- humble aggressiveness
- open mindedness
- goal setting
- patience
- confidence
- fresh ideas
- stepping out of your comfort zone
- taking ownership
- learning through observation, as well as action
- creating opportunities
- setting expectations
- building print and business foundations
- "walking through walls" (persistence)
- earning respect
- putting in time
- becoming a go-to person
- thinking as if your plant is your own personal business (honoring the business)
- forming a career, rather than a job
- learning the right way to make mistakes
- adding value
- viewing economic challenges as an opportunity to build strength
- challenging the status quo
- digging deeper
- competing with yourself vs. constantly comparing to others
- honesty and integrity
- good intent, and even better resolve and follow-through
- being unafraid to fail
- embracing change
- avoiding negativity
- never doubting yourself
- staying balanced
- never thinking of yourself as bulletproof
- LOOKING FOR THE LESSON IN EVERYTHING...
My various motivational notes from First Year Initiative training remind me that it's not just my clock that should be springing forward (yes, yes, I know that was corny - I couldn't resist the Daylight Savings reference). Thankfully, I've already put some of this advice to the test during my first two weeks in bindery. For example:
Setting Expectations
I gave my Bindery Manager, Larry Bilsky, a copy of my Bindery Study Questions, all of which he promised to cover by the end of my rotation. I told him that I'm enjoying learning-by-doing, but that I'd also like to get oriented with work-flow and other big picture concepts.
Humble Aggressiveness
I ask questions whenever I see an opportunity to learn something new. If my unofficial Bindery Mentor, Chuck, has to stop the Muller Martini stitcher for any reason, whether to fix a small problem or to adjust the mechanics in anticipation of a new job, I quietly observe, and then ask for tutorials and clarification when appropriate. Being naturally inquisitive has helped me to loosely understand how Packing and Distribution works, and how temporary workers are employed in Bindery. I even asked where we load the staplers in the stitcher because I'd never seen anyone re-fill them. To my surprise, there was no mysterious, magical, never-ending supply of staples. Instead, there are large reels of wire!
Avoiding Negativity
The people in bindery are a lot of fun. On top of that they are truly committed to quality control, and they take this effort to a whole new level. Working alongside them, I've gotten past the initial perception that processes here are simply made up of easy, manual, repetitive tasks. One of the bindery guys, Kevin, jokes with me: "Easy money huh?!" While the tasks themselves seem simple enough, I quickly learned that you can't just take someone like me off of the street and ask her to load a Folder or stack folded sheets with Watermark Press' precision. Handling paper at a commercial printer is truly an acquired skill. I started my bindery rotation unloading the folder, taking bundles of folded sheets, straightening them up perfectly (or trying to, at least), checking for inconsistencies, rubber banding them, and stacking them high on a palette. I found myself in a game of Woman vs. Machine, an ongoing challenge that, according to Larry, often leaves me looking like Lucy and Ethel in this memorable "Chocolate Factory" episode of I Love Lucy:
As I engage in this playful race with the Bindery machines, I find the joy in the process of getting up to speed. I uncover more respect for the people who have mastered the Folder beast, who pry open the mouth of the Muller Martini and brave the act of switching the ominous blades, who fan out sheets better than a geisha in ancient Japan... And if you've ever marveled at the construction of the pyramids, that's just about how amazed I felt while learning the art of stacking paper on a palette. If you do it wrong, they'll tumble when you move them around, and this is a client's product we're talking about here, not a game of Jenga. However, I am, like I said, having a lot of fun - sometimes, I might as well be playing games. (The most fun of all is the Cutter: when I'm on a cutter, I like to imagine I'm in a fighter jet or motorcycle or something else young boys think are video-game worthy. Occasionally, I even incur Bindery Battle Wounds, which you recognize as "paper cuts".) Chuck, Kevin, and Steve (who usually operates the cutter) will randomly cheer outloud in Bindery. I tried long enough to figure out the cause for celebration before I just asked Chuck why they do it. "For fun," he said. "Or to re-energize. There's really no good explanation for it. We all do it now...I started it and pretty much got those other guys hooked on screaming WHOO HOOO!!! really, really loud." As you can imagine, it wasn't long before I joined in on the festivities too, just because.
Learning through Observation, as well as Action
I was loading the stitcher pockets for our Apple "One-to-One" brochure job when I learned about a caliper, the function of which is to measure the thickness of the brochure with the intention of moving along those which pass the measurement standard, and discarding those which don't pass into a tray. I noticed that when mistakes happen, and the machine discards a large amount of work into this tray, Chuck would take out those pieces and re-separate the individual pages so they could cycle back into the pockets. I took the initiative to do this myself once, and multitask by simultaneously loading pockets and separating the incomplete brochures from the tray, so I could load those too. In another instance, I unknowingly let a feeding error fill that tray before we stopped the machine and corrected the mistake. One of the pockets wasn't feeding, so after that, I was also able to listen in on the Muller Martini's subtle rhythms. Thanks to the machine's distinct rhythms, I've begun to recognize its wants, its needs: "more paper, less paper, straighter paper - feed me better!" I didn't think catching on to these things was a big deal, but Chuck told that I'm a quick learner who pays close attention.
I've found the value here in digging deeper, and being unafraid to fail. Speaking of which, I'm going to practice loading the folder this week. Hopefully, by the end of my rotation in bindery, my fanning skills will go from failure to fantastic...but we'll see.
LOOKING FOR THE LESSON IN EVERYTHING...because there's a reason for all these crazy rhythms...WHOO HOO!!! (Okay, maybe not that one so much.)
-H.
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