Appleton, WI–Drawing from his leadership experience at WD-40 Company, Garry Ridge recalls a story that’s been passed down from early IBM leadership where an employee made a very expensive mistake valued at $600,000.
Naturally when the mistake was discovered the employee thought he was going to get fired. But IBM founder, Thomas Watson said, “I just spent $600,000 educating that man. Why should another company benefit from that investment?”
In Garry’s Book, “Any Dumbass Can Do It,” he highlights the importance of embracing mistakes as “learning moments” within an organization. Garry used learning moments to build security and trust within WD-40 by encouraging them and not making them punitive. This allowed the culture of WD-40 to flourish and thus to enjoy employee turnover rates in the single digits. It’s an understatement to say that Garry is big on culture. In his mind, it’s everything. Cultural transformation begins with employees first feeling truly heard and then feeling safe.
Does your store provide a safe environment where your team feels truly heard? Do they have reason to feel their job is in jeopardy on a monthly basis if they don’t hit certain goals? Is your employee turnover rate higher than your inventory turn? Think about how working on your culture could create a happy, healthy, wealthy place to work. Perhaps pick up Garry’s book and learn from the best. Any dumbass can do it.