Manson’s core values guide all our decision-making. These core values are: Take care of people first and always, Do the right thing, and Find a better way.
Our employees focus and talk a lot about doing the right thing and taking care of people; it’s what we do every day, and we are getting pretty good at it. In this article, I want to talk about “Finding a Better Way,”
Taken at face value, “Finding a Better Way” is often interpreted to mean a better way to engineer things, for example the value engineering we provide on our projects or the upgrades we make to our fleet to make sure they meet compliance requirements or that they’re capable of handling bigger and better projects. We’re a construction company, so obviously “Finding a Better Way” is supposed to be about how we build stuff, hopefully with the added benefit of increasing our profit margins.
But “Finding a Better Way” can also mean better processes (like our switch to a new ERP this Summer), better ways to recruit (such as outreach at trade schools or high schools), as well as better ways to treat our colleagues and employees.
Finding a better way is not always about reinventing the wheel, but it will involve change, and change is not always comfortable. Change can often be hard to accept, especially when the change makes you feel uncomfortable, challenges your cultural upbringing, or if it feels like the change is happening to you. Being uncomfortable with change doesn’t mean the change is wrong. It is human nature to resist change and to gravitate to the known. But change can be an opportunity, helping us to be prepared and improve our skills.
When you are feeling emotional about a change or you are resisting change, some questions you can ask yourself are:
Will this change make our worksites safer and more secure?
Is this change fair to all involved?
What is the rational basis for my discomfort with the change?
At some point in our lives, we probably have all said, “This is the way we have always done it. Why change it?” Asking ourselves, “Why?” is a good start.
When presented with changes in how we treat others, especially if this change makes you uncomfortable, I challenge you to lean into that discomfort, ask “Why?” and think about how this change might, in fact, be a better way for everyone.
We are committed to developing a culture where our employees and anyone who works with us will feel Manson Construction Co. genuinely cares for others. Change is what has gotten us to where we are today, and changes in our processes and how we treat each other will propel us to be a better version of who we already are.
