INTRODUCTION - Passion

Welcome to my new blog, GALT BLOG! Let's start with who I am and why I'm here...

I am an engineer who has worked for a couple of large manufacturing companies (ADM and 3M). While I enjoy engineering, I found that I have a passion for improving things. Have you ever worked on a project or made a change or participated in a team where things really just seemed to "click". The participants were energized, the ideas were new and exciting, and the reality bred new and even more exciting ideas? I have. In fact, I have decided to focus my career around that feeling, that energy, that passion!

A few years ago, I started Galt Consulting in Springfield, Missouri to work with clients to improve their processes and find that passion. Last year, I left my comfortable job with a great company (3M) to focus more of my time into helping organizations simply get better. Since that time, it has been an exciting ride.

I had the opportunity to work with a local manufacturer to improve their quality and reduce their waste. Working closely with the floor personnel, we virtually eliminated some of the major quality problems and eliminated a major source of waste that was costing the company $50,000 per year! The best part is that most of the work was done by the people in the shop. Simply by showing them that they could make a difference, they found ways to improve. One operator told his supervisor that he found purpose in his job that he had previously found to be pointless.

I worked with another local manufacturer to provide a seminar on the process of continuous improvement. Partnering with OTC's Center for Workforce Development, we showed the participants that "waste" can be looked at as "BAD" or it can be looked at as "OPPORTUNITY". We then spent time on the floor looking at real "opportunities". We also armed the team with tools to use to take advantage of these opportunities. The team had fun during the seminar and afterwards, they immediately and on their own began implementing some of the improvements we discussed. After a couple of weeks, the management began making plans to implement a similar seminar to other teams in the facility!

A University department consisted of various leaders with very different job duties and skill sets. The dean of the department struggled to find common ground for the leadership team and decided to hold a retreat. He engaged Galt to facilitate the retreat. I began with a simple survey that asked the question, "What are you passionate about at work?". The answers showed a simple and common thread... they all wanted students to get the "college experience". We opened the retreat with an activity that highlighted the importance of having a common vision and then pointed out the common passion. The rest of the retreat was spent talking about what a "college experience" was and for the first time, the leaders began to feel like they were working together under a common vision.

These are just a few examples of services provided by Galt Consulting. I like to think that Galt is not your typical consulting company. My desire is for people to find purpose in their jobs or in their organizations, and have fun along the way! I want to use this BLOG to share some of my basic philosophies that have been derived from many others who are smarter than I and from my own experiences. I want to hear your opinions on these topics as well. I want to challenge people to think differently and not accept the status quo. I want people to be passionate!

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions or want to learn more, you can visit us on the web at www.galtconsulting.com or you can email at info@galtconsulting.com.