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Change the process and you will solve the problem

On our most recent trip to Disney World we went to the Magic Kingdom park on a fairly busy Sunday. To reach the Theme Park you must park at the transportation and ticket center and choose between a bus, a monorail or a ferryboat to get across Bay Lake to the park. Based on our past experience the Monorail and Ferryboat are the fastest ways to travel and usually take about the same amount of time. In busy times they may add a boat or additional monorails.

This time was different. The ferryboat has 2 decks. Disney had creatively added a gangway so both decks can be boarded or deboarded at the same time cutting boarding and unloading time in half. I can now get my family to the theme park quicker for a day of fun if we take the ferryboat. It also speeds up getting people back to their cars when the park closes. The change is good for customers and saves Disney the expense of running a third ferryboat. What Disney did was to change the boarding process.

A process is a series of actions which are carried out to achieve a particular result. An example would be the steps taken to change the oil and maintain a car. Ways can be found to be more efficient and speed the process up. A change to the process, like using a synthetic oil that doesn’t break down like conventional motor oil means a vehicle can go twice as long between oil changes reducing oil change time.

The cell phone was an improvement to the land line. We can make calls from our car, a job site or a ball field. But a cell phone is still just a phone. The smart phone was a disruptive process change. It is a phone and much more. We now have a computer in our pocket. At Disney World my smart phone is my guide map and schedule. It checks me into my hotel from almost 1,000 miles away. It is my room key. It allows me to do business around the world without being in my office.

As we look forward to 2022 we should be thinking about not just improving but changing processes to make a positive difference in our life and the lives of others. COVID doesn’t appear to be going away. We want to stay healthy. We want good health for our family and friends. We want to get back to our pre-pandemic lives. That probably won’t happen. What we can ALL do is to look for ways to live an active life, spend quality time in person with family and friends while remaining safe and healthy in spite of COVID. This requires creativity and changing processes.

Disney parks are busy and found ways to safely deal with COVID. Lines are as long as pre-pandemic. Fireworks, short parades and some shows are back. Plexiglass screens are routine to protect guests and cast members. They have found ways to minimize contact like mobile food ordering eliminating people standing in a line. Masks are required indoors. Not a big deal. The Japanese have been wearing masks out of respect for others long before COVID. Disney found ways to protect guests and cast members. They are running a profitable business and guests are coming to Disney World to have fun in spite of COVID.

Churches are having services. We found ways to have hospitality afterward and small group meetings like Bible study and keep attendees safe. Live meetings and conferences are back and protecting attendees. Industry has been protecting workers for years from serious hazards. Safety is part of the job. We know it is possible to live with the hazards on the job and at home. We can do the same with COVID if we learn how to change processes to make them COVID safe.

Government and the auto industry are pushing electric vehicles (EVs). There are advantages to these vehicles. In big cities they reduce noise and pollution. Florida is buying electric school buses. They are extremely quiet and have no emissions. The buses return to a garage nightly for recharging. Lynnda and I were surprised how clean the air was when we were in Tokyo, Japan, a city of over 14 million people. Most of the vehicles were hybrid.

However, EVs don’t eliminate pollution and emissions. They change where they occur to overseas places like lithium and cobalt mines. EVs don’t do well for long distance travel. They are expensive for the average American and discriminate against lower income people living in cities where people must park on the street. Imagine every house running an extension cord from their house to the curb. Electricity isn’t free. Shutting down coal and some natural gas power plants in favor of weather dependent energy sources drives up electric rates like in New England, California and Europe.

If we are really concerned with global emissions, instead of focusing on transportation fuels we should focus on changing processes to reduce or eliminate transportation and the resulting emissions. One way is buying U.S. or North American manufactured products eliminating millions of miles of ocean transportation annually. A product made in the Shale Crescent USA and sold in the USA can reduce transportation by over 20,000 miles compared to an Asian made product. When transportation is eliminated, product cost is reduced.

The solution to our personal problems, like Lynnda’s weight loss was not trying improve a diet. She found weight loss by changing her eating process making a life style change. She began eating differently and has a coach to be accountable to. We can change processes to find ways to survive and thrive in today’s COVID world.

The solution to personal, business and national problems isn’t small improvements. It is the ability to innovate and change processes like Disney has learned to do. We need to think big picture and be creative. Anything is possible.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is the author of four books and numerous published articles.

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