Bringing Everyday Magic to the Manufacturing Floor

On the manufacturing floor, you might not see rabbits being pulled out of hats or people vanishing in a puff of smoke, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t everyday chances to create a little magic!

According to my recent Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast guest, speaker, author, entrepreneur (and magician!) Jon Petz, magical moments are all around. By tapping into your own intentionally and creativity, you can turn simple encounters into moments that surprise, delight, and inspire your team.

What are Magical Moments?

On the podcast, Jon defined magical moments as any moments or encounters that make your team members feel supported, valued, and encouraged. Above all, magical moments remind your team that when they show up for work every day, they’re showing up to be part of something special.

How to Create Magical Moments

Since creating magical moments often revolves an element of surprise and spontaneity, you can’t always plan them ahead of time. However, you can use mindfulness to think about what your team wants and needs to feel encouraged and empowered.

To do this, be intentional about forming connections with your team members. Engage with them outside of their role in your organization, and take time to learn more about them as a person. What are their passions and goals? What is their typical mindset when they show up for work? What do they need to feel inspired? Be genuine in your outreach and interest, and have the courage to delve into deeper conversations.

By talking with your team, you’ll get a better idea of their mindset and needs. Then, look for ways to use these insights to drive magical moments. For example, if you know your team member Katie places a high value on employee appreciation and you notice she’s recently gone above-and-beyond on a project, you can create a magical moment for her by taking the time to appreciate and acknowledge her great work. It might only take a few minutes out of your day, but for Katie, it creates a work environment that makes her feel supported and valued.

Bonus Tip: Lean Into Organic Moments!

While it’s important to get to know the needs and passions of your team, creating magic also means leaning into organic, unplanned moments. If you find yourself with a chance to surprise or acknowledge a team member, take it! By being spontaneous with your moments of magic and appreciation, you show your team members you’re always paying attentions to their needs, passions, and hard work.

Learn More on the Podcast

To hear more fun insights from Jon and learn how you can create more magical moments in your own organization, don’t miss his episode of the Mindfulness Manufacturing podcast.

At Manufacturing Greatness, Trevor Blondeel works with manufacturers to connect the top to the shop. If you’re ready to improve your own organization, contact Trevor to learn how Manufacturing Greatness can help you build stronger leaders and develop a dynamic, high-performing workplace.

Mindfulness Manufacturing

Our show is about providing listeners with real stories that come from a place of experience, transparency, and authenticity. Most importantly it’s about what we learn from these stories and applying Mindfulness in our everyday work and personal lives.
Our intention is to create an environment where people can learn through open honest discussions on how we apply Mindfulness. Although our experiences and stories come from time in a manufacturing environment hence the title “Mindfulness Manufacturing”, we still see our discussions and topics relatable to any organization or profession.

When a mistake occurs on the plant floor, your mind might jump to one question: who caused this issue, and should I write them up for their mistake? But there’s a more productive approach you could be taking—and in this episode of Mindfulness Manufacturing, guest Dr. Jake Mazulewicz breaks it all down!

With a background as a firefighter, EMT, and military paratrooper, Jake knows the challenges of high-hazard industries, and works with organizations to reduce errors and create safer, more reliable workplace environments. In this episode, Jake shares why you can’t procedularize everything, including the way you handle errors and accidents, and offers great insights and stories about how to use connection and curiosity to improve safety, address errors, and strengthen your organization.

3:35 – Procedures and policies are the work that is imagined, and on the floor is how the work actually gets done

4:19 – The work as-done is almost always radically different than the work as-imagined

5:20 – Even when you have standards and people show up wanting to do a good job, you can still see issues that need to be addressed

6:44 – There will always be areas that absolutely need to have procedures in place

8:02 – There are also adaptive jobs, which leans less into procedures and more intro troubleshooting and tacit human knowledge

10:56 – In an ideal environment, both mechanistic and adaptive models are used and respected and needed

12:11 – There are four levels, ranging from strict procedurals to looser guidelines that show what to do, but not how to do it

15:36 – Tacit knowledge gets shared through conversations

16:22 – A way to share important information is to have frontline experts record videos sharing their insights to problems, especially those that are not covered in procedures

19:44 – Through conversation and connection, more knowledge is shared

21:58 – Debriefing also plays a central role

23:45 – If you have strong discipline, you’ll find more freedom

25:31 – In most situations, errors are signals, not defects

27:07 – When an error occurs, be curious and find the deeper cause of the problem

Connect with Jake Mazulewicz

Find him on Linkedin

Visit his website