August 28, 2017
Typically when I talk about persistence, I refer to my Mom because she is very persistent, and I’m glad that wore off on me. However, this time, I am referring to one of my ACA Group colleagues, Ellen Kane, one of my Manufacturing Council of the Inland Empire colleagues, Wally Brithinee and one of my APICS Inland Empire Board of Directors Tony Martinez. I have been involved in the West Coast student case competition since the first year when Ellen Kane founded it with 3 teams from 2 schools. Now, I have been the co-chair with Ellen (pictured below with me at the 2017 event), and it has grown to a highly successful competition with a sold out 25 teams attending our “West Coast” competition from all over the world and over 100 students – thanks to persistence from Ellen & the team.
My APICS Inland Empire chapter had one of the original teams to compete (Cal Poly Pomona) and has expanded greatly with multiple teams from Cal Poly and CSUSB and new teams from Harvey Mudd (the 2017 grand prize winner!) and the University of LaVerne. This would not have been possible without the expert support and generous contributions from our chapter and the Board of Directors especially Tony Martinez (thanks Tony!). And, after close to 10 years of trying and not giving up, with a push from Wally Brithinee (pictured below with students from Harvey Mudd and the head of their manufacturing program, Kash Gokli) and Tony Martinez, we have finally been successful in bringing UCR on board as well. We are thrilled to have significant participation of students in the future of manufacturing and supply chain!
One tip to implement this week:
Have you ever given up? I’d be surprised if you haven’t since we all have! With that said, I can guarantee that most of my greatest success has come after 99% of people would have given up. Sometimes I’m truly successful solely because I keep going until I find a way assuming someone somewhere has achieved the goal (because beating your head against the wall for a truly impossible task is not a good plan either)! I definitely wouldn’t have my consulting practice today if I hadn’t learned this skill from my Mom. And we wouldn’t have such a huge involvement of students in manufacturing and distribution without Ellen, Wally and Tony.
Actually, I find that most people give up when on the brink of success. Please take a second look at options before giving up. Or, gain help – note I wouldn’t have been successful without Ellen, Wally and Tony – and a host of other people. Instead, put your mind to work on how to overcome the immediate obstacle and then navigate one step at a time.