E-Myth Revisited

The E-Myth Revisited:
Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It.

| Author: Michael E. Gerber, 2005 |

I had this book recommended to me by numerous colleagues. Last month, I was able to read it, and I just did again. I had to, it’s so fitting for many of my clients.
My passion for helping the small business owner is electric, and this book really gave me another jolt! Simply changing some perspectives on how you look at your operation, can be a game changer. We get so passionate about the current issues and people in our organizations, we lose sight of the importance and stability of having great structure and systems, and I am all about that!
Think about it, most owners want options. Look at your own organization; if you were to duplicate it, but you could not take your people, what would you have? What are the things that are so stable and pure, that this would work for anyone. If you are investing in a company, do you just want the best people, or a place where average performers could be successful because the organization is rock solid?
The main theme of this book focuses on owners and managers who are working ‘in the business’ as opposed to working ‘on the business’. Michael does a great job of going into this explicitly. At a high level, the difference is simply being caught up in the day to day, short term thinking of the reactionary needs of the business, as opposed to stepping back and seeing the big picture of the organization.
What can we all take away from this? The owner or CEO can sometimes be the one getting in their own way, without even knowing it. Great read for any business needing a fresh perspective.

Reviewed by: Trevor Blondeel

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