The Dog Poop Initiative - Softcover

Kirk A. Weisler

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1932280839 ISBN 13: 9781932280838

Publisher: Team Dynamics, Inc, 2005

Synopsis

This book was inspired by an event that took place in the summer of my life as a soccer coach and dad. My family and I showed up to the soccer field where my five-year-old son was going to play, and as the two previous teams finished up. As our boys gathered, some helpful parents from the already playing teams pointed out a large pile of Dog Poop on the field, and warned us to point it out to our boys. A few moments later, the coaches of the departing teams also pointed out the poop, and gave us the same admonition. Next came the referees assigned to the field for the evening, who told us the same thing!

After this third warning, my son’s other coach and I looked at each other and, without saying a word, turned and went to separate trash cans on the field in search of something we could use to scoop up the poop. We found a large piece of cardboard, and had it cleaned off the field in less than a minute.

I still remember some of the dumbfounded and bewildered expressions of the "Adults" who had so helpfully pointed it out – but who, apparently, had never considered actually cleaning it up! As I viewed all the parents that lined the field, and pondered all the parents and coaches who had been there throughout the day – each one dutifully and diligently passing along the "Poop Warning" – I marveled that NONE had taken the initiative to clean it UP! What an opportunity to teach, by example, the important principles of service, teamwork, selflessness, and INITIATIVE. In my mind’s eye I could envision each of these adults ten to fifteen years in the future, lamenting how their own teenagers don’t take initiative nor even understand what it is! Sadly, I would guess that even then, it will not occur to these "pointing parents" that a large portion of what their teenagers don’t do is a direct result of never having seen their parents do it. My rough calculations put the estimate at a potential 220 plus Adult Poop Pointers – and only 2 Poop Scoopers! With the Initiative Bar so low, those of us who are willing to take it end up looking like high jumpers. But what an opportunity to show our children how they, too, can effect change by taking initiative!

As I relayed this story to colleagues and friends, I found that a tremendous amount of people are just as upset, or more so, as I am with the lack of initiative in society. The ever-growing mindset of "It’s not my job," or "Someone else will do it," plays itself out all too often in myriads of ways that impact each of us on a daily basis. The response to the story was so strong that I included it in my next few speaking engagements. Some people even told of using the story in staff meetings. All that led to final publication of The Dog Poop Initiative. I hope you enjoy it!

About this title

About the Author:

Chief Morale Officer, Kirk Weisler gained national recognition while working in the, high turnover, low pay, low morale world of outsourced contact centers. It was there that he created for himself the title, Chief Morale Officer, and then helped to create an outrageously cool corporate culture. The measurable results of that cultural creation were so dramatic that Kirk was invited to share them, first nationally, then internationally. He now travels around the world giving experiential keynotes on the everyday things leaders can do to positively influence climate and build great cultures for themselves and their people. Besides being an expert in the area of culture Kirk’s unique background as a US Army Ranger, his work with At-Risk Youth and experience as a Master Team Builder make him a very fun, engaging, and sought after speaker. his personal mission to help leaders increase engagement, morale, motivation, build GREAT CULTURE. The Book you are about to purchase is a wonderful reflection of his unique and highly creative approach to making our the world of work a better place to play and score real goals, and get real results!

Review:

"Just because it's not your dog's poop, doesn't mean you can't clean it up!". -- Bob Goodnough, Ace Hardware Corporation

Anytime I open a lesson with, "today we’re gonna talk about dog poop" I instantly have everyone’s attention. -- Joanna Urry, School Teacher

The Dog Poop Initiative is a lesson for parents and business leaders alike. --Paula DePalma, Director Nemours

Kirk, Thank you again for your call a few weeks back. We have received everything and have already started working with all of our Managers and Supervisors. I will be running seminars in December. I have also received Purple Cow and The Big Moo. I have just started Purple Cow but am hoping to get deeper into it soon. Here is my story: Two weeks ago we had a large rain storm move through Seattle (shocking, I know!). With it being Fall, the leaves were dropping like crazy and they had clogged the drain in our parking lot. There was a huge pond in the main parking lot. I watched as one, two, three people came walking in our building with their pants wet up to their shins. I had personally walked around the pond when I came into work, assuming that maintenance would take care of it. Finally, I was walking to the bathroom when a woman came in the building, soaking wet from mid shin down. She gave me this deadly stare, pointed at me, and snarled, Can someone put up some cones in the parking lot! I just got soaking wet because I had to walk through a puddle! Inside I laughed because she could have walked around the pond but chose to continue through it without doing a thing about it. I sat at my desk and thought, This is a PERFECT pile of POOP! I went down the back stairs, grabbed a large broom, walked out to the puddle, took off my shoes and socks, rolled my pants up, and then made my way to the drain. There were so many leaves in the drain that the broom was worthless. I then reached in with my hands and proceeded to scrap the leaves out. It took me about 15 seconds and the pond was gone in about one minute. I walked back in the office, barefooted and all, and the POOP was gone. I thought you would enjoy a good old genuine POOP story! Jason Ziemann SanMar --Jason Ziemann

Six Sigma Black Belt Dear Mr. Weisler, I work for SAIC and we are teamed with Boeing on the Army's Future Combat Systems program. One of my duties is as Site Lead in Vienna VA for Lean Six Sigma initiatives. In that capacity I was invited to attend the Boeing "Make Lean+ Count" conference in Seattle about a month ago. One of the presentations by Floyd Sheets and Steve Holt was "The Soft Stuff is the Hard Stuff" and included (with a used by permission statement) "The Dog Poop Initiative." Boeing has made the briefing available to me for presentation to our Six Sigma Community of Practice next week. My concern is that while you have granted Boeing permission to use your work in this briefing, that permission does not necessarilly extend to me or SAIC. Rest assured that if permission is granted the presentation will merely be for awareness and potential further inquiry by our Six Sigma practitioners. Your work would not be included in other training venues without explicit permission from you. I would appreciate your consideration in this matter and hope that you can accommodate my request. Regards, E. Gordon Hagewood Certified Six Sigma Black Belt --E. Gordon Hagewood-Certified Six Sigma Black Belt

About this edition

• Publisher: Team Dynamics, Inc
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1932280839
• ISBN 13: 9781932280838
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 24
• Editor: Kirk Weisler
• Illustrator: Bill Sturgess Fifth