Manufacturing is Like a Rodeo

I grew up in the Midwest. In my youth, while my friends were focused on sports like, basketball, baseball, and football, I was playing in the dirt and dust of the rodeo arena. I spent 7 years riding bulls, and to this day it remains the most mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done. There were so many lessons I learned going down the road rodeoing that I carry with me to this day, and I’ve always found it striking how many of them translate into the world of business and manufacturing.

Stop, Pause and Think

When I was around 14 I attended a Lyle Sankey Bull Riding School in West Plains, Missouri. For those who don’t know, yes, there are schools to teach you the fundamentals of bull riding and other rodeo disciplines as well. So if you ever want to test your mettle and give it a try, you can sign up for a week’s course with some top schools such as Sankey, and Gary Leffew. Now, one of the lessons we spent a lot of time on during this school was mental preparation. Before you would ride, you would spend a good deal of time just mentally picturing the ride that you want to make. The goal was to visualize it as vividly as possible; try to feel the bull’s moves and anticipate different scenarios. What happens if he spins left, what will you do if he spins right, how will you counter if you are out of shape and he turns the other direction?

The more you visually practice this, the more prepared you will be when it plays out in real life. If you’ve prepared correctly, taken the time out of your day to Stop, Pause, and Think about how this ride may play out, then you’re not caught off guard when it happens. Some of the best rides I ever made were on days when I was really in the zone and prepared heavily for it (that’s me on a good day in the photo above). In return, some of the worst rides (and biggest wrecks) came on days when I rushed to the event, hurried to get ready, didn’t go through the fundamental steps, and thus become a victim of the ride instead of being in charge of the ride.

Slowing Down to Speed Up

Although I learned these lessons at an early age, how many times do I still struggle with the same principle in my work life! Life piles up, emails and messages coming in at a high-speed rate, and before I realize it, I’m running in reactive mode, a victim of events. Yet, so many times I also realize I can slow down to speed up. Times when I’m tensed up, focusing on an issue, giving myself a headache searching for a solution, if I Stop and Pause, maybe walk and grab a cup of water, when I return I’ve relieved some tension and start thinking about new opportunities that I was missing just 2 minutes earlier. Now, to take that one step further, what if I would mentally prepare better, knowing issues are going to pop up through the day, how do I prepare for them? I learned a trick from a friend recently who puts appointments their Outlook calendar at random times so they pop up on the screen saying “Pause.” That reminds them to break, walk away or just change subjects for a few minutes to open up the thought process.

You’re Not Alone

I see the same thing in manufacturing. There are so many machine shops that are under time pressures to produce. Many times, producing product with processes that are much more costly than needed, simply because they have to get it done and don’t have time to fully solve the manufacturing riddle and produce the most cost-effective process that will lead to faster lead times or higher margins. Due to work overload, they run the ragged edge in a constant pressure to get products out. Yet, there are always opportunities to Stop, Pause, and Think about how to prepare or perform better. I would challenge anyone who can relate to schedule time to brainstorm ways to get ahead of the curve. An example may be, when you’re facing manufacturing problems, realize that you’re not alone. Okuma has many distributors and members of Partners in THINC that specialize in every facet of manufacturing, and they’re delighted to help you fine-tune or even reprocess for full optimization. By combining their experience with your own, you can better predict what issues may come up and make preliminary plans on what your action steps will be in those scenarios. Slowing down and doing some pre-planning will speed up your manufacturing process.

What do you think, can you relate? Feel free to share your thoughts below.

Wade Anderson is Product Specialist Manager, Okuma America Corporation.