When you hear the word change, what do you feel? It’s always interesting to me that this one little word, “change,” evokes so much emotion (both positive and negative) from the recipient of the announcement.
I’m very careful not to use the word at all when delivering news to employees. Whenever management says, “change,” employees automatically think things are about to get worse. So I will often use the word “improvements” instead. But only when the change really is an improvement, of course. If you’re changing things for the worse, you’re better off figuring out how to avoid making the change in the first place. If you must make that change, leveling with your people in a human manner and explaining the why behind the change will earn you more understanding and respect than a memo or an email.
Anyway, you may notice things look new in this issue of REMAN U. We’ve been at this for 300 weeks, and it’s time to make some changes. I mean improvements. Really.
First and foremost, there’s a new theme. You can thank Jennifer Porter and her crew for that. It’s 80% done, so expect some tweaks as we go. That’s one of our philosophies around here…work until 80% done and then launch. You move much faster that way. The credit for the concept goes to (I believe) Steven Pressfield in either Do the Work or The War of Art, but I can’t seem to find the original quote. No matter, we’ve adopted it and made it part of our culture.
Second, we’ve decided to pull all outside content for now and instead give you more from of us…and of YOU, so you’ll now see a new section called The Hot Seat where we share a short interview or video of ETE REMAN employees, REMAN U readers, transmission shop owners, and our suppliers. Keep an eye out for people you recognize and be sure to send us your ideas for people who you think we should feature in upcoming issues. We always love a good story.
Finally, almost everyone who visits ETE REMAN comments on our culture and asks how to implement some of our best practices into their businesses, so we’ve decided to include a new section called Culture Matters where we’ll share something cool from around our office or our travels. It is my sincere hope that you find inspiration in what we’re doing and make some of our ideas your own.
Here’s what’s not changing: I created REMAN U 300 weeks ago with the mission of delivering an impactful, inspirational, value-based message for you and in terms of you. We don’t sell here. We don’t push our stuff. We do this because we love to serve.
So keep reading, and we’ll keep improving.
photo credit: © cartoonresource – stock.adobe.com
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