It’s 12:43 AM and I’ve been in the zone working on some Gemba Academy projects.

I can’t explain it… but I love working late into the night from time to time.  I do think getting adequate sleep is supremely important so I don’t always work late like this… but things are flowing nicely tonight so I’m going with it.

Anyhow, I got thinking about how we lean thinkers often preach things such as work smarter, not harder… or how lean is about getting the maximum result from the minimum effort. And I definitely agree with this thinking.

But here’s the thing folks. While I pretty much got straight A’s in college (OK, I got 1 B which was a total robbery but I digress) trust me when I say it wasn’t because of my staggering intellect.

Not the Smartest Cat Around

You see I’ve never been the smartest guy around… I’m not an idiot or anything but I have to work at things. I used to re-copy my Calculus notes after class because my initial notes were too sloppy. People used to think I was CrAzY for doing this… but I HAD to if I wanted that A.

Nothing Beats Hustle

I used this same attitude when I worked in industry.  I simply worked harder than most people… as such I went from a night shift Process Technician at Nokia to a Global Director of Manufacturing at Flowserve Corporation.  And now I’m blessed enough to run my own company.  How did this all happen? Hustle.  That’s how.

I’m also doing my very best to teach my children the value of hard work and practice and that if they work harder than others their chance of success is much higher than if they simply try to get by with minimal effort. 

So, I guess the point I want to stress here is to, of course, work smart.  Be productive.  Eliminate waste.  Be lean!  Obviously this is the right thing to do.

But please don’t ever forget that NOTHING beats hustle.  Nothing.  So no matter what God has called you to do I beg you to do your VERY best at it. 

If you sweep floors for a living sweep them better than anyone ever before.  And if you’re the CEO of a huge company be the best damn CEO you can be.  And if you’re somewhere in between these two professions… well you get the point.

What do you think?

What do you think of this?  Is the idea of hard work and hustle too old school?  Or should we all seek the glorious 4 hour work week so many claim to envy?

What do you think?

Those that follow American college football likely know that Jim Tressel, Ohio State’s football coach, resigned today.

It’s a sad, although not totally unexpected, day for Buckeye nation.

Of course the rest of the college football world (especially Michigan fans who haven’t seen their Wolverines beat a Tressel lead team in 2,746 days… and counting) are leaping for joy since – much like the New York Yankees – you either love Ohio State or you hate Ohio State. There really is no in between.

With this said, I’ve spent some time contemplating how something like this happens. If you want to read all the juicy details about the situation just visit any major sports website as they are ALL covering it

But, in the end, it boiled down to one thing – Coach Tressel made some very bad choices which involved lying and failing to follow the rules the NCAA and Ohio State set in place.  Obviously, many players (perhaps more than is even being reported as of right now) also made serious mistakes that started this mess.

To be sure, being the head coach at Ohio State puts you under more of a microscope than most of us can possibly fathom.  But I really believe with all my heart that nothing is more important than acting with honesty and integrity each and every day we’re on this earth. Your job – no matter if you are head coach at Ohio State or a shop floor worker in a factory – really doesn’t matter.   You see we’re all ultimately accountable for our actions in this life and the next.

So, while we lean and six sigma practitioners spend lots of time talking about continuous improvement tools and techniques and even a fair amount of time on the softer side of things such as respecting people… we must never forget that no lasting good will ever come from dishonesty and rule breaking no matter how we attempt to rationalize the situation.

What are your thoughts on this situation?

I’m confident that I’ve found the secret to living a happy life. I’m serious. I really do think I’ve figured it out.

You see, I know many people who are unhappy since they spend most of their lives at jobs they don’t like.

These people get that empty feeling in the pit of their stomach around 3:30 PM every Sunday as they think about the commute into the job they’re completely bored with and/or in some cases flat out hate.

It’s Not Quitting Your Job

And while I’m personally drawn to the entrepreneurial life not everyone is.

So the “secret” isn’t to buy some Internet marketing get rich quick eBook that promises to teach you how to work from home 4 hours a week whilst raking in piles of money. That’s a bunch of hogwash.

It’s Not Getting Rich

Furthermore, making lots of money isn’t the “secret” either.

In fact, I know some extremely wealthy people who are miserable. Sure they drive awesome cars and lived in mansions… but they’re not happy people.

It’s Not About Family Time

Now this one is tricky… since, for me, nothing is more important than being with my wife and kids. Nothing.

But, just the same, not everyone has a spouse and children… thus the “secret” I’ve discovered isn’t about spending more time with them.

You see the secret I’ve discovered applies to every living person on earth – from the new born baby to the elderly person nearing the end of their life.

The Secret Is…

So what’s this secret you ask? Do you have any ideas?

I thought about ending the article at this point to hear everyone’s thoughts but have decided to go ahead and let the cat out of the bag. Here goes.

The secret to living a happy life is right in front of you. Literally. You see the secret to living a happy and fulfilled life is to constantly learn.

Yep. That’s it. The secret is to never stop learning.

If you hate your job/life chances are you haven’t learned anything new in a long time.

And if you happen to like your job and feel as if you’re living a happy life it’s my guess you seek out new things to learn on a consistent basis.

This Explains Job Hoppers

I recently spoke to a person who said they can only work in the same job for a few years before they “have” to move on.

And while they didn’t say this I’m guessing the main reason they seek a new job is because they want to learn something new.

They may not realize it but boredom, at its core, seems to be more about the lack of learning and growth than anything else.

Constantly Seek Knowledge

So, no matter what you’ve been called to do in life one thing is certain. You should never stop learning.

You should seek out new knowledge and skills at your job, at home, and at church if you’re a person of faith.

You see, the minute you stop learning at your job, at home, or at church is the beginning of the end.

What makes this so hard is most leaders of people don’t understand this secret so you’re going to have to manage up a bit. That’s the bad news.

The good news is once you’re successful managing up these leaders will be happier people as well which is a fantastic thing for all involved.

Do You Agree?

Now, obviously, there are other aspects that must be in place to live a happy life.

For example, being with people you genuinely like, taking care of your health, and earning enough money to provide for yourself and your family are, of course, important. But, without learning, these aspects alone will falter.

Do you agree?

I love learning new things… as such yesterday was a very good day as I had the privilege to hear Mike Wroblewski deliver training on Leader Standard Work, TPM, and Time Observation.

For those interested, all of this live training was video taped and will be made available to Gemba Academy members.

During the Leader Standard Work training session Mike was describing how we as leaders shouldn’t solve our employee’s problems for them.

You see, as leaders, many times we want to simply “fix” things. So, when an employee is struggling it’s only natural for us to want to fix it for them.

In other words, we want to remove the monkey from their back.

The problem is by simply removing  the monkey from their back the employee learns nothing which is one of the most important jobs of a leader – to teach.

So, the morale of the story is this… when someone comes to you with a problem don’t steal their monkey.

Do you agree?