The Lost Coin

Many businesses lose thousands of dollars each year due to mess and clutter; not to mention the tension it causes those who are forced to spend their days dealing with it—living in it!

I hope you’ll indulge me, telling you an ancient Bible story about a woman who lost a very valuable coin. You might imagine, she was very distraught! The woman searched frantically all over her house to find the missing coin, but to no avail—for a time.

The fact that "for a time" the woman couldn't find the coin tells me she must have been sort of a hoarder, with lots of disorganized stuff lying around everywhere—closets and drawers stuffed to bursting; shelves piled with junk; tools and other household items heaped haphazardly, etc.

Can you relate? The fact is—that's a picture of my company many years ago, until I discovered a way to fix it!

I recall about 15 years ago, I was very overwhelmed and discouraged with all the mess and clutter in our own printing company. Although I had already learned to use the power of systems for improving quality and service in my business, I had NO CLUE about what to do with the mess. It continued to be a major frustration.

Around that same time, our production manager was thinking to fire one of our most loyal employees, due to the ongoing mess in his work area, no matter how many times the employee was told to "fix it." I had to agree, it was one the most chaotic areas in our company—actually, downright embarrassing (sort of like my own office and desk at that time).

Some people just don't have a natural knack for keeping order, like that employee or even me, the business owner! But, SOMETHING had to be done about it!