Deming, Juran, Peters... 20 Years Later. Still Applicable Today?

Catching the next corporate wave? Purdue University's Krannert Magazine – Spring 2002

My first exposure to "corporate waves" began decades ago with the promises of "quality circles." Thereafter, year after year, wave after wave hit the corporate beachhead. Waves, not unlike tsunamis, come with inspiring and convincing titles: the Total Quality wave, the waves of W. Edwards Deming and his statistical approaches, Joseph Juran's measuring with a customer perspective, Tom Peters and the value of a continuous-improvement culture, then self-directed teams, reengineering, learning organizations, and lean approaches. Let's not forget APQP, TPS, 8D, black belts, fish, frogs, pickles, and, well, I'll let you fill in the rest - each industry had its own.

Without exception, each wave of programs left behind valuable flotsam and jetsam that corporate America used to achieve the quality and productivity improvements of the late 20th century. As we begin the 21st century, business consultants and executives everywhere are looking for the first tsunami of the century. I, too, look forward to its arrival. However, while waiting for the next tsunami and at the same time reinforcing the key concepts leftover from past waves, let's not forget the foundation upon which all of these programs rest.

What is the set of foundational skills that every individual in organizational America must have in place for both personal and collective survival? That question ran through my mind as I sat on Cannon Beach on Oregon's coast and looked at a sign and siren for tsunami alerts. I'll admit to being addicted enough to what I do for a living that I had my laptop open as I watched the waves hit Haystack Rock.

If employees are not listening to each other, if employees do not realize that a positive attitude is critical to personal and corporate success, if the organization is focused on opinions rather than facts (yes, Deming was correct), if "good enough" is not replaced by focused, continuous process improvement, if Band-Aids are used to "fix" symptoms rather than addressing root causes (Ishikawa helped here), and if truly listening to internal as well as external customers is not happening in your organization, then it doesn't much matter what waves have hit or will hit the beachhead of your organization.

So, down the left side of a blank page, I typed A, B, C ... through Z. Just as every letter of the alphabet is critical for communication success, the question became, "What is the equivalent alphabet for corporate survival and success?" It came together something like this:

A - ATTITUDE: I realized that in a book on work fundamentals, there must be a section that explains how critical a person's attitude is to success. Contrary to some popular self-help authors, I do not believe attitude is everything. But, WOW, it is a key ingredient. Some people haven't a clue how their attitude is tripping them up.

B - "BEFORES": The workplace phrase, "When they start paying me more, then I will start working more," is equivalent to a farmer's saying something like, "When this field starts producing more, than I will start working it harder." Only in the dictionary does "pay" come before "work." Every success that is seen has an unseen string of what I call "befores.

C - CUSTOMERS: What goes on inside an organization affects what goes out the door. People too often understand customer service to be an external function, not seeing why they should treat internal and external customers with the same level of respect and service. That had to be in the book.

I - IMPROVE: "Good enough" isn't. Process improvement, at both the continuous incremental and reengineering levels, is part of every job description. How many people did I know who sincerely thought his or her job was to "do," but "thinking" belonged to someone else? Lots! Do, do, do, and you end up with a lot of doo-doo.

L - LISTENING: How many people do you know who don't understand how to really listen? Is it critical that everyone in the organization be aware of his/her listening skills? Can anyone's or any corporation's success ever be achieved and sustained without truly knowing how to listen? Which is more important to an organization's future: 1) "Speak up, we need your ideas," or 2) "Listen to the ideas of others"? Both.

T - TEAMS: Teams work. Groups of mismatched, ill-trained, undirected people don't. There is a reason you will find the word teamwork in the dictionary and not groupwork. Most people do not know what is critical for team success. They need to.

V - VALUES: There had to be a chapter that asks how any organization is going to benefit from its well-publicized set of corporate values if each individual does not have, and live by, a personal set of values. Do people think about how values apply to work? If not, perhaps we could help them develop a set of values or personal boundaries to guide them in making ethical decisions.

Z - ZERO DEFECTS: "Z" would have to be for explaining how six sigma is not a make-believe corporate goal but an absolute that must be achieved. In school, 90% was often a B grade, 99% was an A. In many industries, those kinds of numbers are an F grade. Unreasonable? Not if you are the consumer.

On it went until, from A to Z, there was a complete set of basic skills in place that could serve as the keel of the ship that would capitalize on the energy of each tsunami.

As I looked back through the alphabet of skills, it was evident that no organization will survive the 21st century without A - Z. The book became Future@Work - An Employee Survival Guide for the 21st Century.

Executives really are looking for the next tsunami - it looks good to the board, to senior management or on a resume to be riding the latest wave. Can you imagine a senior executive detailing his/her objectives for the upcoming year and stating: "I will personally ensure that each employee in our organization knows how to listen, how to study a process, how to monitor his/her attitude."? No, foundations are not often fancy and certainly not leading-edge. Yet, my experience is that for many organizations, a foundation is the missing key ingredient.

Well, there you have it. Nothing new.

I'd like to hear from you when you identify the first tsunami of the 21st century. I'll ask how this new tsunami will survive and make a real difference if you do not have people who listen to each other. Then I'll ask whether this new tsunami will be implemented and evaluated based upon facts rather than opinions. I'll also ask if your implementation teams are effective, and how you know. You get the point.

?– Nick Synko [email protected]