One of the hardest gravitation pulls to overcome is that of getting out of our office chair and walking around.  For whatever reason, the simple act of getting out of our chair is hard.  Sometimes it’s because we think have important things to do, sometimes its because we don’t want to miss the one important email… but usually, if we are honest with ourselves, we get lazy.

However, if we want to understand what is happening in our organization, we have to leave the office and walk around.  When we walk around, we see things that escape our notice when we are heads down buried in our work, or running from meeting to meeting.

The three things I’ve learned from walking around are:

1 – You are able to communicate what is important to you.  For example:  You’re watching a maintenance crew perform a “jack and cycle” on an aircraft.  Every time the gear comes down, the speed brake comes down also.  Since there is no air resistance, the hydraulic pressure is causing undue stress on the speed break.  You know this can’t be good in the long run.  So you confirm that you only need to test the speed brake once.  Once confirmed, you change the procedure for how the test is done.  This communicates that safe, efficient processes are important to you – and encourages them to come up with more ideas.

2 – You inject yourself at the point of friction.  For example, when walking around one day, you notice your expeditor in Maintenance Control is having trouble securing a part.  This part is needed ASAP.  You also know exactly who to call.  Done.

3 – You can solve a problem.  For example: Your Operations team is stuck on what to do on next week’s training plan.  You ask them their thoughts, toss a few ideas back and forth, and give them your input.  Problem solved.  If you had stayed in your office, you wouldn’t have known about the problem until it was late into the planning cycle.

There’s no better way to get a realistic idea of how your organization is doing than by walking around.  So what are you waiting for?  Go for a walk!

Here’s a couple of things I’ve learned this week:

I am fascinated with what causes some people to be more resilient than others.  Here is a great article on what may drive the difference.

Looking to make stress your superpower?  Check out the SH//FT Team