About 100 years ago, it took five days for a letter to travel from New York City to San Francisco by train. Then, in 1918, the Postal Service started experimenting with sending mail via the state-of-the-art aircraft of the time: the biplane. Transcontinental airmail was born. The U.S. Postal Service learned the importance of innovating to achieve new goals. You can do the same for your business.
Flying in the Dark
In the early days, transporting mail across the country by airmail took a lot of effort. For one, air navigation still largely depended on the pilot’s eyesight.
From their open cockpits, pilots had to identify routes by finding rivers and other land features to guide them. Of course, that meant pilots needed both daylight and good weather.
Pilots had to learn to fly in the dark to outpace trains that could go all night on a rail. The cutting-edge solution? Install a series of high-powered beacons on towers along the way.
What the Heck Is WUVHRKDBGM?
Beacons would flash Morse code to help pilots assess their current position and anticipate the next milestone. A single-letter code. And from beacon to beacon, the letters went in the sequence W-U-V-H-R-K-D-B-G-M.
When I first saw that, I thought, “Huh? How could that possibly help?”
Well, it turns out to be a long initialism for When Undertaking Very Hard Routes, Keep Direction By Good Methods.
Pilots made their way across America in the dark by deciphering these initials over and over.
“Keeping Direction By Good Methods”
Although this navigation method seems primitive by today’s standards, it worked because it was a system shared by all. And the message of the initialism still rings true!
It made me think about a few “good methods” that could help keep a sense of direction for a business. Because sometimes, running a business feels like flying during a dark and stormy night (with an open cockpit, no less).
1. Vision/ Traction Organizer™ (V/TO™)
The early pilots understood the vision and goal of their task: to get mail from coast to coast as quickly as possible. The beacon lights worked for their goal because they used a standardized system that was followed by all.
The Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) serves as the small-business equivalent of the beacon system for pilots. The V/TO provides a practical way to plan strategically and stay on task. It helps ensure that everyone in your business understands the vision and goals for the company and that all head in the right direction.
2. Core Processes
How can you strengthen the Process Component™ for your business? You identify your core processes and document them. Then you lead, manage, and hold your team accountable (LMA™) to execute them the right and best way, every time. By doing this, you establish good methods to keep the direction of your business consistent – even on “hard routes.”
3. The Meeting Pulse™
When you follow good methods in The Meeting Pulse, you create consistent beacons to guide your business. Week to week, quarter to quarter, and year to year, the Level 10 Meeting™ Agenda helps you stay the course. And each week, you make minor course corrections to continue toward your ultimate business destination.
What Next?
To improve the efficiency of airmail, the U.S. Postal Service had to create innovative ways to accomplish its goals. When you introduce innovations – especially proven ones like EOS®, you set yourself up to achieve new goals for your company.
Working with a Professional EOS Implementer®, your leadership team can create conditions to achieve your company goals. For example, we can help you develop effective, efficient, and repeatable processes to make your business scalable and profitable. Soon you’ll run meetings that keep your business on course like beacons in the night.
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