I am sitting on Southwest Airlines flight #621 from Jacksonville, Florida to Vegas on my way back to Tucson. I have often read about how SWA is able to be profitable due to better efficiency, but seeing is believing.Imagine a contest where you have 100 numbered chips and 100 numbered holes. Your task is to put each chip in the hole with the matching number. Your opponent has 100 chips and 100 holes. His only restriction is there is only one chip per holes; he can put a chip in any empty hole. Who would win the contest to fill the spaces the fastest?

Other airlines assign each passenger to a particular seat while the SWA group flows into the empty spots. In addition, before the inbound plane landed, the crew was already lining the next load of passengers in an organized queue.

This is just one of many clear examples of the need for a well crafted system to create efficiency and productivity. SWA does not necessarily hire better people than other airlines but they do provide the training system to assure success.

When I go to retailers who have huge stacks of inventory in back rooms where it can’t be sold, I wonder what system change could be implemented to increase productivity. There are many systems in retail that contribute to success and consistency. Don’t believe it? The biggest retailer in history, Walmart, figured out the importance of the right system for buying, selling and distribution and then used it to crush competition.

Retail is Detail and the more organized your decision making, planning, operations, buying, marketing and selling can be, the more smoothly your business will flow. The more your systems are focused on your strategy and goals, the more successful you will be!