringing Islam and as the settlers before them they welcomed their culture and protection. From time to time the Berbers resisted the Arabs attempts to govern for example the Arabs wanted to administer taxes. The economic advantages were few so any attempts by the Arabs fall to the waste side. In 15th century Morocco became an interest to European countries wanting control of the coastal regions. By the 19th century Morocco was essentially controlled by the Europeans. The Treaty of Fez granted France the permission to establish civil order in Morocco and as such Morocco became a French colony. By 1930 the Berbers and Arabs were under the French administration and for the first time under one rule. In 1956 sovereignty was restored and Morocco was an independent united country.

Who is receiving the solar light bulbs?

Presently Morocco is a developing country. While many highly populated areas are growing and becoming or are established as cities other terrain areas are not. Nokero is a Colorado based company which has a product unlike any in Morocco. While some communities in Morocco can afford to purchase these bulbs, the Tafert community does not. They currently are not serviced for electricity or running water. Most of the region is used to extract resources, which has provided roads some distance away from the community, about 5 kilometers away from Tafert. The population estimate is 30 individuals. Providing more than one light bulb to each individual is ideal. One to use while the other charges or for back up purposes. Meaning a total minimum of 60 bulbs needed. Other communities in this region will want the light bulbs as well so donations are not capped. The more bulbs we have the more we can give not only to the Tafert village but surrounding ones too. Nokero light bulbs will be provided to the Berber village of Tafert at no cost.

A Global Walk

By: Cristin Tarr Issue: Big Ideas, Smart People Section: Community Polly Letofsky headed west across four continents, 22 countries, and more than 14,000 miles – by foot – to become the first woman to walk around the world.

I had a business meeting late one afternoon with a woman who worked as a sales manager at a local hotel. I was anxious to get through the meeting quickly and go home to my three school-aged children. Little did I know that I was about to meet – Polly Letofsky – an extraordinary woman who had accomplished an extraordinary feat. I asked her my usual client questions, "What have you been doing the last few years? Where have you worked? Where have you lived and what is your favorite hobby?" She sat for a moment and said, "Well, I’ve spent the last five years walking around the world." Needless to say my attention focused and I wanted to hear her story.

The first steps of Letofsky’s "walk" sprouted at age 12. While growing up in Minneapolis, she read about a Minnesota man who had become the first to walk around the world. Inspired, she held the same desire, and wanted to be the first women to walk around the world.

The Inspiration to Walk

In the mid-1990s, several of Letofsky’s family members and friends were diagnosed with breast cancer. So, to ease her mind, she made an appointment with her doctor for a mammogram. Letofsky’s doctor said, "Don’t worry about getting a mammogram; you don’t have any risk factors. It doesn’t run in your family." With great relief, she shared this news with a friend, but her friend was outraged by the doctor’s advice—arguing that 80 percent of those diagnosed with breast cancer have no known risks.

This was Letofsky’s "aha" moment. She thought, "How many women around the world have been told similar tales about breast cancer? How many women around the world have no idea that breast cancer exists?" That’s when she decided to walk for women—to educate women all over the world about the disease that bonds us all—breast cancer. And from that moment, the GlobalWalk for Breast Cancer Awareness was formed. Armed with passion and determination to inform women in every city, town, and rural village about breast cancer, Letofsky began her Guinness World Records-setting journey with very few sponsors and more than 14,000 miles to walk over four continents.

She was not walking for the record books, but rather, for women all over the world. Her hope was that in every country where she walked, she would be a voice to encourage local breast cancer organizations to spread the message of early detection and prevention. Because many countries have cultural sensitivities surrounding breast care, women are often not informed of the severity or the widespread impact of the illness. After two years of planning for the journey, Letofsky sold all of her belongings to fund the work, and she walked out of Vail, Colorado.

The Global Trek

She trekked across the western United States and flew to New Zealand first. After walking across New Zealand, with several substantial mishaps and money running short, she successfully arrived in Australia. In a small rural Australian town, Letofsky met a woman at a stoplight who asked what she was doing. That woman, Margaret, was the president of the local Lions Club; she invited Letofsky into her home that night. What Margaret did next changed the course of the GlobalWalk.

