Own It

This company produced switch, plug, and a host of other metal and plastic covers for wall-mounted electrical boxes. They had long been a leader in the field of such items. In the lobby of the corporate office there was a picture of Thomas Edison with the founder and his wife, taken in 1927. That’s the year the plant opened. 

Near that picture there was a small inscription painted directly on the wall that read, “Focused on Progress!” It was their operational ethos.  Interestingly, during the mid-20^th century, the marketing slogan for General Electric, a company cofounded by Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, was “Progress is our most important product.”  

The founder of the box cover company was a hands-on leader actively engaged in all phases of the operation. He seemed most in his element when he was on the production floor. The hum, buzz, and rhythmic patterns of the machines fascinated him. He called it the pulse of their business. When it was interrupted, even for a short time, he’d dropped anything he was doing to go and help remedy the problem. As the owner, he could have claimed any title for himself; his preferred job title and the role he most enjoyed was production manager. 

During one such visit to the floor, a situation developed that caused him some concern. The line shut down clearly due to human error. The person responsible hadn’t been monitoring the feed of metal sheets into a particular machine. When his machine abruptly ground to a halt, every other machine down the line had to be stopped as well. Every person along the line was idle, and the company’s production, the very lifeblood of what made this company tick, was stopped dead in its tracks. 

Fortunately, the problem was easy to see and diagnose. It was obvious to everyone that someone had made a mistake, and they all knew who it was. It could be prevented in the future, but only if that person would become part of the solution. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen in this case.

Showing more than a little attitude, the responsible lineperson indignantly called out, “Hey, who messed up?”  In puzzled dismay, everyone else on the line looked directly at him. Although no one said anything, everyone knew it was him. They also knew it wasn’t the first or second time he had been responsible for a shut down in recent weeks. 

As the production manager approached, he said, “What’s the problem here?”

Before anyone could answer, the lineperson responsible said, “There’s something wrong with this machine.” 

“No, the machine’s fine, it’s just out of the blank metal sheets you’re to be replenishing.”

Still trying to deflect any responsibility the guy who errored said, “Someone down the line must have messed up.” 

The production manager reminded him that theirs was an integrated production system, so that all of the machines operated in sync with a mutually maintained operating speed. Still trying to deflect, this guy tried one last dodge. “I was distracted by someone asking me for help.”  No one said a word. Their stunned and angry looks made it clear that no one had asked him for help.  

The production manager helped restock the small metal blanks.  He hit the line restart button, then quietly told the guy responsible for the shutdown to stop and seem him after his shift ended. Maintaining his indignant denial, the lineman just nodded.  

During a brief meeting after the shift, the production manager told the lineman that if he caused another shutdown, he’d be moved off the line. Line jobs paid the highest hourly wages in the plant. The lineman was noticeable rebuffed by the warning. He came back with the fact that others have caused shutdowns and didn’t receive such a warning.  A that point the production manager put it all in perspective for him.

“Yes, we have shutdowns from time to time. When we do, there’s always something we can do to prevent them from happening again. But before we can solve them and keep the line moving, someone has to recognize their role in the failure of the system, accept ownership, then resolve to remedy what caused the problem. All you offered were excuses; you assumed no ownership for a problem and thus you accepted no responsibility for preventing it from happening again.”

From this story the lesson is clear. When you own a mistake or an error, you demonstrate a critical attribute of personal leadership—responsibility. You’ve made a move toward preventing it from happening again. And it’s that move that fosters your personal growth and development, and better enables you to contribute to the progress of groups, teams, crews, and cohorts of which you are a part.