“Toyota has a rather unusual production process. If anybody on the production line is having a problem, or observes an error, they pull a cord which halts production across the plant. Senior executives rush over to see what has gone wrong and, if an employee is having difficulty performing their job, help them.

The error is then assessed, lessons learned, and the system adapted. It is called the Toyota Production Sysytem, or TPS, and is one of the most successful techniques in industrial history”.

(Syed, M. “Black Box Thinking”).

Fascinating idea isn’t it? Think of your workplace, and a simple problem you face in your day to day – can you imagine the whole building grinding to a halt and coming to help you?

Sure, it sounds impractical. But, just imagine it – just imagine how quickly fires would be snuffed and how easily permanent solutions would be brought into place.

Like you, I spend most of my life dealing with problems. Some bigger, some smaller.

Most of the time they niggle at my mind and I kind of tolerate them…as long as they don’t affect my day-to-day too much then it’s okay, right?

But then, imagine a day where you throw your 100% into solving any problem as soon as it comes up. Whether it be a drawer that doesn’t close properly or an argument that you’ve just had. If you dealt with it there and then, put all of your resources into and solved it.

Just how productive would you be? And, to keep in with the general theme of this blog, surely you’d be more creative too?

After all the less that’s on your mind, the more you can put your full concentration into the blank word document in front of you….right?