That night Margaret introduced Letofsky to the crowd at the local pub. When they heard her story, the patrons started passing around a hat for contributions to the cause, and within 15 minutes, that little Australian pub had raised $332 for the Breast Cancer Network-Australia. The next morning Margaret called the next Lions Club up the road, and the members took her out to their local pub for fundraising. Then, they called the next Lions Club, and they called the next Lions Club…and in short order, Letofsky found herself doing a 2,000 mile fundraising pub crawl up Australia’s east coast.

With the help of the Lions Clubs, Letofsky was safe every night with someone from the club hosting her with a warm meal and comfortable bed. What’s more, the Lions Clubs of Australia became the primary fundraising venue for the walk, where local excitement generated substantial exposure throughout the region. Their support inspired an entire country to rally behind Letofsky’s GlobalWalk for breast cancer awareness.

As she traveled on, breast cancer groups would hear her story on the radio and throw a fundraising afternoon tea when she walked through their town. The police would patrol "her" road to make sure she was safe. Cancer survivors would host fundraising dinners and "pass" her to the next breast cancer survivor up the road. Even McDonalds jumped on board—by feeding her and hosting fundraising events at every McDonalds up Australia’s Highway 1.

The Turning Point

Six months into the Australian leg of the walk, one of the Lions Clubs invited her to become a member. She agreed and her walk took a major turn. Now with the help of her Lions Club in Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Letofsky’s walk quickly turned into an unprecedented grassroots breast cancer campaign that stemmed from an army of local everyday people who cleared a path from village to village—through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Turkey and other exotic world locales.

While walking through Singapore and Malaysia, her work reached epic levels. As she entered these Muslim countries, she was repeatedly told by officials that she would not be able to talk about breast cancer. They were wrong. "The Lions Clubs are enormous in Southeast Asia, and are very highly regarded. They are planners, advocates, and community leaders, and when they talk, even the government listens," said Letofsky.

As a result of the persistent grassroots efforts of the Lions Clubs across the region, breast cancer was now being talked about in all five national newspapers—almost daily. The clubs arranged radio interviews, television appearances, and organized educational forums in small towns where they would invite a local doctor to talk to their local women. From these successes, the Lions Clubs in Malaysia recruited the Rotary Clubs to help with the advocacy work, who then invited the Red Cross, whose members decided to join the walk every day. Next, the Hash Harrier Running Clubs joined the walk.

With the number of walkers growing and the press coverage swelling, the government of Malaysia could no longer ignore what was happening. When Letofsky and her entourage of concerned citizens reached the capital of Kuala Lampur, they were met by a member of Parliament, Datuk Napsiah Omar, and 100 of her colleagues. Amid a ceremony filled with pomp and fanfare, Omar not only announced that she was starting a breast cancer awareness campaign in her region, but would urge the Malaysian government to subsidize annual mammograms for women aged 55 to 64. It was the first program of its kind in Malaysia.

Similar success stories continued as Letofsky plodded along at 3 miles per hour. After five years, she brought her GlobalWalk for Breast Cancer full circle spanning 14,124 miles, across 22 countries, wearing 29 pairs of shoes, and raising over $250,000 for 13 breast cancer organizations around the world.

Letofsky continues the legacy of her GlobalWalk for Breast Cancer awareness through her highly regarded motivational speaking engagements and outstanding documentary. In her newly released book 3mph: The Adventures of One Woman’s Walk Around the World, Letofsky highlights the successes of the walk and recounts the story that unfolded. She tells how, "truth was stranger than fiction when I took on the world by myself, but was never alone. Thousands of strangers came to my aid in many small ways and in record numbers. On average, 10 people a day for five years—or nearly 20,000 people—formed a human chain of collaboration around the world to help me, keep me safe, and bring me back to Colorado and ultimately spread the word of breast cancer awareness."

