Water Well Journal

September 2016

Water Well Journal

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Editor's NOTE A s my colleagues and I head home at the end of our workdays, we go through doors with signs on them. The signs read: Are the groundwater professionals better today because of what the National Ground Water Association, its members, and its staff accomplished today? The signs aren't big or even fancy—they're actually just pieces of paper taped to each door, in fact—but the question and answers they yield are huge. The question asks me to reflect on what I did during my shift. It encourages me to ask: Did my work further the stated mission of our Association; did my efforts push us toward our vision; did my actions help us achieve the four goals we have for NGWA; and finally, did my work align with the values we have established? That's a lot going on for an 8½ by 11 piece of paper. Your company is probably like NGWA in you have a mission statement. You may have a com- pany vision and some goals and values too. If so, they're surely listed in the employee handbook. If you're progressive, they're even posted in the breakroom or on a wall in a hallway. But are they in the most important place? Are they at the front of each and every employee's mind? I encourage you to drop by your mission statement toward the end of a workday coming up. Scan it and then ask yourself, "Is my company better today because of the work accomplished by me and that of my coworkers?" Be honest. Doing so may just provide you with some surprising answers. Your answers may make you evaluate tasks where you feel "there's no way we could stop doing that." But if those tasks don't align with your company's mission, and don't lead to a spot where the business is better off at the end of the day, you can and should give them up. The answers you give may make you wonder about workflows and shine a light on things carried out because "that's how we've always done it." No answer drives me more crazy than that one—and believe me—every company has a task like that. If you're doing something a certain way that doesn't make the company better, why are you doing it? Chances are some changes will occur in the future if you begin taking just a few minutes and pondering such questions regularly at the end of your workday. In fact, eventually you'll smile and say, "Yes, I did make a difference." Thad Plumley is the editor of WWJ and director of information products at the National Ground Water Association. He can be reached at tplumley@ngwa.org and on Twitter @WaterWellJournl. SMALL SIGN, BIG MESSAGE The Water Well Journal (ISSN #0043-1443) is published monthly by the National Ground Water Association, 601 Dempsey Rd., Westerville, OH 43081. Printed and mailed at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and additional mailing offices. Postal acceptance: Periodical (requester subscription circulation) postage paid at Westerville, Ohio, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Water Well Journal, 601 Dempsey Rd., Westerville, OH 43081. Canada Post/ Publications Mail Agreement #40739533. Return address: 4960-2 Walker Rd., Windsor, ON N9A 6J3. Advancing the expertise of groundwater professionals and furthering groundwater awareness. Chief Executive Officer Kevin McCray, CAE kmccray@ngwa.org NGWA President Jeffrey Williams, MGWC, CVCLD Director of Information Products/Editor Thad Plumley tplumley@ngwa.org Water Well Journal Editorial Review Board Art Becker, MGWC, CPG; Tom Christopherson; Dan Milan; Roger Renner, MGWC; John Schnieders, Ph.D., and Robert Sterrett, Ph.D. Senior Editor Mike Price mprice@ngwa.org Copy Editor Wayne Beatty wbeatty@ngwa.org Production and Design Janelle McClary jmcclary@ngwa.org Advertising Brooke Smith Kelli Nilsson Matthew Thomasson Mario Reyes To inquire, contact sales@ngwa.org Circulation Coordinator Mark Jones mjones@ngwa.org Contributing Writers Mike Allen; Ed Butts, PE, CPI; Donald W. Gregory; William J. Lynott; Julie Hansen; Ronald B. Peterson; Al Rickard, CAE; Michael J. Schnieders, PG, PH-GW; Gary Shawver, MGWC; Ron Slee; Lana Straub; Raymond L. Straub Jr., PG; Jennifer Strawn; and Alexandra Walsh Editorial, Advertising, & Publishing Offices 601 Dempsey Rd., Westerville, OH 43081 (800) 551-7379 Fax: (614) 898-7786 Selected content from Water Well Journal is indexed on Ground Water On-Line™ at www.NGWA.org/gwonline © Copyright 2016 by the National Ground Water Association. All rights reserved. The Groundwater NGWA Association waterwelljournal.com 6 September 2016 WWJ Ask yourself, "Is my company better today because of the work accomplished by me and that of my coworkers?"

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