The smell of warm and tasty waffles filled the office at Corporate as we helped fill our For Pete's Sake Stock the Houses donation box with much needed items last Friday, January 13, 2012.
01/16/2012
12/21/2011
Rebecca Tapp - Brand Ambassador
Excerpt taken from Rebecca Tapp's Brand Ambassador Form:
Rebecca has grown greatly in her own confidence and is reflected in her high performance in Billing for ALL Parts & Service for Jeffreys. Rebecca has well over a 10,000 customer base for Jeffreys. Needless to say Rebecca has mastered the art of multi-tasking very well. She does a weekly review of the Back Order Detail Report to insure no missed orders for parts and service. She has also increased efficiency to catch orders before they get too old, and to insure customers are invoiced in a timely manner.
Michael Garner - Brand Ambassador
Excerpt taken from Michael Garner's Brand Ambassador Form:
I met Michael 10 years ago when he came into the shop I worked for as a service tech and replaced a spindle in a Haas machine we had. After helping with the job I told him in passing that if they ever needed help to let me know because the job looked very interesting to me. He took me to lunch and explained the unique situation he was in. Just hired by Jeffreys and put in charge of finding another salesman and a couple techs. Since that day, Michael has basically built up what we all know as Jeffrey’s West. No he hasn’t done it by himself, but I don’t believe it could or would have been done as fast or as good without him.
12/20/2011
Happy Holidays from Phillips – here are some pictures from our Hanover & Federal Holiday Party
Feel the holiday cheer! Celebrating Phillips 50th Anniversary a this years Holiday party 2011
See more on our Phillips Facebook! See More
The Rocky Road to Virtuosity (And Why It's So Much Fun!)
We talk a lot about “virtuosity” at Phillips Corporation, and a metaphor that often comes to mind is of great musicians and how they devote themselves to a lifetime of reaching for impossible perfection.
A friend of mine sent me this brief, eight-minute video clip from a class taught by the great American cellist János Starker, and I have been watching it over and over again for the many lessons it holds and for the pleasure of seeing Starker play his large instrument as if it were a Hungarian fiddle.
Here is the link:
What I have seen so far:
1. The extreme joy in the young virtuoso’s face when she tries what the teacher has shown her and it works. She gets it! When Starker first makes a comment about how she can improve, she respectfully counters with what she is already doing that makes it so good. The teacher patiently puts her hand in position, she tries it, and she instantly experiences the joy of moving her playing to the next level. Celebration! Champagne!
2. Starker’s comment that “each level has its beginning”, and that we need to celebrate when we master one level and be aware when we enter the next one that “basically, everything is wrong”.
3. Starker’s idea that for there to be no limit or endpoint along the path to virtuosity, we must know the basics. It’s easy to build early success on hard work, talent, and luck. What will limit us is not knowing why things work the way that they do. While we are reaching for the sky, we must be clear on the basic underpinnings of what we do, and continue to work to perfect what the choreographer Merce Cunningham called the “dailiness” of our work.
4. Another thing that I watch and rewatch this video for is the fun of seeing János Starker play. If you have ever tried to get a clear sound out of a stringed instrument, or if you have ever been a little kid carrying an instrument as big as you are to school every morning, you have some idea of the physical strength and precision that he is bringing to making sounds as light as air and as fast as light.
Give the clip a listen. I would love to hear what you have picked up that I have missed, and to read your better ideas about my comments.
