Is History Still Relevant?

One of my clients recently explained the “Hawthorne Effect”Hawthorne Effect Story , to his staff and how it related to their strategy.  To his surprise, several team members expressed that the concept was not relevant to them…how could a study done so long ago (1927) be pertinent?

When I was in school I do not recall being a fan of history, possibly it had to do with how it was taught, memorizing dates and names of principal players and wars.  But as the years passed I became a steady reader of biographies; Churchill, Stalin, FDR, Teddy and Truman to name just a few.  In reading these stories, I became acutely aware of how interrelated history has been.  One event influencing the outcome of other people in a different time and place.  My sales meetings became laced with analogies to history and events.  Most importantly I felt that the observations of these people and events were relevant to what I was doing and how I made decisions.

Allow me to share a story from the early 90’s.  IBM examined the time it took to circulate the mail through its PC division in Boca Raton, FL.  Employees, customers and suppliers were complaining that mail was not being delivered on a timely basis.  A letter took two days to cycle through IBM to the addressee.  Obviously, this is not a “core” business process; however, IBM had done a good job of focusing on core processes and could afford to focus on some sub-tier processes.  They applied the principles of Business Process Improvement to the mail process and a team went to work.  They discovered that each morning, of every workday, an individual spent two and a half hours weighing the mail and completing a report that was circulated to seven layers of management.  Why you ask?  IBM had no idea why.  Possibly the supervisor of the mail room needed a way to justify hiring new people and came up with a way to explain how many people needed be added.  The fact is that IBM did this for 15 years and the management who received this information never did anything with it.  Do you think your company is weighing the mail?

The story I just shared with you is almost 20 years old… is it still relevant?  Can you see this example being relevant going forward another 20 years?  Shakespeare wrote 350 years ago yet his stories are just as relevant to us today.  If we do not learn and grow from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

CoachAnovick.com

Paul Anovick

Developing Potential, Producing Results

201-445-2822

When I was in school I do not recall being a fan of history, possibly it had to do with how it was taught, memorizing dates and names of principal players and wars.  But as the years passed I became a steady reader of biographies; Churchill, Stalin, FDR, Teddy and Truman to name just a few.  In reading these stories, I became acutely aware of how interrelated history has been.  One event influencing the outcome of other people in a different time and place.  My sales meetings became laced with analogies to history and events.  Most importantly I felt that the observations of these people and events were relevant to what I was doing and how I made decisions.

Allow me to share a story from the early 90’s.  IBM examined the time it took to circulate the mail through its PC division in Boca Raton, FL.  Employees, customers and suppliers were complaining that mail was not being delivered on a timely basis.  A letter took two days to cycle through IBM to the addressee.  Obviously, this is not a “core” business process; however, IBM had done a good job of focusing on core processes and could afford to focus on some sub-tier processes.  They applied the principles of Business Process Improvement to the mail process and a team went to work.  They discovered that each morning, of every workday, an individual spent two and a half hours weighing the mail and completing a report that was circulated to seven layers of management.  Why you ask?  IBM had no idea why.  Possibly the supervisor of the mail room needed a way to justify hiring new people and came up with a way to explain how many people needed be added.  The fact is that IBM did this for 15 years and the management who received this information never did anything with it.  Do you think your company is weighing the mail?

The story I just shared with you is almost 20 years old… is it still relevant?  Can you see this example being relevant going forward another 20 years?  Shakespeare wrote 350 years ago yet his stories are just as relevant to us today.  If we do not learn and grow from history, we are doomed to repeat it.

CoachAnovick.com

Paul Anovick

Developing Potential, Producing Results

201-445-2822