The phrase “Pushing the envelope”… DO YOU? WE ALL SHOULD!
Today’s blog is by Gayl Southard, Vice President of Administration at SafeSourcing Inc.
The phrase “Pushing the envelope” was a termed coined by test pilots such as John Glenn and Chuck Yeager in the 1950’s. “ Each aircraft they flew was said to have an ‘envelope’ of performance. In other words, it was designed to fly safely up to a certain speed for a certain distance and a certain altitude. The job of the test pilots was to “push the envelope” by making the plane go faster, farther, and higher.”1
Harvey MacKay says that what “pushing the envelope” means to him is pushing oneself to maximize your advantage to be better, faster, and smarter in order to get the results you want in business and in life. Today having a great product isn’t enough…people expect things faster, better and cheaper. All parts of your business need to be up to speed. This is particularly important with customer service. You need to handle complaints quickly and efficiently, therefore resulting in a satisfied customer. If you make customers No. 1 they will make you No. 1. Businesses have to keep up or get passed by. Walmart and Kmart are good examples to learn from. Walmart has continually made changes and reinvented themselves, whereas Kmart remained stagnant struggled (after being acquired by Sears) and went in and out of bankruptcy.
We now live in a world of instant gratification. Consumers expect speed. It is important to get your workforce, employees, contractors, and vendors up to speed by training them to execute tasks faster, innovate, and share best practice ideas. It is important never to sacrifice speed for quality. Train correctly, and constantly to move at a fast pace.
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References….…………….
1. Harvey Mackey, WSJ, 7/12/2020