12/13/2011
“The Tale of the Mice and the Rice Jar”
老鼠与米缸
在一个青黄不接的初夏，一只在农家仓库里觅食的老鼠意外地掉进一个盛得半满的米
缸里。这意外使老鼠喜出望外，它先是警惕地环顾了顾了一下四周，确定没有危险之
后，接下来便是一通猛吃，吃完倒头便睡。
老鼠就这样在米缸里吃了睡、睡了吃。日子在衣食无忧的休闲中过去了。有时，老鼠
也曾为是否要跳出米缸进行过思想斗争与痛苦抉择，但终究未能摆脱白花花大米的诱
惑。直到有一天它发现米缸见了底，才觉得以米缸现在的高度，自己就是想跳出
去，也无能为力了。
对于老鼠而言，这半缸米就是一块试金石。如果它想全部据为己有，其代价就是
自己的生命。因此，管理学家把老鼠能跳出缸外的高度称为“生命的高度”。而这高度
就掌握在老鼠自己的手里，它多留恋一天，多贪吃一粒，就离死亡近了一步。
在现实生活中，多数人都能做到在明显有危险的地方止步，但是能够清楚地认识
潜在的危机，并及时跨越“生命的高度”，就没有那么容易了。
比如，员工的培训在公司管理中的重要性，是任何一个公司都明白的道理，但通过
本公司内训或外出学习等手段来提高员工、尤其是中坚员工的专业素质，毕竟要
力、物力、财力以及时间，并且经常会与公司各项工作有一定的冲突。于是员工培训
对与公司来说也就变成了“说起来重要，办起来次要，忙起来不要”的口号，致使许多
员工无法系统地接触到新事物，新方法，新观念。其实，公司眼前的利益不就是那半
缸米吗？
曾有这样一个人，每天都要去偷邻居的鸡，有人告诉他说：“这样的行为，不符合
君子之道。”那人回答说：“那就减少一点好了，以后每月偷一只鸡，等到明年的时
候，就完全不偷了。”
这也是一种循序渐进的理论？是不是很荒谬？但是我们有时候自己就做着这样的
事情。吸烟有害身体，怎么办呢？戒掉吧，每天少抽点；企业的管理机制有问题，一
步一步来解决。可是事情到了最后怎么样？烟依然还在抽，企业的问题还是没有彻底
解决，一步一步来嘛！
明智的管理者在制定一项政策的时候，总是会记得这样一件事--制定一个日程安
排表，不实现目标决不罢休。
计划使我们的思想具体化而体现出我们期望做什么？什么时候做好？谁去做什么
事？以及如何做？ 想想看！
12/07/2011
Haeger Shanghai ---The Cooking Competition
Haeger Shanghai ---The Cooking Competition
Since My first day work in Haeger. I knew that Phillips corporation is so wonderful a company and Haeger is the leading technology holder in its territory. I made a decision then. I will do all I can do to make all the partners feel proud of belong to the Phillips big family, to make everybody feel they are cared.
Bundles of young boys and girls, come from all over the country, come to Haeger to seek their dreams. Their talent and passion are not only show in office time, but also in daily life, like cooking.
We had a cook competition at 28th Oct. Poster was published one month ahead. Partners were eager to enroll and discussed the competition details!
Poster of the cooking Competition
Finally, the competition day comes! 28th Oct.!
4 judges are ready now!
Haha, a very strong Judge team: Jesse Cordova from Oakdale, Ivan so from Hongkong, Vincent Chang and Jackie Zhang from Shanghai!
Wow, Look at the foods ready on the table! Dumplings, Pumpkin pie, fruits! These are just appetizers partners made. Competition haven’t really start yet!
Now look at our leading actors, they were all buuuuussssssyyy preparing.
Dan was cooking his shrimps. How attentive he was!
After the elaborate preparing, the dishes were demonstrated to us one by one.
Spicy and hot for this dish by Yayun Yang! Spicy smell and chocky smoke fly to the whole dome!.It also made me tear and cough.
Our partners were around the table to taste our food,enjoying the happiness.
Eventually,it was time to enclose the mask of the winner.
Surprisingly, the simplest dish win the first prize! Green Pepper with Potato shreds done by Zhu Yong
This dish was deeply welcomed by the partners at home and abroad.
The first prize is a electric cooker.
The second prize is a shower sets
Third prizes are cook apron sets! All competitors have prizes, we are all winners!
While competitors cooking, I am visiting our partners' dorm rooms.
Cooking competition is in living room, on the first floor, and partners bedrooms are on second (for boys) and third(for girs) floors.
