As a child most of us looked forward to the occasional field trip at school which broke up the daily routine but also offered the kind of learning you can’t get in a classroom. It seems to me that any company, leader or professional who wants to keep learning should also take field trips on a regular basis. In fact, people often ask me how I learned so much about creating high engagement corporate cultures and my answer is simple-lots of field trips.

What is a field trip? A field trip is a visit to watch how someone else does something, ideally someone who is even better at that something than you are. The folks at Harley Davidson took a field trip when they were on the brink of going out of business partly because of their horrendous quality and employee engagement. On their field trip to Honda, one of their major competitors, they discovered that Honda had no quality inspectors. Manufacturing teams monitored their own work leading both to higher quality and more productive employees. They came back and fired the quality police. The rest is history-they are now more profitable than Honda.

One reason field trips work is because when you see something first hand it is a lot harder to dismiss what it has to teach you. A few years ago I had a client who wanted to radically improve their customer service so I set them up on a field trip to visit one of my clients known to provide legendary service. Not only did they learn some practical ideas but more importantly they came back “fired up.” Having seen firsthand what a great service culture felt like, the leaders came back as raving ambassadors for change.

Field trips don’t have to be about visiting companies. Professionals can take their own trips. Let’s say your company does an employee survey. I always encourage leaders to find out which of their fellow managers received the highest scores. Then ask them if you can take a field trip to visit them. While you are there interview their associates, spend a day following the leader around while asking good questions about how they spend their time, and take time to notice what a high engagement team looks like. I’m guessing you will learn more in that day than you’d learn reading ten leadership books. It’s not that books or classroom learning isn’t useful, it’s just not the same as seeing the real thing.

Some of you have heard me tell the story about a teacher I met named Helen who was sixty-three years old. She had won a major award for great teaching. She told me how “field trips” to the classrooms of other teachers had been a steady practice of hers for several decades. Instead of sitting idly during free periods, she would regularly sit in on the classes of admired fellow teachers as well as every new teacher who joined the school. No wonder she kept growing. In my case I have given thousands of talks but I still take field trips to hear other speakers, young or old. Just about every time I watch someone else work, I learn at least one thing of value.

Maybe parents should take field trips too. Someone you know has better behaved kids than you do who are doing better in school and in life. Why not invite yourself over. Talk to the kids, watch the parents, and come with a set of good questions you’d like to ask them about how they parent.

I am writing this blog on the way back from a day at Westjet. Though I have worked with them as a client and will do so again next year, the purpose of today was to observe how they keep the fire of culture and ownership burning at their company. Once again I saw in real time that there are no gimmicks or fast tracks to create a great corporate culture where people will passionately service customers. What it takes are sincere, trustworthy leaders who take time to listen and inspire their people. They also spent a good deal of time telling stories about how they have served guests and served each other. Not a dry eye could be found in the room. On this field trip I was reminded that great cultures focus on heart not just the head.

There is one more reason to take field trips and it’s the same reason kids love them so much. Field trips are fun. So take a field trip. Go to another company and spend a day. Find a better leader than you and take a visit to their team. Find a professional you admire and take a field trip to watch them work.

Be well and keep on leading.

John