One of my fellow
employees once said, “The trouble with our company is we have too much dynamic
apathy.” He was speaking of the comfortable feeling shared in the company about
where we were and how we were doing. It was preventing us from getting better.
A popular saying in Japan is, “The good is the enemy of the better.” We need to
constantly strive to improve.
There never was a
company that could not improve. There never was a process that was perfect. We
need to overcome the culture of good enough. If someone tells you the reason
they are doing something in a certain way because that is the way it has always
been done, you know it is wrong. It could be better. The reason for status quo
is sometimes fear of failure, fear of criticism for deviating from old ways, or
fear to try new methods. Sometimes employees do not understand the aim of the
organization or the culture of the organization is not aligned with the
top-level aim. Possibly the pay is low, working conditions are terrible, good
work is not appreciated, or higher level people take credit for successes or
place blame for failures. Those types of conditions will lead to a shrug of the
shoulders and a who cares attitude.
Gripers,
complainers, self-proclaimed prophets, and armchair quarterbacks abound. People
who rise above this and think positively and take action are rare and to be
treasured. It is easy to analyze, scrutinize, and talk but is more important to
improve the performance of each individual work process. We need people who
will not just discuss a situation but do something about it. We tend to get
what we expect from people; we frequently underestimate people. One woman was
asked how to improve her work and she came up with some great ideas. When asked why she didn’t come forth earlier,
she said, “No one ever asked me before.”
Another time, a
division vice president was explaining a dilemma to Dr. W. Edwards Deming about
how a corporate decision had negatively impacted her division. She said, “It came down from corporate,
what can I do?” Deming responded,
“You have more power than you think you have, you only need to exercise it.”
Care must be taken
to ensure the culture of the organization allows and encourages employees to
present ideas to improve the performance of the organization. This not only
improves the odds of success of the organization but also provides more job
satisfaction for the employees.
Statistical methods
for process improvement are useful where data can be collected. The seven
management tools developed in Japan can be used where data cannot be collected.
Workers and managers alike can read about them in books and technical papers,
or take training.
Higher-level
managers can use similar approaches to systems, but probably more important is
to address the culture of the organization. People should not have a fear of
failure if they are working to improve. Communication must be open, and free up
down, and across the organization so improvement attempts, successes, and
failures are shared in mutual learning. The overall aim and strategy must be
shared, understood, and committed by all.
No organization can
stand still for long; it must constantly, forever improve. When in doubt, do something!
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