Welcome to 2017.
I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Speaking of safety, several of my blogs in 2016 discussed safety in chemical plants, refineries and personally. Let’s all keep safety at the forefront for 2017 too!
In 2016, I also spent a great deal of time discussing my views of innovation from different vantage points including strawberries and surfing. Of course, none of these are in my realm of activities, but it just goes to show how innovation occurs, sometimes in areas not commonly thought about.
Finally, I wrote about my time at Washington University in St. Louis, Albany State in New York and John Belushi and the Blues Brothers. There are several other personal stories which hopefully you found interesting as well as my views on ethics, chemical engineering, and process management.
After all, my blog has now been up and running for over two years! While I’ve enjoyed writing these posts, it’s also been great to hear from my friends, colleagues, customers and others from all over the world.
Looking forward
2017 may be a turbulent year…but I have some suggestions.
• Take Small Steps: When I wrote my book, the project manager at Elsevier told me that the Table of Contents was the most important part. By breaking the book into pieces — each chapter, section, paragraph — I only needed to write 1 – 2 pages. Then, before I knew it (well, maybe over one year later), I had completed 150 pages. I’ve tried to apply this perspective in other areas too — Take small steps and accomplish each step to reach your goal.
• Focus on the Benefits: Whether the task is at work (new process, new initiative or better time management), in the gym (longer run, more repetitions or a longer headstand), or with your family (this you can decide yourself), make sure that the small steps you take result in advantages and benefits to you or someone else.
• Develop “No Choice” Categories: What do I mean by this? There will be steps that you take which must happen for you to achieve the desired benefits. These steps are your “no choice” categories. But by looking at these as small steps as essential parts of reaching the long-term goal, you can better motivate to do what needs to be done.
I’ve already started thinking with excitement about 2017’s blog posts. Look forward to my thoughts on Ford Motor & Tequila, Famous Nathan’s Hot Dogs and another wide variety of topics. I also invite you to make suggestions! In fact, I’d welcome guest blogger contributions. Please let me know what interests you. I’d be happy to discuss it further.