We have been discussing the value and importance of procedures, policies, rules and discipline.
Hopefully, I have been able to draw a picture for you why these are important and why adhering to them is even more important.
For one more illustration, consider the following. These numbers are from long ago, before the turn of the century. The numbers undoubtedly are higher for the world we live in today.
If things were done right 99.9% of the time, we’d have to accept:
1 hour of unsafe drinking water every month
2 unsafe plane landings per day at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago
16,000 pieces of mail lost by the U.S. Postal Service every hour
20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions per year
500 incorrect surgical operations each week
50 newborn babies dropped at birth by doctors every day
22,000 deductions from the wrong bank accounts every day
32,000 missed heartbeats per person, per year
To emphasize, these illustrations are an error or mistake only 1/10 of 1% of the actions performed. Or… 1 in 1,000 times.
What is our rate? What is your rate? What is my rate? For the people in the above industries a failure rate of 1/10 of 1% is not acceptable. Should we accept anything less from ourselves?
Everything we do, everything, has an impact. Let’s work together to continue to improve our service!
When we are busy it becomes very clear the importance of defined procedures and the importance of following them. When we don’t follow them, the negative impact is even more noticeable because we don’t have the time to “fix it”. Skipping steps or taking shortcuts may seem like a good move at the time, but almost always it comes back to bite.
The renowned basketball coach of UCLA who led his teams to 10 NCAA national championships in 12 years was well known for the statement,
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” — John Wooden