The pointlessness of searching for examples.
Copying the methods of successful companies is one of the obstacles to transformation (E. Deming)
Source of main material: [2] - W. Edwards Deming, “Out of the Crisis: A New Paradigm for Managing People, Systems and Processes” / “Out of the Crisis”, W. Edwards Deming - M.: Alpina Publisher, 2017. Scientific editors Y. Rubanik, Y. Adler, V. Shper. You can purchase the book from the publisher Alpina Publisher .
Material prepared by: Scientific Director of the AQT Center Sergey P. Grigoryev .
Free access to articles does not in any way diminish the value of the materials contained in them.
“It is not unusual for consultants to be asked to provide examples of successful applications for similar product lines. One person asked if the methods in this book could be used to make wheelchairs. Another wanted to know about the production of air conditioning compressors: do I know of any examples? The third was concerned with the issue of hospital management: could the 14 points be applied there? Another was interested in applying it to a large accounting firm. And another man asked about the possibilities of applying the principles outlined in this book to the production of cars, as if he had never heard of Japanese factories. One banker wondered if they could be used in banks.
A man just called me from Johannesburg with an offer: he would come here and visit six successful companies with me. He said he needed examples.
My answer to such suggestions is that no matter how many examples of successes or failures in improving quality and productivity you look at, it will not help you predict whether a company that initiates change will succeed. Its success depends entirely on the knowledge of management 14 points , diseases and obstacles and from the efforts that he himself is ready to make.
A typical situation: company management is eager to improve quality and productivity, but does not understand at all how to do this. In search of enlightenment, he visits other companies that seem prosperous at first glance. There, these managers are welcomed with open arms and the exchange of ideas begins. They (visitors) learn how the company works, partly this may accidentally coincide with the 14 points. Without using guidelines, both of them go with the flow. Neither company knows which procedures are right or wrong or why. The question is not whether the business is successful, but why it is successful and whether it could be made even more successful. One can only hope that visitors enjoy the tour. It’s not their fault, but their misfortune.”
Copying is risky
You need to take on anything if you are already savvy in theory. Americans are great imitators (e.g. quality circles, kanban or just-in-time). However, the Japanese first study the theory and only then begin to improve. American Management, not understanding its role in the work of “quality circles,” tries to copy them, only to discover after a while that it is all false. Quality circles that collaborate and interact with management will work well everywhere.
At one of the seminars I was told (unfortunately, I did not write down who) how the management of a successful furniture company decided to expand its product line by producing pianos. Why not make musical instruments? They bought a Steinway grand piano, disassembled it, made or bought additional parts and assembled them in the likeness of a Steinway, only they could only extract a dull sound from their brainchild. Then they reassembled the purchased instrument to get their money back, only now it stopped sounding.
"In fact, is this experiment fruitful? with red beads copy the methods of those who received few of them, and avoid copying those who received more of them?
Henry R. Neave gives an analogy that Deming used in this regard:
"Copying the methods of successful companies is like putting on the clothes that a successful person wears. It takes more than that to achieve success: only theory can help us imagine what is true and what is false."
The picture on the left shows the clothes of Steve Jobs (Apple).