Thinking Small Series - Part 5
The idea of thinking small within a company no matter what the size was extremely important to Sam Walton. He always fought to have that be part of the way the company operated.
One of his thoughts concerning thinking small was the idea of forcing ideas to the surface for the purpose of incorporating the good ones into the company.
Forcing ideas to come up was just another way of saying he was forever communicating and talking - either directly or through others - to dig the ideas people had out of them.
The thinking small part comes in with the purpose behind why it must be done; the rest of it is simply a matter of finding practical ways to do it.
The purpose why ideas need to be brought to the surface is because our people are the ones that know better than anybody what is happening on a day-to-day basis within the company. They are the most valuable assets we have, and more than anything else we need to know what they're encountering and hearing from customers or suppliers on a daily basis. It's there that our most important data and information resides. I think it's better than surveys and studies done.
The reason I think it's more important is because our people get real, immediate feedback from those they're dealing with. It's real and spontaneous, and can be an accurate measurement of what the company is truly operating like when we hear many of the same things over and over again.
Overall we need to have as many means of communication we can think of, along with letting our people know how much we value their input. That's the only way we can take those ideas and experiences within our people and draw them out to benefit our customers and suppliers.
Other Walton Sources:
The Most Underrated CEO Ever The legendary Sam Walton
Sam Walton: The Power of Persistence
Sam Walton Business Quotes for Ya
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