How to mange your household like the best Damn Ship in the Navy

As a business owner I always want to read books on better management techniques. Mr. Hodges, who use to be in the United States Navy and is married to my typist,  recommended I read, “It’s Your Ship,” by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff.

Mr. Hodges leaves the house every day so he can get paid and pay the mortgage on my house. I think Mr. and Mrs. Hodges think this house is their house, but it is really mine. I manage it for them, and allow them to live here.

Running a household of five people, one dog, three cats and two birds is time-consuming. And, I do take my responsibilities seriously.

How to manage your household like the best Damn Ship in the Navy, (Please forgive me, I don’t say bad words. But the word Damn is actually on the cover of this book. Mrs. Hodges says bad words a lot.)

Pooh, don’t tell your readers I say bad words.

Mrs. Hodges. Would you please just type and not comment. I write the truth. Now, where was I.

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff was the former commander of the USS Benfold.

 His four main management techniques are:

1. Let your staff feel important. Talk to them and find out what matters to them.

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff thought it was important to see the ship though the eyes of the crew. He interviewed all of the crew members. He wanted them to feel that the shop was theirs. The slogan on board the ship became, “It’s your ship.”

The slogan for the Hodges Household will be, “It’s your house.”

Today I will set up interview appointments with the cats, my bodyguard Martha, and the Hodges family, who are my staff. Perhaps if they start to think of this as their home, someone will stop shredding the toilet paper rolls. And maybe the cats will cough up their hairballs on the kitchen floor and not on the carpet.

If the Hodges family start to see this house as their home and not just mine, maybe they will sweep up the litter in front of the litter boxes. And maybe they will pick up their clothes off the floor in their bedrooms. Mind you, I do like to take naps in their dirty laundry on the floor.

2. Captain D. Michael Abrashoff thought it was important to communicate the plan. He talked about his plan so often the crew began to call him, “Megaphone Mike.” The cats may call me, “Megaphone Pooh,” Actually I would be preferred to be called Captain Hodges, or General Pooh.

3. Captain  D. Michael Abrashoff told his crew that what they did was important. Discipline was created as the crew focused on their purpose.

Perhaps Mrs. Hodges would clean out the litter boxes more often if I told her how important her job is.

Hey, Pooh, I clean all the boxes every day.

Mrs. Hodges, you keep forgetting the litter box upstairs and you need to clean them twice a day and not just once. We like to have a clean box each time we use it, and there are, after all, four cats. I value your work Mrs. Hodges. Your job in very important.

Thank you Pooh. I live to serve you.

4. Listen aggressively.

I do have one bent ear, but I can hear very well out of the other one. Listen to your employees. If your employees want clumping litter, buy clumping litter. If your staff want softer toilet paper. Buy them softer toilet paper.

Keep your staff happy by doing what is important to them. Don’t worry about saving a few pennies. Buy the best.

You may not live on a ship, but you can run your home like one.

Perhaps I should start signing my name Captain P. William Hodges instead of Pooh Hodges.

All the best,
x0

Love Pooh

P.S. Please tell me in the comments how you like to manage your home. Do you listen to your staff or do you make your own rules?

P.S.S. If you click on the picture of the book, it will take you to Amazon if you want to buy the book. It is an affiliate link. The pennies Amazon pays me helps pay for kitty litter. After all, we have four cats and seven litter boxes.

You don’t have to buy the book to be a better manager. Just listen to me and you will do fine.