EP36: It's Your Job To Create Significance

Interesting. Then why did we fight over this word so much? How come you just didn't have it off your tongue? We had to fight for half an hour over the word. I had to think about it.

It went from purpose, objectives. missions, goals, like all this. And it's like you had it the whole time.

100%. No, but this is good. This is good stuff. I mean, it challenges us. The thought behind me wanting to talk about these kind of things is as I went from the solo guy to one guy to two, three, whatever, and kind of expanded upon things, I've always tried to make my team feel important and part of a bigger picture. And then sometimes it gets lost. And then, Brad, just recently, I have to tell you this, I got to a point where I had more guys. then I could legitimately give them task lists of things to do. And so I tried to create some autonomy and I'm like, hey, you're in charge of all the trucks. Just make sure all the oil changes are done and the tires rotations. And if we need new tires, let me know and we'll get it done. And I tried to just create autonomy. But the reality is, the truth of it is, if you had someone super dynamic that handled everything. with complete autonomy, they probably would be their own boss. They would probably be running their own company. So you have to help establish for them how to get that done because they don't know how to get it done. It was easy for you to do it all these years, but now you have to scale it amongst people below you.

Yeah, I mean, that's a really good point, Brad. But I mean, you know as well as I do, a lot of contractors coming up, they're probably charging too cheap anyways to get the work on the board, to do the stuff. And then for them, to physically be able to afford the A player, to be able to pay A player prices, they can't justify it. They're not even making that kind of money. Like to be able to afford like a real high end A player that wants to help establish a company, but not do all the stuff themselves. They need a pretty solid wage. And most craftspin to contractors coming up, they don't even know how to do that yet. So there's a tug of war right there. Like, well, I would love to pay this guy 40 bucks an hour, but I can't afford it. I only make 25 bucks an hour.

I see that. But so here, here's my disagreement with you is you can create significance with a C player, you know, and we, we like, this is, this is a dicey topic because you really want to get rid of your medium performing, you know, employees. The medium performing employees are probably the most dangerous people, right? But you can take someone who's a C player, who's like not super sharp. You can't give them too many tasks at once. And like, you're like, hey, let me help create significance. You're going to be in charge of this. Like, and whatever it is, like you're the water boy, you know, like bring waters for the team every hour. Like you can create significance by helping them understand, like this is some tasks that you need to do. Now the A player might be able to handle a heavy burden of, of tasks and responsibilities and holding them accountable. Where the C players, there's only a couple things. But you can create significance scalable through the different levels of A, B, C, A-plus players.

For sure. Well, let me take it even a little bit deeper. Like, can we take this all the way down to the solopreneur? Like, can you create like a checklist? Let's just say a checklist, to-do list, goals, you know, objectives, however we want to outline that. But if I have a goal and I outline it and go like, hey, these are the steps I need to take to do these things. And then you lay your head on the pillow. You know that... you know, you're making significant, you know, you have significance in creating certain things, whatever that is, like your day is going to be significant tomorrow because these are the things I want to get done. These are the critical tasks I want to do. Like it can go all the way down to the solopreneur, but then, I mean, we're really trying to create, I think my goal for the podcast is to like, how can we create significance to our employee purpose, objectives, culture, all that stuff tied into one.

We're not officially sponsored by Asana. You know, I didn't want to say that. Well, I mean, whatever, like, dude, it could be a piece of paper. I don't care. It could be a journal. It could be Asana. It could be Trello. Like personally, I'm, I'm, I'm infatuated with Asana right now. I really am.

Yeah. I want to hear it. I've been, I've been waiting for it.

Lay it out.

What time is it? Because I want to track it for the minute, like forever.

I mean, you outlined it pretty well. Really, you did. So I would love to just tell you how you've made an amazing impact on what I'm doing right now. Would you like to hear that?

No, I'm not bullshitting.

This is what's interesting. So, you know, you and I, you're like, hey, I systematize everything. I systematize. It's on a system where I take a poop and freaking how much water squirts up my butt with a bidet.

