Talk:Culture of improvement
From HMCwiki
 |
Have a comment or would like to coordinate with others on the content of this article? Please comment below by using the "+" tab (next to the edit tab). To organize content please remember to use a "Subject/headline" option and please sign your name on discussion and talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your user name and date. To be automatically notified by email of additions to the discussion about this article, please click here. Your comments and input are very much appreciated! |
"Culture of Improvement"
I've been at this for quite a while.... From Total Quality Improvement, through TQM, CQI, and PI - and any number of other acronyms along the way. Today, it is fashionable to cite 'approaches' such as Lean and Six Sigma. Whatever. Simple truth is, they are all repackaging of the same fundamental concept: find what's wrong and fix it; and fix it again; and keep fixing it - in pursuit of the holy grail of flawless performance, lowest cost, and ultimate customer satisfaction. Do this while rewarding those who do and punishing those who don't.
It is my considered opinion that the fundamental reason why all of these 'approaches' so often fail (only to be replaced by a more recent, more fashionable "new approach") is a simple lack of committed, unyielding, constant, top-down leadership.
Rather than yet another article in praise of one "approach" or another, I would like to see an article that explores the issue of executive leadership - where to find it, how to get it, and - most of all - how to keep it. For, without it, the chosen "approach" (whatever its acronym) will fail.
Before committing an organization to a journey to acronym valhalla, before committing to spending huge sums on training of senior (but not top) and mid-level enablers, it is absolutely essential that CEOs who aspire to lead such an effort find, and learn from, CEOs who have done it. No one within an organization should be educated, indoctrinated, or become a believer in pursuit of a culture of continuing improvement 'til the CEO is. To do so is to invite disillusionment. Kbankert 11:31, 27 March 2006 (Eastern Standard Time)
Re: Article Request for Senior Leadership
Your assessment of the "the holy grail" is interesting. As I consider your comments I wonder if this notion of CEO persistence is something that can be learned, or is it an attribute, something that defines a person. Should the focus be on training leaders to be more persistent around fixing things (because quite honestly I would think they'd figure it out by now), or do Trustees and Board members need to be more diligent about finding people that have these characteristics.
There is another related article in HMCwiki called leadership alignment. Now that I think about it, your comments could add quite a twist to that article. --Stevel 08:44, 3 April 2006 (Eastern Standard Time)
