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| To help organizations become more efficient and effective, reduce their waste and increase their profits, so that they might invest a portion of their new surplus to worthy philanthropies. |
“There is immense operational waste in the world's organizations. Clearly, immense beneficial investment in the world's current and future condition could occur if there was a commitment to identify and reduce the waste, then invest the savings into clean water, basic education, pre-natal care and other chosen methods to dramatically enhance humanity's future. Organizations and humans can create a symbiotic relationship in which each provides the other the opportunity to actualize.”
- David Childs, Ph.D October 4, 1999 |
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“The high corporate mortality rate seems unnatural. No living species suffers from such a discrepancy between its maximum life expectancy and the average span it realizes. Why do so many companies die young? Companies die because their managers focus exclusively on producing goods and services and forget that the organization is a community of human beings that is in the business, any business, to stay alive.”
- The Living Company, Arie De Geus
An organization is not merely a robotic, bureaucratic assembly line, or cubicles, or end product; it is a living, changing teeming mass of human and mechanical cells that combine to form a living organism. Just as humans have a brain/nervous system, organizations have computer systems. Just as humans have a musculoskeletal foundation, organizations have desks, chairs, cubicles, file cabinets. Just as humans have cholesterol, organizations have lawyers and auditors.
Therefore, making an organization “more efficient” is done the same way as making a person “healthier”; with a healthy diet, exercise, and a more positive attitude. Just as a person can eat healthier foods, an organization can intake higher quality staff and equipment. Just as a person can put a smile on their face, an organization can bring in plants and paint brighter walls. |
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| The Fit for Service plan to build more efficient, healthier actualized organizations is summarized on the Fit for Service chart: |
DIET: Just as your body becomes healthier by taking in healthy nutrients and expelling 'vile humors' (fat, LDL's, waste), so your organization becomes healthier by taking in healthy, quality staff, equipment, technology and ideas while expelling its 'vile humors' (poor performers, old equipment, outdated technology, etc.)
EXERCISE: We can become much healthier by exercising just 20 minutes per day. Very few of us do. Most organizations know that they can be more efficient. Very few do it. Dedicate 20 minutes per day to the Fit For Service 'Work-out Reminders'.
ESTEEM: People are more confident in their potential, and feel that they have more to contribute to the world when they have self-confidence and pride. So does your organization. Give it a purpose, a mission. Build it a family, a culture, and a tradition. Give it self-esteem. |
| The Author, David Childs Ph.D. |
David Childs, Ph.D. has been Dallas County, Texas Tax Assessor / Collector for 17 years where he has developed the Fit for Service concepts. As a result, the Tax Office has earned 3 State of Texas and 4 national recognitions for quality management, and has been visited by 5 international delegations. Dr. Childs speaks at numerous conferences and seminars, teaches MBA courses in Systems Thinking and in Transformational Leadership, and is an examiner for Texas Quality (Texas' Malcolm Baldrige Award).
Dr. Childs is married to Alice Canham, who is a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Daughter Lauren is majoring in medical research at Ohio State University, and daughter Emily is majoring in environmental law at Texas A&M.
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“This seminar motivated me to develop a mission statement for my business. It has also caused me to be more mindful of communicating in a positive way. I also realized that I could be doing more to empower. It has also helped in my personal life. My church motorcycle group had split into 2 cliques, and I used the principles in the seminar to call a meeting and get everyone back together. And my teen-aged daughter is really mad because I have successfully used the seminar's principles to foil her plots!”
Don Colt
Major, Medical Service
U.S. Army
“This seminar has benefited my life by reminding me, as a leader, that I am to always stay positive, for I am influencing other lives. I have gained a new respect for having integrity and standing on good ethical values that embrace the company's mission statement.”
David Cortez
Mary Kay, Inc.
“For the first time in my career, I measure my department by the mission statement. This course has benefited my department also in that we are more willing to take risks, to strive. I appreciate the way that Dr. Childs kept reminding us in the seminar that ‘people count'.”
Angela Coleman
SBC Global
“Prior to taking Dr. Childs' seminar I felt I had already honed my management skills and there was not much that needed to change. One of the most significant concepts that Dr. Childs conveyed was that ‘quality leadership is based upon giving.' Another key phrase was ‘Communication is as much how something is said as what is said.' Also, ‘When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Failure is actually a success if you learn from it.' What I learned from this seminar has had a profound effect on both my professional and personal life.”
Sandy Smith
Texas Federal Credit Union
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