26. Work With A Sense Of Urgency.

 
Work as quickly and productively as possible, but never sacrifice quality or safety. Don’t put off till tomorrow what can be completed today. Deal with it now. Act decisively. Hustle. Get stuff done.

Dave's Message:

 

Over the course of my 26-year career, I have always prided myself on this fundamental. The first management group that was formulated at Famous was referred to as the EMG of which I was a part of. The common theme of that group was that if I was assigned a project, I would have it done by “noon”.

Shortly after, Jay Blaushild announced that Marc was the new President & CEO of Famous. Marc pulled me into his office. He proceeded to tell me how he “loved my passion” and my willingness to “work with a sense of urgency”. He advised me that many things “do” have to be done the same day. But that day he also gave me some advice that also has stuck with me for the rest of my tenure at Famous. He advised me that with some very important decisions, sometimes it might be better to go home and “sleep on it” and make sure I was making the proper decision. Think about that for a minute. We want to “work with a sense of urgency” but we also want to make sure that the decision we are making is absolutely the “correct one”.

An associate that I feel epitomizes this fundamental is Mark Mapel. Over the course of my 4+ years at the CDC, I was amazed at what Mark was able to accomplish. As soon as he would arrive in the building, his phone would start ringing and never stop all day. We have between 30 and 40 trucks that depart from the CDC daily. He would handle any issues, special requests, and coordinate all of this activity in a seamless fashion. He would work from home evenings and weekends making things happen so that our customers were always taken care of. He would take phone calls that were meant for other associates and handle without a second thought. Mark exemplifies “working with a sense of urgency”. However, when we had important decisions to make, Mark was always thoughtful as well. He took the time to analyze situations and think about the implications and unintended consequences of implementing new initiatives.

If we all work “with a sense of urgency” and “take the time to think”, we can only continue to improve ourselves and Famous.

Happy New Year

“Everyone knows that action leads to results. Action driven by a sense of urgency removes the limits on just how far you can go.” – Chris Ruisi (The Coach)