Will You Finish the Swing?

As we prepare to enter a new year, you’ll likely find yourself receiving a lot of encouragement to set new goals and aspirations for yourself, both personally and professionally. I myself am a big fan of goal-setting, too, so you’ll likely hear me encouraging this practice as well.?

However, before you start thinking about what you want to tackle next, take a moment to pause and consider whether there is still anything you have not yet completed 100%. In other words, when you look at your to-do lists from the past year, can you confidently say that you’ve finished the swing??

I’d like to share a story with you about a biscuit business that deeply inspired me, in hopes that it also inspires you.

Early one chilly Friday morning, I arrived at the Phipps Mansion in Denver, Colorado with 75 other supply chain management professionals, where we’d gather each month to listen to industry leaders speak on how they were innovating in our field. And on that particular morning, one executive from the fast food industry shared a story with us I’ll never forget.

He was working for Kentucky Fried Chicken and tasked with finding a new supplier for their biscuits. In his search, he discovered a provider in Louisiana that made “the perfect biscuit”. Unfortunately, however, there was one problem: the Louisiana factory couldn't go lower than 11 cents per biscuit, and KFC's business model couldn't go higher than 10 cents. At 11 cents, the factory would hardly make a profit — at 10 cents, they would lose money.?

In pursuit of a solution, KFC sent a team out to the factory to pinpoint inefficiencies. Soon after, they fashioned a list of around 30 ways the factory could work to improve their biscuit-making process. Given that the factory was a primary employer in a small Louisiana town, the staff was inspired to land this significant contract with KFC — and almost immediately, they implemented the first seven or so recommendations. Thanks to their diligence, they were able to drop the cost of each biscuit to a profitable 10 cents and land the contract.?

Years later, this same executive (who had since accepted a promotion to work at another company) received a call from the general manager at the biscuit factory, who said, “Remember that list of improvements you identified? Well, we didn’t stop at the first few. Over time, we implemented each and every recommendation and we’ve brought the cost of each biscuit down to 7 cents. With all our new business, we’ve even doubled our headcount!”

?I left that morning feeling so inspired by the impact he and his team had had on that factory. As I walked away from the Phipps Mansion, breathing in that crisp Colorado air, I hoped that one day, I’d have the opportunity to do the same.

That opportunity would come in the form of painting helicopters.

In 2008, I worked as a consultant with one of the world’s largest helicopter operators. Their maintenance division had a host of problems, and I was assigned to work with the paint shop. At the time, it was taking them an astounding 27 days to paint a Sikorsky 76.?

?To put this duration in context: other airline clients could paint a (significantly larger) Boeing 747 in only 11 days. To remedy this and help them get back on track, I worked with the paint shop team over the next few months, shedding light on new ways in which they could improve their painting process.?

Using Lean Six Sigma methodologies, we identified our own prioritized list of over 20 improvements, and calculated that the implementation of all these procedures could bring the team’s total paint time down to just 13 days.??

In the following weeks, we saw an immediate, yet modest, reduction in paint time. We also noticed a spike in the engagement and morale of the paint shop staff, as we alleviated some of their frustrations and invested in their workspace. And soon after our contract had ended, I wondered whether they would be willing to follow through with all of the improvement ideas we had identified.?

Six years later, an employee from the paint shop called me. He said, “Hey, remember that list we made of ways to cut the time for helicopters in the paint shop? Well, we’ve been working through it since you left, and we just got our first helicopter done in 13 days! And we’re not done. We want to hit 11 days, maybe even 10 days by the end of the year. Beast mode, buddy!” I’m so glad he made me laugh then, because I was overcome with emotion on my side of the call — feeling a strong sense of pride for their stick-to-itiveness and rigor.

Now I encourage you, in whatever your goal may be, to finish the swing.

Starting things is sexy. We’re easily enticed by new products, new companies, new markets, new hires, new facilities, and new initiatives. Finishing, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as alluring — but it is much more satisfying.?

When swinging a baseball bat, the batter never stops their swing once the ball strikes the barrel. Rather, they must now follow through with their swing to produce a powerful hit. This concept of “finishing the swing” is not just limited to the world of sports — indeed, it is an extremely powerful way to think about leadership and making an impact in your organization. If you aim to produce truly decisive and lasting results, then you cannot lose momentum once the initial decision is made.?

So before you develop new goals for the coming year, I encourage you to take some time to consider what you haven’t yet finished and close any loose ends you have left before starting new projects. This might be something as simple as sending a “thank-you” note, closing your browser tabs, making a LinkedIn update, or having a conversation with a colleague. Do whatever is written on the Post-It note you’ve still got sitting on your desk, then throw it away, making room for what comes next. Follow through, finish the swing, celebrate your achievement, and then begin anew.??