No, I mean, that's how you are. So, like, when we started the hammer and grind movement, like, how can we help people? How can we help contractors, you know, get better? You're like... We're going to systematize everything. We're going to use a sauna and it's going to tell you when you need to do this. I'm just like, oh God, Brad, really? Come on. And so, I mean, I've looked at it a little bit. And then, so I don't know what the trigger point was for me, but I like picked up a sauna. I was like, let me see how I can use it in my business. This is how it went, Brad. I was like, I need to learn this a little bit so I can be effective in what we do with Hammer and Grind, right? I implemented it. I'm like, how can I use this in my day-to-day? So it becomes more integral in the way I do things. And so I started doing a couple of projects. I did a goal. And then I grabbed my supervisor. I'm like, hey, I'm going to open up a sauna real quick. I'm going to get you set up and I'm going to start brain dumping here. And he was like, okay, this is cool. And I was like, hey, he likes it. This makes him feel significant. He has like some purpose and objective. Like he, he knows what he needs to do tomorrow. And I don't even have to talk to him. So I went to one of my crew chiefs and I got him on it and another crew chief. And then my office manager and I made my wife do it. And then like, dude, it's, it freaking snowballed from there. And then like the guys underneath all these people heard us talking about a sauna and they're like, what's a sauna? I want a sauna. And I'm like, well, let's get you set up on an email and we'll get you on. And like now. It's like everyone's pumped about it. It's crazy.

Well, no, I mean, maybe. But I mean, you said Trello's like, you like Trello a little bit better than Asana. But like right now, like my team's in motion and it's working pretty good. Aren't they kind of the same?

Can we change the name of the podcast right now?

Systematizing significance. Look, I want to come in here right here because what's crazy is like as you get more people, like you can manage like two or three people, four or five, six people, seven people, and then it gets a little chaos, right? If you add more to that, it's just, and you shouldn't have to live through that chaos. Some people can't manage through that chaos. Like for me, organized chaos, I do okay in, but there's a certain point, it's a breaking point. And I felt like recently there was a breaking point of like, there's just too much going on. And what's cool about using Asana and this software is it's made me realize some of the weaknesses in my team because I can see who's not following through. I can see the guys that are checking off their significant tasks that they need to get done to help manage certain projects. And then I can see the other ones that aren't getting them done. And they're just like... chasing butterflies out in the freaking wilderness. Like, what are you doing? Like, you got to get this done. There's a few critical tasks I need you to get done every day. It's significant to help our team grow and prosper and be able to move forward. But it's helped expose some weaknesses that's been really, really fun to see.

Well, it's interesting. And I'm just going to bring it up and you're probably going to be pissed because we argued for half an hour over it. before the podcast, but it's

Well, I mean, so look, I mean, there is a little bit of purpose here. Like some, some people, some people in life just need to, their purpose is to just make French fries. That's kind of their thing. I make people smiley.

I would fucking tackle you right now. I'll punch you in the knee right now.

Well, I mean, some people are that simple, man. I mean, and how come you can't be okay with that?

I mean, we can agree to disagree on this and that's fine. I don't care if the viewers...

If listeners say that you're correct, then that's cool. That's fine. I'll still punch you in the nuts. And I'll have to punch in the air to get that high. But the reality is...

The reality is like some people are that simple and that's okay. You know, and that's fine. Like you can create significance. That simply, you know, like I'm going to help you make the best French fries in the planet. I'll teach you how to do it.

That's what I love. I love mango. So what's the next step? Where do we go from here?

Listen, the reality is, Brad, I managed a lot of guys for a lot of years. And this is at the point I'm at right now. I have the most team members, guys and girls that I've ever had. And then I started on the upper level people on my team. And I started to like slowly distribute projects and goals and responsibilities. through this organized platform. You choose whatever you want. Currently, I'm using Asana. No, we're not officially sponsored by Asana. But to see everyone else, I could literally watch everyone below like, what are you guys talking about? Wow, you guys are so excited about that. And you're like, you guys are working on something. It seems like what you're doing is significant. I want to be involved. And so I literally watched it happen. It wasn't like I had one or two guys and then all of a sudden it's done. It's like I had enough people to literally watch this. Everyone wanted to be involved. And so I'm like getting guys into the program that I really honestly feel like it's probably kind of premature. Like, what are they going to do? You know, like, and it's terrible because I'm thinking like, well, they don't have enough significance yet. But then it's that inner battle. I'm like, well, let's create significance. Like, how can I add them to Asana and make them a significant part of the team and grow? Like that was, it was a really aha moment for me.

Okay, cool. What are we at? October 28th right now? Let's revisit this. I'll put a note in Asana right now to remind me. I love it. In like April 28th or something like that, we revisit it. So I'm telling you, whether it's Asana or Trello or some kind of new platform, I think it's... I think the process of creating significance through the employees is like I was doing it beforehand, but it wasn't so organized. That's what's been like this really eye opener for me.

I had a system before. The system was controlled chaos and some people can't handle that. Like I literally...

