Welcome back everyone for the next installment in our look at how to apply principles of greatness to the world of CAD and Design. If you are just joining the conversation you may want to review the previous "Good and Great" postings available in the archive.
The principle of "First Who" as it is described in the book is derived from the fact that all of the companies making the good to great transition discovered and practiced a rather remarkable thing. It seems that the old adage, "People are a companies most valuable asset." is wrong. The right people are a companies most valuable asset.
The principle revolves around the idea that if you have a team full of highly capable individuals then that team will be able to adapt more readily to an ever changing environment.
At first I asked myself, "What exactly is a highly capable person?" I have known many people who had great skills in one area or another, and yet, they could not grasp any concept outside of their particular realm of experience. I would not necessarily refer to these people as "Highly Capable".
In my world I work in many industries regularly, and even more industries irregularly. So in my world a capable person cannot be strictly a one industry expert. They must be flexible and quick, with a willingness to always be learning. But that is just my realm of experience. For a broader perhaps more helpful definition lets reflect on the lessons in the book.
In the first posting "Good and Great" I listed out the three main principles of the book.
Disciplined People
Disciplined Thought
Disciplined Action
A disciplined person arrives to work on time, dresses appropriately for the job, recognizes and follows the rules as a necessary means of being part of the team. I'm not referring to the robots all around who follow the rules simply because they have no imagination to see beyond them.
I am talking about the rare group of people who understand rules are the common ground that supplies consistency of structure required for people to work together toward a common cause.
Disciplined people recognize the value of their commitment to the team as a whole as well as the goals of the team.
Disciplined thought, is this respect, is about examining an issue and objectively to determine the best course of action. A highly capable person can dissect an issue for the purpose of solving it, and not only find the solution but recognize when a problem is untenable. They can face the brutal fact that there are skills or abilities that they do not poses and then look around them to find the right person to help them.
Disciplined action is the willingness to act on the solution regardless of what it takes. Like Darwin Smith's decision to sell the mills, disciplined action is to follow the path of excellence without wavering despite the hardship.
If you are in a position like me, you do not have the ability to choose those that you work with or pick the members of you team. However we still have the ability to choose who discuss issues and solutions with. A coworker or a friend with keen insight and the traits of a highly capable individual can be a valuable asset.
If you are still having trouble finding the right people to talk and collaborate with I suggest trying your local user group or industry group. These are great resources for people who are already dedicated to improving their skills and abilities, and they are taking the step of disciplined action to do it by giving up their free time to be with like minded individuals.
That sounds like the beginning of "First Who" thinking to me.
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