As I think about Polly Leftosky and her GlobalWalk, it confirms for me that people all over the world are better when we are working together. Letofsky proved it—a childhood dream undertaken with determination can prove transformative and can create of culture of collaborative action.

Where would the world be if we could all make a little step toward a big feat?

Cristin Tarr is the founder of Business Service Corps (BSC), an organization that helps companies develop, organize, implement, and measure community outreach programs. BSC maximizes corporate charitable and philanthropic outreach goals while minimizing the use of valuable resources, time and money to create a collective shared value. To learn more about BSC visit www.BusinessServiceCorps.com.

The Happiest Man In The World

By: Heidi Rickels Issue: Big Ideas, Smart People Section: Collaboration Close Up

Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned "cultural economist," and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principles to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."

As the founder of Project C.U.R.E. and chairman emeritus of its board, Dr. Jackson traveled to more than 150 countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders, and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world’s most needy people.

Now, he has written a book about his life experiences and adventures, providing an honest, personal assessment of the challenges and professional obstacles that confronted him, as well as best practices for building a "Business of Goodness."

As a boy, Dr. Jackson sat fascinated as his mother read stories about America’s golden boys of business who did well so that they could do good. At a young age, Jackson determined that he would be a millionaire by the time he was 25. By the time he was 30, he had exceeded that goal several times over, but he realized that he was not happy. So, together, James and his wife, Anna Marie, decided to give away their wealth and start over.

After writing a book on economics titled, What’cha Gonna Do with What’cha Got, Dr. Jackson landed consultation and speaking engagements with government leaders around the world. When he encountered the poverty and desperation of healthcare in developing countries, his heart was moved, and it ultimately changed the course of his entire life.

In his new book, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist, Dr. Jackson describes the dark side of making money and self-centered accumulation, as well as his struggles with institutionalized religion and the disappointments of man.

From his personal experiences visiting some of the world’s poorest and most dangerous places, Dr. Jackson explains the heartbreak of seeing children die of treatable illnesses simply because the doctors and nurses lacked proper medical equipment and supplies. He also shares the joy expressed by doctors and nurses who saw containers full of donated medical supplies arrive just in time to save a life.

Along with 600 of his friends and international humanitarian partners, Dr. Jackson launched his new book at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in Denver on January 20, 2011. During this inspirational evening, the author shared stories and images of a life refocused from one of "getting" to one of "giving." Dr. Jackson was emphatic that the cultural economic principles shared in his book are transferable and can be applied to individuals, organizations and governments for the transformation of culture.

Bertha Lynn, anchor for KWGN-Channel 7 News in Denver, emceed the event. After welcoming the audience, she shared how the evening would provide a "glimpse into the life and legacy of a man whose work has touched thousands of lives around the world."

The presenting sponsor was Winston-Crown Publishing House, whose mission is to share stories of modern "humanitarian heroes," and to encourage readers to their own call to compassion and service to those who are suffering most in this world: the poor, the forgotten, the lonely and the sick.

After introducing his wife, Dr. Anna Marie Jackson, to whom his book is dedicated, Dr. Jackson also brought on stage his two sons, Jay Jackson, who was the first vice president of Project C.U.R.E., and Dr. Douglas Jackson, who is the president and CEO of the international humanitarian organization.

In his humble and engaging manner, Dr. Jackson sat on a stool and read excerpts from the book using the "power of story" to share the principles he learned from over 25 years of observing cultures from an economist’s perspective. Through his inspiring life story, he shared the despair of selfish accumulation and the joyful adventure of relinquishment, the development of Project C.U.R.E. as a model for cultural transformation, and how to live the best of your life for the rest of your life—helping others.

"What Project C.U.R.E has done for our hospitals in Brazil, and for the people who received medical supplies and equipment all around the world, is a true miracle," said Dra. Lorena Velho. "We will always be very grateful to Jim, who was sensitive to the needs of the world, and because of the love that lives in him, decided to change a successful life into a significant life."

Dr. Jackson ended the evening by challenging the audience and people everywhere to learn from his life experiences and join him in becoming the happiest people in the world!

The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist is now available for purchase online at www.winstoncrown.org.