I never image the single boys James’ room is so clean and neat.
All winners and all dishes together!
Time flies! 3 hours competition just like few minutes!
After competition, we left the dorm for those partners who live in.
While we driving left, Jesse asked me ”Sally，When is our next cooking competition？ I want to cook spaghetti”
It seems we all cannot wait the next competition! Let’s see!
11/22/2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
Many thanks to the entire family of Phillips employees for their unyielding support of our program. During this week when we pause to give thanks for our many blessings in life, we pause and extend our gratitude to all of you for helping us help others get a break from cancer. Your generosity and commitment to our mission are inspiring and with your support, we are extending the reach of our program to your communities.
We continue to reach out to local regions to identify people who are best suited to participate in our program. We are awaiting nominations from Greensboro and Maryland and next month, we will be doing an educational in-service for the ONS (Oncology Nursing Society) chapter President in Oakland, CA. Within the next thirty days, we expect to receive three nominations from patients in these three regions.
And at home, we are busy with our program and in the past four months, have provided 67% more excursions than last year and 73% more people have traveled. Eighty adults and sixty seven children have been given a respite vacation and made memories of a lifetime! We are tremendously excited too for our new office space and especially for our Phillips’ children’s area that will be completed next week! We will be sure to post pictures of this great addition to our office!
From our community to yours, we wish you and your family a very blessed and memorable Thanksgiving. Thank you again for being a vital part of the FPS family!
Sincerely,
Marci Schankweiler
FPS Founder/President
P.S. If you're looking for some inspiration, click here.
11/15/2011
Projects and Process and Systems, Oh My!
It’s scary out there. I have been to conferences, read articles, and seen on-line discussion groups that have spent a lot of time chewing on such things as “What is the difference between a process and a project?”, “When is a project a process?”, “If you are process oriented, can you be a systems thinker?”, etc.
Can’t we all just get along? Project management, process improvement and documentation, and systems thinking all have their places; and none of them – in actual practice – are mutually exclusive. Remember that our definition of “correct” is “what works”.
Project management is a way of organizing the calendar and budget that guide a project and communicating that to project participants and stakeholders in such a way that stuff gets done. When we document process – no matter the form – we are writing a recipe for how to do something over and over again and get the same quality result. When we think of either projects or processes as systems, we are acknowledging that they are complicated and that they are non-linear: Sometimes when we follow the steps, different stuff happens and we need to adjust. Process improvement and systems thinking both lead us to look at root cause when we don’t get what we want. Process improvement tends to look at the sequence in the recipe to see how it can be fixed; systems thinking challenges us to look for causes based upon the relationships among the parts and players that are affecting the process.*
At Phillips Corporation, we also talk about “well crafted plans”. A well crafted plan supports an audacious objective. It is in place before we begin, anticipating obstacles to success (like a project plan), should be recorded and reported as we go along (like a process document), and takes into account the big picture: people, culture, environment, and potential drivers and constraints (systems thinking). Some of these ideas have some contradictions to one another, but having all of them in our toolbox helps us to be flexible.
And now reality:
We set our objective, sign up the stakeholders, and craft a plan. Then the unanticipated happens, we’re thrown off track, and our lovely well crafted plan needs re-crafting. Open your toolbox and examine: Was a step missed? Should the step have happened in a different order? Were the proper tools or skills not in place? (process), Was the plan not communicated? Were all not on board? Did something scheduled or agreed to fall through the cracks without being noticed or communicated? Did we guess wrong on scope, cost, or time needed? (project) Does everyone understand their roles? Is communication happening the way it should? Is the team or organization inadvertently working against success? Are we pushing against the culture? (systems)
There are, of course, many more questions that can be asked, and we all have our favorites. Try this: if your orientation is stronger in one of the three – project, process, or systems – learn about the others or invite someone with a different orientation to join your team.
When something interferes with the execution of your plan – and something will – the more kinds of questions you can ask, the better your correction will be.
*(This paragraph is intentionally oversimplified. Please comment if you have questions, additions, or arguments.)
