At C-Level
Bill Aho with concepts, commentary, news and reviews for C-level executives.
Clayton M. Christensen: The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business (Collins Business Essentials)
Clayton M. Christensen: The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth
Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success
John P. Kotter: A Sense of Urgency
Geoff Colvin: Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
Tom Kelley: The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
A.G. Lafley: The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation
Gary Hamel: The Future of Management
John Wooden: Wooden on Leadership
Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
Keith Sawyer: Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration
Ori Brafman: The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
Doris Kearns Goodwin: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Steven D. Levitt: Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Mark Hughes: Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff
Kevin Freiberg: Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success
Sam Walton: Sam Walton: Made In America
The Arbinger Institute; Creator-Arbinger Institute: Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box
James Surowiecki: The Wisdom of Crowds
Ray Kurzweil: Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever
Raymond Kurzweil: Age of Spiritual Machines, The
Craig Kielburger: Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World
Malcolm Gladwell: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
David Novak: The Education of an Accidental CEO: Lessons Learned from the Trailer Park to the Corner Office
Chris Anderson: The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
Keith R. Mcfarland: The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers
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Quality Makes the Difference
Sometimes it all seems too simple. Toyota, despite last week's report of a rough first quarter (-28% net profit), is a ton healthier than U.S. automakers. Related news last week came from J.D. Power and Associates, which released its annual Vehicle Dependability Study. Based on a poll of 52,000 people who have had their cars for at least three years, Toyota received 11 of 20 individual awards in all segments, with Lexus taking the overall top spot and the Toyota brand taking #4. U.S. automakers had only three segment leaders.
Gee, do you suppose that decades-long commitment to quality makes a difference? Hoshin Kanri anyone? Kaizen? The problem isn't ignorance. By now every major manufacturer has implemented some forms of TQM, Lean Manufacturing, etc. The challenge is to stay with it long enough, through good times and bad, and gradually build a culture and a company around these values.
Every company will stumble strategically sometimes. Note Toyota's recent temporary closing of the Texas truck plant it just sunk a billion dollars in last year. Who wants trucks at $4/gallon? Well, no one. Oops. But everyone wants a hybrid, and Toyota will have an Indiana truck plant switch to Prius manufacturing by 2010. But despite problems like these, companies that maintain focus on the fundamentals over the long haul generally find a way to win. Simple, but not easy.
Posted at 02:14 PM in Manufacturing, Quality | Permalink
I think you're probably closest to the target when you say, 'Simple, but not easy.' Returning to fundamentals after you're in the swing of things never is. And that applies to anything - sports, business, life in general.
It's purely speculation, but I imagine American automakers have felt the need to make some compromises along the way. How do you handle these tough decisions? Do you pay the price up front to make the needed changes, even if it requires complete restructuring, reorganizing, infrastructure, excessive training, etc.? Or rather, implement steady, progressive improvements to gradually phase out the old and in the new?
Posted by: Merritt | August 11, 2008 at 10:10 PM
I don't think there's one answer. Every company and every situation are different. But I do think constancy and commitment play a big part. First, commit to the values. It's surprising to me how many companies flit from thing to thing. If over the long haul you're going to win on quality, make it part of every initiative, every message, for years—even decades. If you implement a quality program, stick with it. Most business initiatives fail due to lack of interest. We check and follow-up like crazy for 30 days, less so for the next 90, and in six months we've moved onto something else. The employees read these signals. The initiatives die quietly. (I think that some initiatives should die, but should be given a proper burial, complete with an insightful eulogy of lessons learned.)
Will there be a need for compromise sometimes? Sure. But often we deceive ourselves about the "need." For instance, might American automakers have cut spending on quality initiatives years ago to deliver better numbers to Wall Street. Probably. But look ahead, to today, and see GM with past 12 month losses of -$63B and Ford with -$12B and it at least makes you question if some of these compromises are the best thing for the shareholders (vs. the best for executive near-term bonuses and stock options). Now this is all a bit hypothetical, because I don't know that industry very well, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't more than a little truth to it.
Posted by: Bill | August 12, 2008 at 11:20 AM
SagePoint Consulting
Bill Aho is a partner with SagePoint Consulting, which uses proprietary innovation processes to create products, services and concepts for businesses. SagePoint serves as an ongoing revenue-producing engine for companies, generating a steady stream of market-driven innovations that are financially attractive, operationally sound and built on strategic growth platforms.
"I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite." --G. K. Chesterton
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