I remember the first time I heard someone say, “That’s not how we do it here,” about 25 years ago. It was while my wife, Debbie, and I were building our first house in Arkansas. A few years earlier, we had done a big renovation of our house in Pittsburgh, so we thought we were ready to build a house after relocating to Arkansas.
When it came time to put the roof sheeting on the new house, the framers wanted to use 1/2” plywood because it was the standard for the area. We told them that we wanted to install 5/8” plywood. Debbie called me at work to tell me that the framers had told her, “That’s not how we do it here,” and that we didn’t need that on our roof because we weren’t in the north anymore. They didn’t worry about snow loads. But in the end, the customer was right, and we did install the 5/8” plywood. The next winter, we had a bad snowstorm that accumulated around 24 inches of snow, and Debbie and I were happy our roof had the thicker plywood.
I know that was a long intro, but I wanted to illustrate that being told “That’s not how we do it here” can happen in your personal life and in business. No matter what you’re doing, change can be hard!
Whether you are a leader coming into a new company and starting to assess how the operation runs, or you are moving into a new role in your current company, at some point you will undoubtedly run into some version of “That’s not how we do it here.” As a leader, how you tackle this challenge can be one of the most difficult and ‒ at the same time ‒ one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. It’s difficult to hear, because it indicates that the person you are talking with isn’t open to change. On the other hand, when you start to see people implementing changes to make the process, build sequence, product or company improve, it’s extremely gratifying! It’s a journey that can zig and zag a bit.
Not all traditions or long-held ways of doing business are bad; the opposite is also true: not all new ideas are good. An important part of our strategy, Going Old School (Strategy 2023 – 2026), is to look back at how we built ships for fewer hours in the past and to compare those methods to the way we build today. This shows respect for our past methods and acknowledges that we may not be doing it right today. It’s part of how we identify ways to improve our build process.
Two more ways to improve are to have the willingness to keep an open mind and to be able to listen to/implement new ideas. A good idea is a good idea no matter where it comes from. Our strength stems from the diversity of our experiences — each of us brings knowledge to the table that melds together. This is how we get Bath Built is Best Built!
Challenging the status quo is one of those consistent tasks that a leader must do and know when to do it. Change for the sake of change is bad! I have written about this before in the blog, Resistance to Change Is Real!, describing why people resist change.
Excessive change can cause people to become tired (change fatigue), not buy into the change (ambivalent to change) and/or actively fight against change (resist change). But change is necessary to stay relevant and in business. There are too many examples of businesses that didn’t adapt to the changing customer and ultimately, they are no longer in business. Not a good path to follow!
To avoid that dreadful outcome and to make sure that we are making smart changes, I would offer a few guidelines to think about while considering change for our company and for your team and your processes and projects:
- Manage and think about the details of what you are trying to change.
- Make sure that you understand “why” we do it this way by asking questions before attempting to change.
- Do you have a vision of the change? Can you see how it will work? Does the change add real value?
- Can you articulate your change vision to your team? Do they understand it? Will they buy into your change strategy?
- Your first response from people will probably not be the one you want to hear, so prepare for it.
- If you believe in it, then don’t accept those first responses – keep listening and talking!
- Post-change evaluation – How did you and your team do implementing the change? What can you learn for the next change iteration?
If you map out answers to these questions, it will help you make a plan for how you want to implement changes.
Change is hard both inside and outside of work, but we are all changing every day in one form or another. How we choose to deal with it often determines our future success. Be an active participant in change and help guide the process. Sometimes it only takes a question to start making changes that help all of us!
Don’t let the statement, “That’s not how we do it here!” keep you from making a change.
See you on the deckplates!
Safely Execute High-Quality Work