Stone Seer

Until one day that is, when I heard a golfer say he’d play the game out in his mind, visualizing how he would play each hole. He would mentally play the game in his head the night before.

McNall

Later that day, something an employee said to me gave me a revelation. He said I worry too much about the jobs, and that I’m always too serious on projects. (After work, I am anything BUT serious.)

I explained to him why, since I like to overcome potential problems before they happen. His answer: “That’s why I could never be self-employed, because I don’t have the foresight to see the job before it happens.”

Then it hit me: I’d played the game out in my head for years and didn’t even realize it. I’d look at the task ahead and think my way through it mentally, sometimes the night before the job.

I heard the voice of my father ringing in my ears, with “Plan your work and work your plan.” My dad really knew what he was talking about, and he wasn’t even Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan.

I started to realize the meaning of visualization. The reason I’d become successful was that I’d look for potential problems and figure out the answers beforehand. This is what caused my men (and women) to look up to me as a leader. They thought that I was some kind of stone Superman able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. The trick was that I figured out where the elevator was the night before.

Now these athletes make sense to me when they say they see themselves hitting a grand slam. They are looking for the right pitch because they have seen it in slow motion in their dreams.

Once I realized this, I was unstoppable! When I went in to price the next job, I already had an answer for every possible objection, because I saw myself doing it in preparation for the occasion.

It’s more than a way to sell jobs. It’s a maneuver that’s essential for anyone in this business. A salesperson needs to foresee – and communicate – any problems the technicians may encounter.

The technician, in turn, needs to imagine the task at hand and plan it out in his/her mind; it’s what they’ll need and what isn’t absolutely necessary, but maybe required if circumstances change.

I am sure Mike Weir can play Augusta National in his mind all day, but what if the day he actually shows up, it’s windy? Or unseasonably cold? He can’t just go home; he must visualize those particular circumstances if he wants a chance at beating Tiger.

Likewise, what would happen if, when our trucks pulled up to a job, an electrician was working on the house? Our guys may need to stop and visualize how to work with and around the lack of power (assuming he was shutting off power).

If they just threw up their hands and came home:

1) They as hourly employees get short-changed for the day;

2) The customer gets annoyed;

3) I’ve just lost that day’s harvest (thinking in farm terms sometimes puts a day’s loss in perspective); and

4) I’m also out several hours of wages for which  I can’t bill the customer yet (which affects my pocketbook).

All four reasons are irritating to me, but the last two are just egregious!

If, however, the crew asked the electrician where he was going to be working and at what times, they could effectively complete the task, albeit on a slightly different schedule. Alternatively, if an agreement can’t be worked out with the electrician, or power isn’t available, perhaps a generator can be provided to assure work is completed.

This involves changing plans mid-stream and making an effort to look for that right pitch. It’s what separates the pros from the minor leagues. But, these are possibilities that the lead technician needs to be aware of, and be given the permission to act on if needed. It’s one thing for business owners to visualize, but we need to encourage all of our staff to do the same.

Little things, when visualized, also see a job through to completion. Take tarps. Will they be needed, and where should they be laid? How many are needed? What length? Will they need to be clean from the git-go? Nothing says “You won’t be invited back into my home or business” like a stained carpet or scratched wood.

Or how about running water?.Where’s the supply? Does it pass over carpet? Wood? Do I have a plan if the hose leaks or bursts? Where will my vacuum be? And what will I do with that water after it’s turned into slurry? Will it drip? Where can I dump it?

A craftsman can look at a tree and see a table. We need to look not just at the floor and see a restored version of it, but we need to look at all the “what ifs” that life can throw at us and be prepared … like dear old Dad had told me right from the beginning.

Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go visualize myself on a white sand Bahamian beach with a cold drink.
Until next month, keep your stick on the ice.

Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. Tom  also offers corporate and private consultations, and will present “Walking the Fine Line Between Maintenance and Restoration” with David Bonasera on Jan. 26 at StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas. McNall can be reached at stone_rx@earthlink.net.

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