You're right. That

It is a system, right? It's just like you have a brand. Anyone listening to this, you have a brand, you have culture, you have that. You have it no matter what, whether it's where you want it to be or not. So I had a system and it worked for a little bit and then it just became... Instead of controlled chaos, it became just fucking chaos. Like, oh my God, it's just too much to handle. And then the problem with that is becomes, it's like, I got to handle something, but you're like, it's too much chaos. I don't even think I can handle it right now. I think I'll just go play with my fish room and trim on a bonsai and drink a beer and I don't want to handle it right now. It's like you literally walk away from it because it's so much chaos until you're in that mental position to be like, okay, I can handle all these balls in the air. I can handle all the glass balls. I'm going to go in again. So it creates a little bit of stability in that handling chaos.

I mean, I agree to a level, but I mean, sometimes that's still effective. It can still be effective. Depends on the project.

Sure. Here's where I've really seen it a lot, Brad. And I think you're going to like this. So I've almost created boards in Asana for each team member. Or I've created a board and assigned multiple team members to these boards. And the example would be like, you know, I have a supervisor. Currently, I'm the manager. I have a supervisor that I've cruised underneath me, right? In a perfect world, I hire a manager to replace me in that position that handles the supervision. And then so like there's still like the chain of command, right? But underneath all that stuff, I've created a board like fleet management. Okay, we have... five trucks and four trailers and three machines and a couple of golf carts for the ranch. And so like fleet management is really, it's really, really important to our crew. You know, like if I, one of my trucks goes down, it could really affect like the overall performance of the company and the profitability and all that stuff. Right. So I'm like, okay, I delegate this board, let's say, and everyone's involved because I got five guys driving trucks. Right. And five other guys are driving different vehicles and machines. So if you have a problem with a machine, you can go to Asana and go into the fleet management and say, hey, we have a problem with the excavator. Hey, we have a problem with an oil change on Ranger 1,2, or 3, or whatever, right? So those things can be dumped in there. Before, it was like they'd come to me and go like, hey, we need new tires on the truck. I'm like, okay, well. I didn't know where to put it. I'm just like holding it in my brain. But now it's like it's dumped there. And now I've made someone responsible for that. And it's there. It's like, like, it's a significant deal for you to manage this. And then we can put due dates and all that stuff. This is no surprise to you. But some of the viewers that are, the audience that are listening, they don't know that. So like we can go, hey, I really need, I need tires on this truck within the next two weeks or brakes. We're starting to squeak. I got a week before I got to do them. And you can kind of throw that in there. And so now someone is responsible for that. It's a significant deal. Like, and they feel like, hey, I manage all the vehicles for this company. Like if I don't come to work, like the company could be crippled because of everything I do is so significant. And so that would be a really important factor. And then I've got... this project and that project and this goal and that goal. And everyone's assigned to those things. And I've seen such an amazing transformation between some of my team. We will have this meeting in six months. And whatever platform I'm using at the time, I don't know, but this is a big deal for me.

Only one? Just one. I doubt

I've had some significant troubles with my dumb trailer. I've created a dumb trailer board. And I got in an argument with one of the guys who's responsible for managing it today. Because it's like, look, dude, I don't even believe in ADHD, but you probably have it because you won't listen. So I had to get him back on task. But the battery was acting weird today. But it acted weird a week ago today on that other podcast we did. And then it was fine all week and then it acted up today. Only the beautiful thing was that it was at one o 'clock instead of like 5.30 last time.

It's part of the fleet. There's a dump trailer on there.

sure. I mean, that's going to go back to culture for sure. Right. And purpose and why, and like why we do what we do. And let's face it, not all businesses are that way. Some people, some, some businesses are just like, Hey, we wash windows, we make money and we put money in the bank and we're building towards retirement. Some people just do that. I imagine that most of our audience are a little bit deeper than that. They, they are craftsmen and they, they're blue collar workers that love to do that work and stuff. So. For me, the significance is a whole lot easier. And I am able to share those kind of moments with my team members. I mean, on the project we're working on right now on my team, we just ripped out a pond that probably cost the client, I would say, close to $15,000 or $18,000. The pond was literally less than 12 months. And we ripped the pond out. It was beautiful. But the homeowner fell in love with the pond so much they didn't realize it. And now they're like, they want more. And so we ripped out an $18,000 project. I'm speculating probably that. And now we're putting in a $50,000 project. And so the significance to my team is like, hey, these people love their fish. You know, we have their fish in holding tanks and we're testing the water three times a day. So it's like, hey, these things are significant. These are pets. They're like family members. And so... I am so blessed and so grateful that I'm in a position where I'm able to show the significance of our work and our craft to my team. And they really get it. They're like, hey, I want to test the water this morning. I'm like, okay, cool. Go test the water. Hey, we're going to make the pond deeper because it makes the homeowner happy. And so that significance is really apparent in my craft and trade. And I'm just so thankful for that.

