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Recent Articles

Benefits of Working Together

I was interested in a Harvard Business Review article by Heidi Grant Halvorson which describes the most motivating word. It turns out the word is “together”. The article says if you only have one thing to focus on, make it the benefit of working together. The article notes an interesting fact. While “together” motivates, much of the work any of us do is “alone.” We drive our own forklifts. We stack our own boards. We

Howe Q. Wallace January 5, 2016

Energy And Effort Go A Long Way

“The team that plays the hardest, longest wins! The team that plays the hardest, longest wins!” Tom Izzo, Michigan State basketball coach. I’m doing horribly in the March Madness contest at PalletOne. I have a college degree from Michigan State, but anticipated they would get knocked out early, because this hasn’t been their year. I should have known better. Under Coach Izzo’s leadership, his team is ready at tournament time every year. No matter what

Howe Q. Wallace April 1, 2015

Assessing Your Productivity

This is an interesting graphic. It illustrates three factors which lead to greater productivity. In a manufacturing environment, we constantly measure how productive we are. Can we increase our productivity in a day, in an hour, in a week? The author of the graphic suggests that productivity comes from high energy applied consistently in time with intentional concentration. When those things meet up, greater productivity occurs. It’s a great assessment tool. You can be present

Howe Q. Wallace April 1, 2015

A Record Year in Shipshewana

I was in Shipshewana at our mill yesterday. They had a celebration about their fantastic year. The team in Shipshewana set records in timber and logs purchased, the amount of timber logged by our crews, and the amount of lumber cut, assembled into pallets and shipped. They also put two-thirds of their pallets through a dryer. The drivers covered over a million miles recovering logs and shipping pallets. As you might have expected, all these

Howe Q. Wallace December 6, 2013

Minutes Matter

Minutes matter. Lean teaches that one of the best ways to become “leaner” is to identify where minutes leak away in the course of a day and take action to stop it. In my experience, the greatest leakage of minutes occurs at the beginning of the shift and after a break. The beginning of the shift can be particularly costly. Here’s a checklist: Schedules must be determined. Machines must be set up and operational. Raw

Howe Q. Wallace January 14, 2013

10 Commitments: #8 – 100% Uptime

Commitment #8, understanding your tools and equipment… 10 COMMITMENTS No Shortcuts We will teach you the safe way, provide you safe equipment, fix it when it breaks. Do it right and safe. Safety Freeze Watch out for others, guide and teach “rookies,” hold others accountable for safe practices. On Time and Quick Start Be there, start timely. Work Smart – Technique and Consistency Learn the right techniques and work at a consistent pace. Work Hard

Howe Q. Wallace December 27, 2012

10 Commitments: #5 – Work Hard

More on the 10 Commitments, #5: 10 COMMITMENTS No Shortcuts We will teach you the safe way, provide you safe equipment, fix it when it breaks. Do it right and safe. Safety Freeze Watch out for others, guide and teach “rookies,” hold others accountable for safe practices. On Time and Quick Start Be there, start timely. Work Smart – Technique and Consistency Learn the right techniques and work at a consistent pace. Work Hard –

Howe Q. Wallace December 19, 2012

10 Commitments: #4 – Work Smart

More on the 10 Commitments, #4: 10 COMMITMENTS No Shortcuts We will teach you the safe way, provide you safe equipment, fix it when it breaks. Do it right and safe. Safety Freeze Watch out for others, guide and teach “rookies,” hold others accountable for safe practices. On Time and Quick Start Be there, start timely. Work Smart – Technique and Consistency Learn the right techniques and work at a consistent pace. There is a

Howe Q. Wallace December 18, 2012

10 Commitments: #3 – On Time and Quick Start

Today we look at Commitment #3: 10 COMMITMENTS No Shortcuts We will teach you the safe way, provide you safe equipment, fix it when it breaks. Do it right and safe. Safety Freeze Watch out for others, guide and teach “rookies,” hold others accountable for safe practices. On Time and Quick Start Be there, start timely.This commitment particularly reminds me of demanding excellence from our team.When I was a rookie human resources person entering the

Howe Q. Wallace December 17, 2012

Lean Example in Maine Assembly Area

Here’s how lean works: I’ve been in Maine to tour our operations there and visit with the team before their annual maintenance week. Most of you haven’t seen our other facilities. If you could see all of them, you would be surprised about how different each of them is. They are distinctive by the raw materials and the formats by which we receive them. Sawing equipment may look alike but is always configured uniquely. There

Howe Q. Wallace June 29, 2012

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Articles About Leadership

THE JUICE IS WORTH THE SQUEEZE

“Everything you want is on the other side of ‘hard’.” – CJ McCollum, NBA player McCollum is a story of overachievement. He was undersized. Played college basketball at a non-descript school. Was a long shot to be an NBA player but worked his way to being a first-round draft pick and was a solid star in his 10th year in the league. I heard him describe his approach to the game and his development on a podcast called

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

HAPPENING TO THE WORLD – A SATISFYING WAY TO LIVE

PalletOne leaders “happen to the world.” What does that mean? A PalletOne leader is confident. Each situation creates an opportunity for service and contribution. We are talented and put those talents to work. We see those around us as having talent. We seek to unlock it. We realize that we can be called upon to take the initiative to improve things at any moment. We act when the situation calls for it. We inspire through

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

SUFFERING AND CHALLENGES

“Weep, trust, pray, think, shift, hope, grow. Ways to handle suffering.” – Tim Keller Tim Keller was a preacher from New York City. He passed away in 2023. I followed him on Twitter because he tweeted profound thoughts like the one above. You don’t exit life without tough things happening to you. It’s a fact. None of us are exempt. In specific order, Keller gave us seven verbs to consider when challenged: Weep – It’s

Howe Q. Wallace March 22, 2024