At Clarkson, we know that great teamwork is critical to consistent project execution. Studying the best teams in sports makes us a better team in everything we do.

Despite Sunday’s loss to Kansas City, it’s natural to ask, “what’s the secret of the Green Bay Packers?”

Of course you know about the Packers’ Pro Bowl talent: Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson. But do you know Mike Eayrs? Mike is the Packers Director of Research and Development.

Aaron Rodgers gets the headlines. But Mike Eayrs gets the players' attention with motivating stories.

It’s Eayrs who studies an opponent’s tendencies and even researches how each referee calls certain situations. But there’s more to the man than just game analysis.

According to a great article by Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Eayrs’ is a master motivator. You’ll enjoy this quick story:

It was the middle of training camp and the Green Bay Packers were starting to ache. Even with Mike McCarthy’s player-friendly schedule, deep fatigue had set in from long practices and longer meetings. But the lockout meant the Packers needed to keep working. McCarthy turned to a little-known, in-house expert for help.

“And the will to survive and the will to succeed are very close.”

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Safety is a big part of our culture at Clarkson Industrial. We’d like to recognize Randy Sherbert and his crew for their great judgment on a project last month. Another contractor opened a two-foot by two-foot trench adjacent to Randy’s crew. The contractor failed to put up a barricade to prevent workers from falling in the pit. Seeing the potential for injury, Randy came back to the office, picked up barricade stands and quickly secured the trench. Keep up the great work, Randy. You care about Clarkson associates as well as other others working near the open trench, and you corrected an OSHA violation.

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At Clarkson, we believe effective communication is critical to a successful millwright operation. According to one of America’s most revered management minds, the key isn’t the speaker. We hope these insights help you build a more efficient organization.

“It is the recipient who communicates. Unless there is someone who hears, there is no communication. One can communicate only in the recipient’s language or in their terms.

"Unless there is someone who hears, there is no communication." Peter Drucker

We see largely what we expect to see, and we hear largely what we expect to hear. The unexpected is usually not received at all.

Communication always makes demands. It always demands that the recipient become somebody, do something, believe something. It always appeals to motivation. If it goes against a person’s aspirations, values or motivations, it is likely not to be received at all or, at best, to be resisted.”

Peter Drucker, 1909 – 2005

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Time is money. An hour worked in the middle of winter costs just as much as an hour in perfect weather. At Clarkson, we know each customer is depending on our crew to be fully prepared for the unique challenges of the job, regardless of environmental conditions.

Our employees receive basic first aid training so that they can recognize, prevent and treat weather related health issues promptly to minimize inefficiencies. Our Project Managers have weather relief stations on site, particularly if our crews are exposed to prolonged extreme temperatures. We also plan for storage and installation issues that arise when the materials being used have temperature limitations (such as Z-Core pipe). Recognizing that the Clarkson Industrial fleet is essential to our service, we take the extra time to keep our extensive fleet well maintained for the harshest conditions.

Taking the extra precautions to prepare our men and machines for the job ahead is part of the professionalism Clarkson brings to every project.

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