Addicted: The Sequel

Embracing change can be a terrifying prospect, but bold decisions often see bold returns.

In my last article, I mentioned one of my clients in Zeeland, Mich., that is having a wonderful 2014. That client has seen a dramatic spike upward in sales over the last year.

This boon in business didn’t happen by luck or happenstance. It happened through great effort, strong decision-making and a willingness to change. And the best part is that every decision is propelling them to even greater momentum as 2014 unfolds. From the sales team to the customer care team, to production, growing and genetics, and all points in-between, this company is on a roll.

That client is Walters Gardens, and they are one of the most impressive companies I have had the honor and blessing to work with over the last two decades. Each step that has been suggested and strategized by Walters Gardens has been executed with a combination of intention and commitment. Led by John Walters and his management team, the company has a team of forward-thinking and adaptive employees who are delivering their promise every single day. The promise: We will exceed our customers’ expectations by delivering superior quality perennials, on time, and at a competitive price.
 

Moving rocks and boulders

The joy of this company is the way they have approached change management. During a two-day strategic planning meeting I facilitated last year, the pebbles, rocks, and boulders of change began to take shape. We agreed that the “mountain of change” needed, as we enter into the new global economy, was not going to happen overnight, but over time, one rock, one pebble, and one boulder at a time. Some of the boulders took the form of something I have been presenting for years, “The Great Game of Business,” a commitment to make substantive change in areas of either improvement or growth and having fun doing it. The fun part is creating games to engage employees in innovation and change, driving profitability, cost management, as well as sales and service excellence. (You can’t expect what you can’t inspect!)

The grower team led by Jeff Westendorp has created a wonderful combination of games that track the ratio of man-hours to plant production and have found phenomenal success. The winning outcome has been an all-team BBQ — oh the sweet taste of success!

Kelly Oates is leading her team to reduce the existence of contamination by instituting standard operating procedures that are to be tracked and measured. As the team delivered on the expectations, Kelly offered an extra bonus reward — a pie to her face. I have seen video of Kelly’s “pie-ing” and not only is it awesome, it shows the wonderful side of Kelly, namely her fun style of engagement and leadership.

At the all-company meeting at the end of 2013, we challenged everyone to choose one rock that they will agree to carry—symbolic of their mission to deliver on the Walters Gardens promise. They all took to heart the challenge; none more so than Frank Meyer on the production team. Frank gathered many different rocks and painted them a bright blue to remind everyone that the small effort of many will make a big difference daily. In Frank’s production area, there is a rock mounted on a pedestal to remind everyone of the vision for the day. Very cool!

Randy in “prepack” production has embraced the blue rock theme and leads his team in a “huddle at the rock” each day to go over strategy and numbers, as well as setting up the expected successes of tomorrow.

Walters Gardens is producing world-class outcomes by the simple, yet profound, commitment of consistently “owning” your blue rock every day, driven by the Great Game of Business, strong leadership, a willingness to change, and a world-class product. The end result is to create a culture where the employees are addicted to their workplace, and customers that are addicted to the products, service, and efforts they make each day to deliver on their promise — one blue rock at a time!

John Kennedy is a nationally recognized speaker, author, and strategist. He applies new insights in self-skills and personal development to deliver companies to the next level of success. His presentations focus on customer service, sales, leadership development and teamwork. Have a question? You can write John at john@ishakeitup.com