How we manage failure

Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 admin

HOW WE MANAGE FAILURE
by Edward Deming, Detroit, June 1988

North American, companies tend to do the following:

Statisticians know what to do about this . . . they do not do it. They should be teaching, giving lectures, writing papers and helping others understand significance and application of statistics.

The Japanese got ahead because they practice all of the following. Our culture should:

HOW TO IMPROVE QUALITY

  1. Innovation of product and service.
  2. Innovation of process.
  3. Improvement of existing product and service.
  4. Improvement of existing process.

Note: some companies take top 10% of the class. Serves them right. They need to learn to understand people.

“NASA inquiries recently revealed events that led to the Challenger disaster - all of them invisible and inextricably tied to corporate cultural. Recognizing problems early on, lower level engineers, felt they had to ‘play the party line’. The real story did not become known until now. Quality, safety and profit were at risk in lieu of saving face.

  1. Policy, procedures and technology do not make a company happen. People do. Help them commit to the vision!
  2. People commit when they find themselves speaking their truth in the presence of others whom they believe can make a difference. Involve them!
  3. The instrument of change is you, the leader or the CEO. It’s in your thinking and behavior. Model what you want others to follow! Invite them to join the enterprise!

Without exception, quality is linked to people. Our workplaces riddled with irritation, perceived harassment and even litigation leave managers wondering how to develop healthy work environments? What gets it the way? What heals difficulties that undermine human relationships? Ask yourself, How do I handle irritations? Do I protect my boss when s/he is micromanaging or covering up incompetence? How do I contribute to safety or quality issues in my company? How am I a problem for my team? Top-down hierarchical are the answer. Maintaining the ‘party line’ is risky business. As with the Challenger, the challenge is how to create work environments where people feel safe enough to tell their truth, knowing that recrimination in not on their heals? How do you, the leader, address underlying human issues before a crisis shows up?

Where do problems, distortions & misunderstandings begin?

Quality is always about people. When people feel safe to speak their mind they are more creative, innovative and precise. Safety is a byproduct. When employees feel threatened or fearful their ability to think straight deteriorates. Their ability to provide quality is impaired.

I recall the CEO of a huge research centers in Ottawa saying “when a young engineer shows up in my office complaining about his manager I remind him that if his boss is not willing to grow and learn then this young engineer is not going to grow or learn either. Maybe it’s time to look elsewhere. His new boss had best value growth and learning.”

While hierarchies create order so that work processes can get done they also interfere with comfort among people. Employees, managers, VPs in a hierarchy do their work to get the situation right ‘for their boss’. They cannot focus simultaneously on their boss and their customer. Serving upward leaves a sense of powerlessness regardless of how high you are in the organization.

Here is what you can do.

“It’s top management’s responsibility to create a culture where quality can thrive.”

W. Edwards Deming, Total Quality

How employees think about power is important. When people work in environments where there is no fun, no spontaneity, no enthusiasm and an underlying sense of caution, fear is likely prevalent. Ask yourself “What is going on here?” “ What’s not being said?” While you can’t read the minds of other people, you can speak up. It’s important to get at the truth. Start by noticing what’s happening inside your organization AND inside you. Write about it! This helps with clarity.

Do a reality check! Ask yourself “Would I allow a stranger at a cocktail party or in a in a movie line abuse me? NO. Then why allow someone at work to undermine your integrity, to micromanage your work, to intimidate you or to abuse you verbally?” If you find yourself saying “But she is my boss. What can I do?” Remember, you are never obliged to accept rudeness, poor management, micromanaging, favoritism or career limiting moves.

Notice when silence appears in your presence. As a leader notice whether your employees become silent or irritable in your presence. Is there someone that is not speaking to you directly? Is there something going on in your department that you should be aware of? Your job is to discover what’s behind it. Notice what’s going on in your mind. Be as open with yourself as possible. If you say nothing the situation may continue. If you say something, it may still continue. Your first positive action lies in speaking about what you are noticing with your team or with you boss.

Use an outside specialist, a facilitator familiar with human change and how people think. You need a person who can get at the root of the problem quickly and shift the focus from negative to positive. Just because you are the boss doesn’t mean you know what to do. You do what you’ve learned to do throughout your life. It may be in direct opposition to what those around you have expected. You can change your behavior when you know how others perceive you but who is going to tell the boss about his offensive behavior? When you use an outside person, you allow defensiveness to be minimized. The risk otherwise is that everyone suffers, including the organization. You don’t want the problem. Your staff doesn’t either. Working together you can bring about a positive response. Don’t do this yourself.

Tell the truth. Change is simple. Most of us complicate it with our thoughts. All relationships are about you and your learning – no exceptions. If your relationship is not working then say so. When I was upset, angry or hurt, my friend Cindy, in Denver, used to say something that at first I found irritating until I realized she was right. with someone she would remind me “There is a gift in everything Janice. Your job is to find it.” “What am I upset about with this person?” and “What is the gift? What am I to learn?” Maybe you have a lifelong pattern that is demanding to be stopped. Now is the time. The one who hurts you has lessons to learn too but that’s not your responsibility. Learn your lessons, grow and move on to the next lessons. This is life If you are irritated, disappointed, frustrated and holding these feelings inside, they get bigger inside you. Communication deteriorates. You suffer. Be honest with yourself! Tell your truth. Say to your boss, “Gerry, I am aware that every time we start to talk about internal problems, you change the subject?”

The most important lesson I have learned during my 20+ years coaching executives and managers is this. “All problems between people start with their perception. Your colleagues, in life or work, if not in agreement, will find new ways to keep old behaviors present until you reach common understanding and perception.. Without this you risk a troublesome situation where personal or professional stress increase. Don’t walk away! Call for help! If you are the leader, find a coach, or a specialist in the human side of organizational change who understands people and how they change. Healthy relationships allow for safe communication and conflict resolution, which results in creativity, innovation, high quality and organizational growth. No company can afford to ignore this today. It’s way too costly if they do.

——

Janice Calnan of CALNAN GROUP, Ottawa Ontario, Canada, executive coach, author, specialist in organizational change. Her book SHIFT: Secrets of Positive Change for Organizations and Their Leaders can be obtained through www.janicecalnan.com . Reach Janice at (613) 721-5900 or info@janicecalnan.com .

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