TCNA Handbook Question.

We had a situation come up this past week at USG that resulted in the below email reply that I thought would be of interest, and a great learning opportunity.

It involves a tile wall assembly and the directions to have a movement joint designed by a design professional. Now most folks usually believe that movement joints are only for floors – that is not true and reading the section on movement joints explains in great detail when and where to use movement joints. The purpose of that statement in the TCNA Handbook is that labor (contractors) are tired of buying failed jobs when the customer either won’t pay for or don’t like the looks of a movement joint in their tile work. Contractors don’t want to be the ones to design the joints so it is now in writing that they can show the customer exactly what has to be done to make the job work.

I took a look this morning at the 2011 TCNA Handbook and the wall assembly – w231/w241-11 on page 241 and saw the directions about the movement joints according to EJ171. When you go to that page (274/275) you see two wall assemblies showing movement joints – both at the bottom of the wall and that is what they are directing folks to pay attention to in those wall assemblies. It is the same concept as the corner movement joint requirements as any time you change direction (corner or floor) you need a soft joint to allow movement without breaking the tile. You should also completely read the explanation section on movement joints starting on page 271 that tells what materials to use and how/when/where to use them.

If you don't already own a copy of the TCNA Tile Handbook you can get one online from:
WWW.Tileusa.com or drop me an email: Srausch@usg.com and I will have one of our field reps drop a copy off to you. If you're in the tile business you MUST HAVE this book.

Steve

What a week!

Have you ever had one of "THOSE" weeks? I have had it this past week. I started out making a sales call, something I don't do much of on a regular basis these days. I had almost forgotten that famous line: "YOUR PRICE IS JUST TOO HIGH! I AM BUYING IT CHEAPER!"

Now remember the role of the sales person is to sell and that the customer is always right, not always honest, but always right, from their point of view. I asked this person what basis they were using to determine that my price was too high. They looked at me like I just fell off the boat, then with all the patience they could muster, replied - I'm paying my current supplier XX amount less than your price. Really I replied? And everything else is exactly the same? Well, after a few more questions we did determine that there were several differences in the materials that we were trying to compare.

Then I asked the "KILLER QUESTION": What is the VALUE or true cost of what you are purchasing? Let's think here for a moment about buying gasoline for your car, that way we can ALL AGREE that the price is way too high. Or is it? What if you just refused to purchase? Can you get around in your life without gas for your car? What would that cost you in time and other inconvenience? A friend of mine is currently on an extended visit to Europe for several months, and she has no car. So even going grocery shopping takes on an entire new challenge for her - how can she buy what she needs and then walk back to her apartment without a car and carry everything? She walks from her apartment to the bus, from the bus to the train, from the train to the grocery, then after shopping must repeat that process. She would gladly pay the current $4.00 a gallon right now if she could. And it wouldn't seem like she was paying too much considering what she currently has to do just to get groceries. PLUS she has to repeat this process several times every week.

Bottom line here is that the price someone invoices you for goods purchased may not represent the true VALUE or true COST of what it is you just bought. Think about that for awhile and then see if you don't agree. By the way, I overpaid for my airline ticket this week also, but arrived safely on both flights ( that is certainly worth any amount of money to me) and I got upgraded to first class on both flights - all at once my ticket didn't seem quite so high.

I suppose I am suggesting that both the sales person as well as the purchasing agent may want to consider many factors in doing business together before either one determines that a price is too high or too low. Maybe somehow the value of a great business relationship can figure into that pricing equation.

These are my thoughts what are yours?
Steve

Asking Questions Again?????

I've talked a lot about asking questions, but in my humble opinion, it is absolutely the most critical life skill that we have. You certainly don't have to be in a sales role to need this skill, but you almost CAN'T be in a sales role without it.

The basic questions are really quite simple:
WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? SO WHAT?
I submit that you almost always need to know these basis answers before you can accomplish much of anything - especially that SO WHAT part. You can't answer the SO WHAT part without asking those other 5 questions first, at least not accurately.

Take any subject matter you wish, then apply these 6 questions and I believe you will have found the handle to the situation in almost every case. I also suggest that if you skip these questions then what you are doing is making a guess (possibly an educated guess but still a guess) based upon your personal beliefs or bias. To find TRUTH and ACCURATE information requires the information be recovered before forming your decision.

Can you think of a single situation where asking questions isn't the answer?

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Can you see your Reflection?

Have you walked by a glass storefront lately and seen your reflection? I did recently and I discovered that my image provided more questions than answers for me.
Did your reflection accurately show who you are? Mine didn't.
Did it show what your values represent? Mine didn't
Does it show your vision or mission? Nope mine didn't either.
In fact, did it even accurately reflect how you look or was that image even slightly distorted? Mine was.

Why the questions? If you can't accurately see what you want to show others in a glass reflection how will others know what it is you are trying to communicate? Many times we believe that we are clearly communicating things but in reality we are confusing the situation rather than communicating clarity. Are you comfortable with ambiguity? Are others any more comfortable than you are? If you feel the answers are no to those questions, what are you going to do today to stop it? How do you handle it?

