Tom Cruise taught me a powerful lesson about productivity that still shapes how I work today.
Here’s the story
In the 90s I worked as a VP Operations of Call Center & Distribution operations
Customers would phone in or mail in their orders to us and we’d package them up and ship them out.
All in the days before e-commerce was even a term.
We’d fulfill everything from compact discs through to gardening tools and children’s toys.
One company I worked for in Los Angeles had a big Client base across the movie studios.
Before any big new movie was released, the studios would send promotional materials out to movie theaters around the country.
Sending out those promotional materials was a service we provided to the movie studios.
We’d package and ship off things like posters, standees (those life sized cut-outs and backdrops) and promotional items for VIP receptions and giveaways.
I remember for one movie about kids who became spies, we had a complete ‘Spy Briefcase’ with binoculars, a fingerprint dusting kit and a play along game that matched the plot of the movie.
In the 90s Tom Cruise was everywhere
And our company won the Tom Cruise Fan Club account which was a big deal.
So when Tom Cruise fans would write or call in to our Customer Care Center and ask for memorabilia, our Warehouse Employees would ‘pick and pack’ all the necessary items for a Fan Club kit and mail it out.
And they all wore white gloves. I love this attention to detail.
Because no fan ever expected to receive an autographed Tom Cruise photo with a big oily smudge on it.
If that happened, believe me our Customer Care Center would hear about it.
I was put in charge of the Tom Cruise Fan Club account – and it’s productivity
The Tom Cruise Fan Club project was one of the first Distribution Center programs I was assigned to manage after I joined the company.
Even though I didn’t have any formal background in running Distribution Centers.
So I was grateful when another VP in the company, Sandra, took the time to teach me how to set up an efficient ‘pick and pack’ operation.
A ‘pick and pack’ operations involves deciding how to stage and layout all the items that went into the kit.
In such a way that an optimized amount of time was spent on each kit.
We VPs always did the work of designing the ‘pick and pack’ process first.
With the valuable help of two or three of our top Distribution Employees as well.
We’d study where to position the materials, how people moved and where they had to go. And we used stopwatches to evaluate how much time was spent.
And as we were designing this pick and pack process, Sandra gave me another piece of advice.
She said –
“Dan – it might seem obvious. But one of the keys to success in the pick and pack process is to avoid touching the same thing twice.
Because if you have to touch the same thing twice, it typically means that process isn’t as efficent as it could be.”
Productivity and Multitasking
Sandra’s advice resonates with me to this day. Especially as it relates to multitasking.
When I teach self-management, we talk about multitasking.
And we work to define it better.
For example, you can have ‘productive’ multitasking –
If you’re listening to a Customer and typing in what they’re saying at the same time, it’s true that you’re doing two things at the same time.
But those two things are in the service of ‘one thing’ – serving that Customer.
Talking to a Guest at hotel front desk counter and bringing up their reservation on screen is all in the service of getting that Guest checked in.
On the other hand you could have ‘unproductive’ multitasking
Where you split your focus between unrelated tasks.
If you’re trying to watch a Ted Talk and read a LinkedIn article at the same time – you’re really doing two different things at the same time.
They don’t go together.
And as you switch back and forth between the Ted Talk and the article, you’ll lose your focus and concentration on both of those things.
You’ve ‘touched’ both the Ted Talk and the article multiple times – but unnecessarily.
You didn’t have to do that. You chose to do that.
And in a digital world, with phones buzzing and chats popping up, it can be easy to fall into unproductive multitasking.
If you can do it at one go then do it at one go
What I learned in Distribution Centres applies to my work today.
If I can do a task in one go then I do it in one go.
Then on to the next thing.
Because there really is value in doing one thing at a time. And my concentration and thus my output or outcome is better.
Of course there are times where you may need to touch the same thing twice.
For example, if a Client calls to speak to me, I will put the report I am working on aside.
After I am done, I return to working on the report.
Yes – I have now touched the report twice. But I classify this as a necessary interruption.
In closing, I don’t touch the same thing twice if I don’t have to. And I think of Sandra often and the lesson that she taught me.
It has definitely done wonders for my level of productivity. And I hope it can helpful for you too.
https://www.omnitouchinternational.com/why-manners-will-always-matter/
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Daniel Ord
[email protected] / www.omnitouchinternational.com
