Monday, November 27, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Where are your quality indicators?
I have a friend who manages a Toyota plant in this country. He came up by way of one of the American Big Three car companies. Shortly after he took the job with Toyota, I asked him, "Gary, what's the difference here?"
And he answered, "It's simple. They only ask me two basic questions: 'Where are your quality indicators?' and 'What is your strategy for getting better?' They believe if we answer those questions, other measures will take care of themselves."
...
The real danger is that, as in Vietnam, when things get complicated and hard to get hold of, the overwhelming tendency is to find a quantitative shortcut and try to drive it as fast and as hard as you can.
And the thing to keep in mind through all this is that all the numbers around body counts and kill ratios were absolutely in our favor until the last helicopter out of Saigon.
from Restructuring our Schools, by W. Patrick Dolan, page 38-9
And he answered, "It's simple. They only ask me two basic questions: 'Where are your quality indicators?' and 'What is your strategy for getting better?' They believe if we answer those questions, other measures will take care of themselves."
...
The real danger is that, as in Vietnam, when things get complicated and hard to get hold of, the overwhelming tendency is to find a quantitative shortcut and try to drive it as fast and as hard as you can.
And the thing to keep in mind through all this is that all the numbers around body counts and kill ratios were absolutely in our favor until the last helicopter out of Saigon.
from Restructuring our Schools, by W. Patrick Dolan, page 38-9
Saturday, November 11, 2006
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