When you ask a child want they want to be when they grow up, they will often say: astronaut, teacher, firefighter, or ballet dancer. They have a vision of themselves in the future. Yet, very few children have a plan to get to that vision. The goals are missing.

This article was originally published in "Inside Vermilion County" by Vermilion Advantage.

Local employers are benefiting from the new IMIN Network (Inspire, Motivate, Improve, Network). While the underlying focus is sharing information and strategies related to continuous improvement and lean processes, the group is finding broad areas that apply to almost any kind of business practice.

The group is led by Amanda English and Mike Gragert, Watchfire Signs; Stephanie Yates, Danville Area Community College (DACC); Rob Newbold, IMEC; and Vicki Haugen, Vermilion Advantage.

Written by Rob Newbold, IMEC Manufacturing Specialist

It started for me when my dad asked me to program the VCR as a teenager.  For the first time, I could see that my knowledge set, experience at electronics, and willingness to test ideas was greater than his.  Now that I’m a dad, I realize it may have been that he was just too tired to get behind the TV to make all the connections and wanted to give me a sense of accomplishment.  Depending on which eyes you see a situation from can provide a very different set of outcomes.