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Tim O'Keeffe recently spoke to American Fastener Journal about his extensive career and his role in the fastener industry.
"I am a Learner-a Lifelong Learner" is how Tim O'Keeffe, Chief Executive Officer of G.L. Huyett, describes himself. "There is a difference between education and learning, and I believe that you learn more from mistakes and experiences than you do in the classroom."
O'Keeffe was a liberal arts major in college at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with a degree in economics and minors in computer science, business, and philosophy.
"The liberal arts degree has enabled me to view life in stereo versus what I sometimes think is a mono-view that is taught in business schools," he said. "I would like to think that I can think outside the box by always questioning others, and most especially, questioning myself."
O'Keeffe cited several important experiences that have been formative.
"In college one summer, I managed a corn detasseling crew," he said. "Detasseling is a process of removing the tassel on selected rows of corn so that the plants can cross-pollinate to creating new seed hybrids. It is very important to remove the tassel, because even one missed tassel can destroy seeds within a ten-foot radius. We had difficulty inspecting because our crew varied in ages from 12 to 18. We could not keep the group together, and with corn plants being six feet high or more, we could not see down the rows."
O'Keeffe decided to divide the crew into three teams based on physical ability, and named them the Tortoises, the Hares, and the Rockets. "We only had one requirement-pull every tassel. I told them 'speed does not matter, accuracy matters.'"
O'Keeffe was pleased with the results because grouping the crew by speed allowed inspectors to walk closely behind each team and provide constant feedback. The end result included an unexpected surprise.
"What I did not anticipate was the implied incentive to be a Rocket," he said. "Every kid wanted to be a Rocket. Thus, not only did accuracy increase, but so did speed as the players on each team competed to qualify to move up to a speedier team. I learned a great deal from that job. I was reminded of the sociology of teams...