Here is an amazing presentation by RSA animate with a talk by Dan Pink on what motivates us. Great information. Enjoy and learn.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Tear Down This Wall
“The Air Conditioners versus Non-Air Conditioners”, this is how one employee explained it to me today, from his eyes on the shop floor, of the great wall that still exists between management and shop floor operators. This wall that can feel as vast as the Great Wall and as high as Mount Everest remains one of the most difficult and lasting challenges in our quest for productivity.
Salary versus Hourly.
Management versus Shop Floor.
Management versus Union.
The list of labels that designated each side of the wall goes on and on.
From my first days on the management side of the wall in the early 1980’s, many of the ways we treated each side differently, easily seen by the perks like reserved parking lots, separate dining facilities, country club memberships, huge bonus and stock options etc, have long gone the way of the dinosaur. Well, at least some of them have disappeared. This has certainly been a positive step to bring down the wall but we still have a long, long way to go.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is not a big problem today. This wall still very much exists and continues to divide us. Just as we must see the waste before we can eliminate it, we must acknowledge this great divide before we can eliminate it.
If I knew the answer to this problem, I probably could go to sleep tonight a very wealthy man. Like many of the problems we face, there are no easy, quick fixes. It will take focus, a willingness to solve the problem along of plenty of hard work. Building trust and true culture change takes time.
As company leaders, do we put the same passion and drive into tearing down this wall as we have for cutting costs?
Altering slightly the words of President Regan in his famous Berlin Wall Speech, June 1987:
“If you seek profits, if you seek prosperity for the company and all the stakeholders, if you seek productivity: Come here, to this gate. Mr. CEO, open this gate. Mr. CEO, tear down this wall.”
Salary versus Hourly.
Management versus Shop Floor.
Management versus Union.
The list of labels that designated each side of the wall goes on and on.
From my first days on the management side of the wall in the early 1980’s, many of the ways we treated each side differently, easily seen by the perks like reserved parking lots, separate dining facilities, country club memberships, huge bonus and stock options etc, have long gone the way of the dinosaur. Well, at least some of them have disappeared. This has certainly been a positive step to bring down the wall but we still have a long, long way to go.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is not a big problem today. This wall still very much exists and continues to divide us. Just as we must see the waste before we can eliminate it, we must acknowledge this great divide before we can eliminate it.
If I knew the answer to this problem, I probably could go to sleep tonight a very wealthy man. Like many of the problems we face, there are no easy, quick fixes. It will take focus, a willingness to solve the problem along of plenty of hard work. Building trust and true culture change takes time.
As company leaders, do we put the same passion and drive into tearing down this wall as we have for cutting costs?
Altering slightly the words of President Regan in his famous Berlin Wall Speech, June 1987:
“If you seek profits, if you seek prosperity for the company and all the stakeholders, if you seek productivity: Come here, to this gate. Mr. CEO, open this gate. Mr. CEO, tear down this wall.”
Friday, June 04, 2010
Northeast Shingo Prize Conference 2010
The Northeast Shingo Prize Conference will be held in Providence, Rhode Island on October 19-20, 2010. This is another conference I will be attending this year and thrilled to be invited as one of the speakers. Please stop by if you are attending.
Reliable Plant Conference 2010
The Reliable Plant Conference 2010 will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on August 31 thru September 2nd. I plan on attending and honored to be included as one of the speakers in the Lean Manufacturing section talking about my favorite topic SMED. If you are able to attend, I would enjoy meeting with any fellow lean practitioners.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)