When a company isn’t performing up to expectations, one of the reasons often cited is that the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing.
That was once the case at Comstock Dependables of Detroit, but not any more. As of May 1, the right hand was officially informed about all matters pertaining to the left hand.
“Things have really been improving the past three and a half weeks,” says Marlene Filbert, Comstock’s CEO.
While there’s nobody around who can recall if the right hand ever did know what the left was doing, Filbert knows it certainly wasn’t the case when she assumed her position in 2014. In fact, she says, she had never even seen the two hands in the same room.
“But that’s behind us now,” she says. “Since the right hand now knows, we’re building the bottom line and pleasing our stakeholders, which is what matters the most.” She cites these improvements:
- It now takes just five days to transform a “lose-lose” situation into a “win-win” one – up from seven months just a year ago.
- The vegetable medley in the company cafeteria, which most considered to be over-salted, is now just right.
- Jerrold Hollman, an accounting clerk who cornered people in the hall and made them listen to “knock knock” jokes, has switched to reciting lines from the company mission statement.
- The most recent supplies inventory was a resounding success, with only one item – a multi-pronged T-15(c) unit – mislabeled.
Best of all, says Filbert, the right hand not only knows what the left is doing, but the two have actually been seen having lunch together.
