Hank was surveying the floor, timecards in hand, shaking his head. “I don’t understand it,” he observed. “They know they are supposed to be here at 8:00a sharp, but, look at this, only two people punched in on time. The next nearest one is 8:06, then 8:09, then 8:12. A couple of people were 20 minutes late. And it’s this way everyday. So, everyday, I have to make my little speech, but it just doesn’t seem to work.”

“And you know all this just by reviewing the time cards?” I asked.

“Of course, that’s why we have punch clocks.” Hank was looking sideways at me, wondering if I had never seen a punch clock before.

“I see, but you didn’t actually see when they got here.”

“Oh, no, my manager’s meeting upstairs doesn’t start until 8:30a, and since I’m a supervisor now, I don’t have to be here until then.”

“So, your team doesn’t seem to listen to your daily speech about clocking in?”

“Nope, I am thinking about reminding them again in the afternoon before the shift is over, just to make sure they remember,” Hank replied confidently.

“Here is the thing, Hank. Sometimes, what we do speaks so loudly, they can’t hear what we are saying.” -TF