Unlike my usual posts, where I attempt to provide all the answers to the questions I ask, today I'm requesting that YOU provide me with the answers. I found myself using what I thought was clear and accurate words to communicate my thoughts to others, and discovered that nobody accurately understood what I was attempting to say. I Completely miscommunicated my message without realizing I was doing it. I thought I was very accurately reflecting my thoughts and intentions to others, yet that image was reflected distorted. Since I always preach self responsibility for your actions, then I must accept that I did something wrong here. I talked but nobody understood - that isn't communications, it is just noise.

So here is my request. The folks who take the time to read this message (YES. YOU!) have all experienced this from one side or the other, so please reply to this and share your answers with me and others as to how you have learned to overcome this challenge.

We'll all be waiting to hear from YOU! I NEED to hear from you!
Steve

What can I do to help?

Have you ever heard of Ephraim Wales Bull? He is buried in a cemetery in Boston. This is the man who created Concord grapes - yet he never profited from the grapes because he died before they were marketed and used in jellies and jams. The reason I share this story about Ephraim Wales Bull is because the epitaph on his grave marker reads, "He Sowed, Others Reaped."

I've spent this week at our USG Research and Innovation center near Chicago, IL and was privileged to witness this attitude from almost everyone I came into contact with. What a refreshing and enjoyable attitude to receive as a gift from others. People providing help without expecting anything in return except the pleasure they received from helping others grow and live better lives.

I've been on the receiving end of the opposite attitude - and it is quite painful. I've witnessed folks who only care about themselves and what's in it for them! That doesn't make a good working relationship. Rick Warren started his best seller book, "Purpose Driven Life." with a chapter 1 title of "It's not about You!" We should all be required to read this and understand the true meaning behind it.

What about you? What attitude do you consistently show toward others? Do you actively attempt to provide help to others without expecting anything in return? May I suggest you try it for the rest of this week and see how it improves YOUR life?

Please let me know what I can do to help you this week!

Steve

Sharpen the saw!

Stephen Covey is a wonderful person and a great author. I like his habits book but like most books the materials only work when we apply them to our lives.
Last week I did the sharpen the saw exercise by taking a short cruise to think, reflect, and relax before the very difficult spring that I have ahead of me at work. I was actually expecting that I would not be able to relax and put work behind me - but was very pleasantly surprised how easily that did in fact happen.
Another great discovery - my ability to think clearly has improved dramatically. No I'm not now among the great thinkers of our times, but I do find that the issues that were un-resolved before I took the time away were now able to be thought about and viewed much differently. In fact, I've mentally resolved most of them to my satisfaction.
Now I'm not suggesting that this method will work for everybody on absolutely everything that you have on your mind, but at least in my case it has worked beautifully.
You may want to consider trying the process. It doesn't have to be a cruise or even a week long vacation - it could simply be one or two extra days off around a weekend that you completely unplug and disconnect from the rest of the world so your mind can relax and recharge.
Try it - you may like it. I know I did and I plan to take a day or two off on a regular basis during 2012 to keep the sharpening project going for me.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve

Motivation/Follow-Through with Check Lists

Life is like an untraveled trail with some very complex twists and turns. Many activities are detours that lead back to that pit of quicksand and mire. My mind easily turns to muddled thinking and disorganization. Just as an example, take the New Years Resolutions.
Are you trying to keep your New Years Resolutions and finding that some are already slipping? I doubt motivation is your issue - most likely, (at least for me) it tends to be my follow through, or lack of the same. My intentions are great, but somehow between getting out of bed and back into bed again, traveling that complex train, I just seem to "forget" the great list of resolutions and the priorities I wanted to accomplish them.

In walks the most humble of all Quality Control devices - the dreaded Check List!

Now as a pilot I know and use my checklist to fly the airplane without fail - it's not that I don't know or remember how to fly or what order to accomplish things in - its just that when my mind is working on keeping the aircraft flying sometimes I miss or forget something that should be routine and simple. Turning off the fuel pump after take-off is a prime example. It doesn't "hurt" anything, it just gets overlooked sometimes while I look for traffic. The same thing happens in my daily life which is why I find I must use a check list for most of the things I routinely do, even on a daily basis, or else small, simple things just don't get accomplished. In aviation the small things generally lead to major failures somewhere down the line.

I see the checklist used not only in aviation, but also medicine, design and construction projects, investing.......... There are even books written to convince us to use a checklist:

18 Minutes to Find your Focus, Master Distraction, and get the Right Things done by Peter Bregman. And of course, the best one: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande - a doctor who proves to you beyond a shadow of a doubt why it is absolutely mandatory to use a checklist.

But you reply - I'm in the tile and flooring business! Why would I need a checklist? Trust me, after nearly 40 years in that industry I find it absolutely mandatory in that business too. Here is an example of a checklist that maybe would make sense when putting your installers out the door in the morning:

• What do you understand this job priorities to be?


• What concerns or ideas do you have that we haven't discussed already?


• What are your key next steps and what is your timetable for accomplishment?


• What else do you need from me to make this job a success?


• Are there any contingencies we need to think about or plan for now?


• When will you check in on your progress and issues?


• Who else needs to know our game plan? How do we communicate that to them? When?

Does it take time to go through the checklist? Sure - maybe 5 minutes. But compare that to the hours saved in frustration and stress when the job is screwed up!

So a checklist not only reduces mistakes, saves stress, and frustration (on all sides) it also will absolutely save time.

Try using your own version of a checklist for just ONE WEEK - see if I'm wrong here.

Steve