Tangible Mechanism

Recently on a podcast with Coach Dave Schedin, (HERE) he mentioned ‘Tangible Mechanism.’ I quickly put those two words together and thought about shaping ideas into real actions.

I thought that a tangible mechanism can be something you create from your ideas. Yes, an idea is intangible, but it need not be.

Stick with me on this. I thought of bricks, lumber, steel, and concrete. You can build a house or building with these products, so why not consider ideas as building blocks of bricks, lumber etc.

When I look at just the past week of podcasts we produce and the hundreds of ideas that are generated for you, I would fill up a yellow pad of ideas to be implemented to take my life and my business to the next level.

Where will you find the discipline to be an implementor of the ideas or changes you need to make in your company so you can grow customer relationships and experience, hire, pay, and retain your people, improve your processes and systems and build stronger profits? That discipline can be found in humility and your leadership capabilities.

Author Jim Collins wrote about tangible mechanisms in his book “Built To Last”. Here is a short passage:

To be sure, a highly visionary company does have these, but it also has concrete, tangible mechanisms to preserve the core ideology and to stimulate progress. Tangible. Concrete. Specific. Solid. Look inside a visionary company, and you’ll see a ticking, bonging, humming, buzzing, whirring, clicking, clattering clock. You’ll see tangible manifestations of its core ideology and drive for progress everywhere. Intentions are all fine and good, but it is the translation of those intentions into concrete items—mechanisms with teeth—that can make the difference between becoming a visionary company or forever remaining a wannabe. 

Look at the metaphors in the above quote from Jim Collins. Did any of them engage you? Make your ideas into tangible mechanisms and build a better business.