Years ago I read an article about a factory in one of the Nordic countries. The thing that was facinating to me is that the factory had a one line job description. It read:
To do what needs to be done.
This fascinated me. The fact that you could take an entire factory and have each of the people buy into seven words. The fact that you could take so many pages of tasks, duties and skills and get them down to seven words.
To do what needs to be done.
I wanted to have my summer camp staff buy into camp with just seven words.
To do what needs to be done.
So I changed all of our job descriptions. They all now start with those seven words. There are things after those seven words, but everyone at camp needs to buy into camp with their entire presence, with all their actions and decisions.
To do what needs to be done.
No more – “It’s not in my job description”. No more – “Find someone else.”
To do what needs to be done.
It has changed our camp culture in the years since we introduced it. Drama has almost disappeared. Gossip is almost gone as well.
Pearce Williams staff do what needs to be done to ensure that the campers have the most amazing summer camp experience. This is what we live by.
If you can change your culture – at camp, at school, at the office – to buy into those seven words – the change will be dramatic, lasting and life-changing.