No, no. So here's the, here's the thing. I mean, here's one of the things I am struggling with because I have handled controlled chaos so long for so long. Like there's a certain points, like you don't need to write this down, bro. You're going to go to the bathroom. You're going to wipe your ass and you're going to go back to work. Like you don't need to write that in Trello. Like each morning it's like, we are going to test for the water, you know? And a lot of my staff and team, they're all versatile. So like. One guy who's really good with a tile saw and cutting rock and stuff, he's already setting up that table. Another guy who's like part of my service management team and water quality management, I have maybe two or three guys. I'm like, hey, Josh, you want to check the water? Or, you know, the crew chief is responsible for that. So, I mean, I'm not that experienced in it yet. And I don't know if I want to go to that great detail. It's more like managing those little things that always fall through the crack is where I'm at first. And then maybe I'll go deeper.

True. I mean, there's definitely room for error.

I mean, we have, we have gone to that, that degree, like, Hey, set timers and stuff. But so it's interesting. And this is going to go back to culture, Brad, like we talked about, like my whole team knows how important those fish are. Like this job wouldn't even be happening if it wasn't for those fish. And so like everyone shows up in the morning, they're like, hey, who's going to test the fish? Like I've created that kind of impact with the team and significance. Like this is how significant this is, right? So I'm not arguing with the fact that maybe we should have an alarm or have a Trello or a sauna notification, but like the culture is so strong there that I don't have to like... micromanage that part of it. And that's what I don't want. Because if you start to micromanage every single step you take, then there's a balance between becoming unproductive and just marking down every single thing you do.

Here becomes the balance, Brad. So one of my guys right now, his phone's broken. He's like, I'll get one in a couple of weeks. Like we're, we're literally clocking him in on job every day for the next couple of weeks. It's just like the phone's not that important to him. Right. I have another employee that he literally puts his phone down and, you know, in the truck and he comes to work. Like he really, he really sets the phone down, pins his ears back. And like he, he, he relies on the crew chief to really direct and, and, and push. Right. So. You know, I have, there's portions of my team that are like that and that's, that's okay. You know, so not everyone has the ability to do that. So those kinds of guys, it's like, they rely on the quarterback, the crew chief to be able to go, Hey, get the tile saw out and start cutting or, Hey, stop cutting, leave the tile saw set up in case we have to cut more later, but I need you to move this direction now. So there is a little bit of autonomy that goes without. micromanaging. And I don't know what to call micromanaging such a terrible word. It's like microstepping every single thing.

Right, right. That's for sure.

I mean, it's like when you're checking, like, okay, so first of all, we've talked about this before about accountability and goal setting and things like that. Like if I tell you, hey, Brad, I'm going to get this done by such and such time, then I'm more likely to get it done. But if I tell you I'm going to get something done and I write it down, then I'm even more likely to get it done. And so like that goes without saying with everything. So if like we have a team meeting and we go, hey, this is the goal. This is how we're going to manage our fleet. And let's write the stuff down. Let's create checklists and let's set due dates. It's more likely to become accomplished when you're doing those kinds of things. And that creates significance, right? And so the more people you get, the harder it is. And that's why Asana has been really cool for me because now I have the ability to manage a lot of people at once and not have it all in my brain going psycho.

And also remember on April 28th,2022, we're going to be doing a podcast that week and we're going to be finding out what platforms, how we're creating significance and all that stuff in our companies, right? We're going to get it done, right?

It's going to be like a five-minute podcast. Like, nope, I'm not using it anymore. I don't do that anymore. Or like, yeah, bro, only I'm using this app instead. I'm using the Hammer and Grind app now.

shit. Thank you so much for paying attention to us tonight. This podcast means a lot to us. We hope that it means as much... As it does to you, it is does to us. We really enjoy pushing out this particular content. We love getting feedback from people. We love creating an impact in people's lives and making the world a better place through contractors, having better ways of getting things done and creating wonderful experiences for people. So listen, we know this is hard. We know we've been in the grind. We've been in the hammering. We've been all that stuff for many, many years. And so if you need some help, we want you to reach out to us. It creates significance for us when we help you. So reach on out to us. And until next time, we'll catch you on the next time.