Today’s post is our archives at  SafeSourcing.

Our CEO Ron Southard has decided to repost this message because if you are not changing you are falling behind. So, how fast can you change? It better be immediately if not faster. And it may be that every associate needs to think of themselves as the agent of change both personally, professionally and for their company. So get cracking because in the time it takes you to read this post you will have lost ground with your competition.

What is intelligence? Encarta defines it as “the ability to learn facts and skills and apply them, especially when this ability is highly developed.” Another definition, famously attributed to Albert Einstein, is “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” If we consider the attributes we typically assign to intelligence, we can easily see how they all involve change:

• Learning requires memorizing new information, which requires a change in the structure of the brain.
• Someone whose circumstances demand a change in behavior, is not considered intelligent if they never perform the needed change.
• A business that adapts and reinvents itself in tandem with its changing environment is considered to be very well-led and innovative.
• In any career, it’s the dynamic and adaptable people who fill top management. Those who are given new directives and take a long time to enact those changes typically don’t gain traction.

If the ability to change is directly correlated to intelligence, then can a lack of intelligence be defined as stagnation? An inability to adapt and change? In short, yes, Dr. Edward Miller, CEO of the hospital

at Johns Hopkins University, stated in a 2005 interview, “If you look at people after coronary-artery bypass grafting two years later, 90% of them have not changed their lifestyle.” It’s been well-established in the medical community that even when the threat is death, the majority of people will not change previously established bad habits. Similar findings have been well established in business management studies. The old-school way of thinking is to assume that everyone just needs more threats, pressure, and dire consequences to get moving. But a one size fits all approach has never worked well in managing human beings. The truth has always been that negative pressure leads to faking change in order to make the boss, the doctor, the spouse, etc, happy with what they’re seeing, even though the truth is performance is still severely lacking.

While some amount of negative pressure will always exist, and will always be essential, what creates long term change is consistent benefit incentives. For example, when people don’t have any hope for the future of their health, their jobs, relationships, etc, adding pressure that says “things are just going to get worse if you don’t change” just adds to the hopelessness of the individual, which they interpret as more reason not to change. However, when someone is given a compliment at work, starts seeing results from exercise, or getting praise from a spouse, they will often see it as a glimpse into something better that is proven to be attainable.

Once we have created the right environment for change, the hard work of implementation can begin. This implementation has to start with paying attention. When a new policy shows up on our desk, we have to take it seriously, read it, memorize as much as necessary, and then change our behavior accordingly. When we see something go wrong, and we don’t change, most people would call that unintelligent. However, when something goes wrong and change happens quickly, effectively, and long-term, we are certainly displaying intelligent behavior. “In a world of constant change, the spoils go to the nimble.”¹

Please leave a comment or for more information on how SafeSourcing can assist your team with this process or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.

Referances——————————————————–

1. https://hbr.org/2011/07/adaptability-the-new-competitive-advantage

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

When you are out driving to work and running errands you might be thinking about what you should be doing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within your vehicle. Should you be wearing gloves, maybe wearing a mask, or keep the widows rolled up to prevent the entry of the virus. Well according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) you should be doing this one thing to protect yourself. Make sure that you crack the windows of the vehicle to ensure fresh air is entering the vehicles cabin. Because this is an airborne virus you would think that leaving the windows closed would help contaminated air from entering the vehicle. But according to the CDC it is just the opposite.   By improving the ventilation within your vehicle, it will help reduce the risk of transmission. Studies have found that closed environments are around 18 times greater than open air environments. So the more fresh air that you let in the better it will be for the enclosed environment because it will help prevent contaminated particles on the surfaces of your vehicle from entering your mouth, nose or eyes. When you keep the widows closed, the particles are trapped within the cabin and each time someone coughs the particles build up. By just cracking one window approximately 3 inches can keep the interior well ventilated. The CDC also says that it is safe to run the vehicle’s air conditioning as long as you set it to non-recirculation mode. When this setting is on, the system does not recirculate the interior air but pulls in air from outside of the vehicle. Below are some other precautions you can take to keep your vehicle safe.

• Keep windows cracked or open between drives.
• Be extra careful of what you are touching when filling up.
• Wash or disinfect your hands before touching the interior.
• Limit the number of passengers.
• Disinfect high touch areas frequently.

If you are looking to purchase any protective personal equipment and would like help researching available options, feel free to contact SafeSourcing.   We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which one meets your needs. If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

With states starting to allow the opening of businesses and other activities, there is a debate on whether or not you should wear a mask when in public. This, of course, only means if you are in public and around other people. If you are in an open area and are not within 6 feet of other people, then no mask should be required to stop or spread of the infection. If you are entering a business or other area where people are close together, then they recommend that you wear a mask to help prevent the spread. Experts are now saying that wearing a mask may not prevent you from getting the virus but may help keep you from spreading it to other people if you do not know you are infected.

Wearing a mask can be very constrictive to some people and sparks the debate to whether or not wearing a mask does anything to help protect those around us. This is something that I struggled with when deciding if I should or should not wear a mask because of advice I have been given in the past. My wife became ill last fall and is still seeking treatment and recovering. When she was diagnosed it was the start of flu season so we asked several of her doctors if she should wear a mask when in public. Because of her weakened immune system, we were very concerned of her catching the flu and it leading to other major health problems. Several doctors told us that she did not have to wear the mask because studies have shown that wearing a mask does little to help you from catching the flu. Because of this advice, she did not wear a mask through the fall or winter. But now, after listening to both sides over the last few weeks, we have decided that we are going to wear the masks. If wearing the masks can help spread the disease to even one person we feel it is the right thing to do.

If you are looking to purchase any protective personal equipment and would like help researching available options, feel free to contact SafeSourcing.   We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which one meets your needs. . If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.