Have you ever seen the illustration of the boat with more rowers on one side than another? Perhaps you saw the exaggerated one with no rowers on one side and the boat just goes in a circle. The basic premise is solid. The same holds true for twin engine boats. With propulsion from one side only we are undoubtedly going to go off track, or in circles. The very thing that makes larger boats more manageable in open seas, and when docking, is the same thing that makes our teams go full steam ahead, instead of in circles. We need to give all team members the power to use scientific methodologies.

Are we using all our horsepower to move in the same direction? What do we miss out on when we are not all practicing the same scientific thinking methodologies? Are we like the boat going against the waves with only one engine?  We can’t leave all that horsepower on the table. Are we expecting just a few people to solve the day to day problems? We need each and every team member practicing scientific thinking, and problem solving, if we are going to effectively continue to improve. We simply can’t skimp on the training and empowerment of each and every team member.

Sometimes we can get by with only one engine. If we are in a no wake zone and we find ourselves with one engine not operating properly, we can still get by. But who wants to stay in the no wake zone! The no wake zone was a necessary path to Lake Michigan, but the big lake was the destination. The big lake was where twin engines really paid off. This was where we can really go places. When we are firing on all cylinders we can get to the exciting places faster, and quicker than the competition. Isn’t that what we want in our organization. Why leave these important advancements to just a few team members? Make sure everyone on your team is following the scientific thinking methodologies. Use all the horsepower you have available to power through when faced with rough seas.