The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Maintenance Organizations - HABIT 4

Habit 4 – Think Win-Win

Dr. Covey calls this the habit of interpersonal leadership, necessary because achievements are largely dependent on cooperative efforts with others. He says that win-win is based on the assumption that there is plenty for everyone, and that success follows a cooperative approach more naturally than the confrontation of win/lose situations.

When a successful organization finds a solution to a situation they always ask, “How is this going to affect the processes before and after this one?” If it’s going to help one area but hurt another, then in the long run it’s not going to work. All solutions have to help ALL the parties concerned. Some groups to consider: finance, purchasing, operations, marketing, human resources, employees, stockholders, the neighboring community, even the local business owner down the street.

We’re all on the same team.

An example of a win/win can be found in organizations that practice full integration between maintenance and operations. Communicating with operations to schedule planned maintenance activities within a reasonable timeframe allows both parties to better utilize their resources and adhere to their schedules.