Invisible things that make long-term success predictable

There is a wonderful story of a group of American car executives who went to Japan to see a Japanese assembly line. At the end of the line, the doors were put on the hinges, the same as in America. But something was missing. In the United States, a line worker would take a rubber mallet and tap the edges of the door to ensure that it fits perfectly. In Japan, the job did not seem to exist. Confused, the American auto executives asked at what point they made sure the door fit perfectly. Their Japanese guide looked at them and smiled sheepishly. “We make sure it fits when we design it.” In the Japanese auto plant, they did not examine the problem and accumulate data to figure out the best solution—they engineered the outcome they wanted from the beginning. If they did not achieve their desired outcome, they understood it was because of a decision they made at the start of the process.

At the end of the day, the doors on the American-made and Japanese-made cars appeared to fit when each rolled off the assembly line. Except the Japanese did not need to employ someone to hammer door, nor did they need to buy any mallets. More prominently, the Japanese doors are likely to last longer and maybe even be more structurally sound in an accident. All this for no other reason than they ensured the pieces fit from the start.

What the American automakers did with their rubber mallets is metaphor for how so many people and organizations lead. When faced with a result that does not go according to plan, a series of perfectly effective short-term tactics are used until the desired outcome is achieved. But how structurally sound are those solutions? So many organizations function in a world of tangible goals and the mallets to achieve them. The ones that achieve more, the ones that get more out of fewer people and fewer resources, the ones with an outsized amount of influence, however, build products and companies and even recruit people that all fit based on the original intention. Even though the outcome may look the same, great leaders understand the value in the things we cannot see.

Every instruction we give, every course of action we set, every result we desire, starts with the same thing: a decision. There are those who decide to manipulate the door to fit to achieve the desired result and there are those who start from somewhere very different. Though both courses of action may yield similar short-term results, it is what we cannot see that makes long-term more predictable for only one, the one that understood why the doors need to fit by design and not by default.

Over the years, I have met with two different classes of people in my field of purpose: Those who are living by default and those who are living by design. Those who are living by design can confidently predict long-term results. They are daily living by some invisible principles. They build their lives according to the design of what they are seeing with the eye of their heart. They are building their business according to pattern of their vision. Also, they are building their families and finances by the design of their dreams. They are building their nation by design too.

Those who can confidently predict long-term results do not assume. Those who assume are rarely successful. Look at this story: on a cold January day, a forty-three-year-old man was sworn in as the chief executive of his country. By his side stood his predecessor, a famous general who, fifteen years earlier, had commanded his nation’s armed forces in a war that resulted in the defeat of Germany. The young leader was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. He spent the next five hours watching parades in his honor and stayed up celebrating until three o’clock in the morning.

You know who I am describing, right? It was January 30, 1933, and I am describing Adolph Hitler and not, as most people would assume, John F. Kennedy! The point is; we make assumptions. We make assumptions about the world around us based on sometimes incomplete or false information. In this case, the information I offered was incomplete. Many of you were convinced that I was describing John F. Kennedy until I added one minor little detail: the date.

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This is important because our behavior is affected by our assumptions or our perceived truths. We make decisions based on what we think we know. It was not too long ago that the majority of people believed the world was flat. This perceived truth impacted behavior. During this period, there was very little exploration. People feared that if they traveled too far they might fall off the edge of the earth. So for the most part they stayed put. It was not until that minor detail was revealed—the world is round—that behaviors changed on a massive scale. Upon this discovery, societies began to traverse the planet. Trade routes were established; spices were traded. New ideas, like mathematics, were shared between societies which unleashed all kinds of innovations and advancements. The correction of a simple false assumption moved the human race forward.

The reason many Nigerians are not moving forward today is because of a simple false assumption or incomplete information. Once it is corrected, your mind will open up and ideas that will move you forward will start to flow out of your mind. Many Nigerians assume that they can never make it in Nigeria because of incomplete information. They believe that until they travel outside of Nigeria they can never make it. It is a simple false assumption that has kept their minds locked up for many years. Remember, once it dawns on them that they can make it in Nigeria, everything about them changes almost immediately.

Those who do not live by design will always need mallets and hammer to knock the door of their finances, families, businesses…into the right place in the days to come. Living by default wastes time and resources! Things may end up working for those who live by default, but the best way to live is by design. It makes life run impeccably, effortlessly and seamlessly. I advise you start living by design today, so that the pieces of your life—like finances, family, business, leadership…can “fit from the start.”

See you where great leaders are found!