By Louis AltazanPrint
Truly great places of employment may not be abundant, but they do exist. Unfortunately [for interested applicants] great places of employment are often fully staffed and sometimes have a waiting list of job applicants. Such places normally go far above and beyond the norm to attract the best employees.
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It is human nature to search for reason in the things we observe. For instance, early on men sought to explain day and night. They reasoned since the sun was the source of light and they could see it "move" across the sky, it must revolve around the Earth. The Earth was the center of the universe. This model explained the phenomena, was very popular, widely accepted and wrong.
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Marketing and management are often seen as different things. Both necessary, but somehow unrelated components of running a business. I feel this is very unfortunate and counter to what Dr. Deming tried to teach. I believe for a business to be successful, all components must be interrelated.
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I think it is no accident that Deming management helped raise Japan from the ashes of WWII and never really took hold in the West. Cultural differences were certainly a factor. Japanese society has long ago realized cooperation is their best way getting ahead. Western society tends to almost exclusively reward individual effort.
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Many excuses have been offered for the possible demise of the Big Three. Competition and unions are two of the favorite scapegoats. Without being overly wordy, I would like to offer a different view. I think there are ramifications applicable to any business.
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I recently received an article from a friend. In it were examples of people being promoted because they did a great job. Everyone has seen examples of the great salesperson, who becomes the mediocre sales manager and so on. Still, it is in the nature of people to seek promotion, a feeling of moving ahead.
Is it time business redefines promotion?
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Observation of the political system can be a great aid to those who would wish to become better managers. Not in the sense of emulating the behavior or [lack of] results, rather in the way a wise man learns from a fool. That is by watching their behavior and extracting the lessons they seem incapable of learning. For instance an almost total lack of leadership. Following are a short list of observations to illustrate my point. A leader might by avoiding such behavior, become a far better leader, in my opinion.
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At the time I did not realize, my mother was a wonderful leader. She never officially assumed the roll, nor attempted to usurp my father. Yet through her insight, example and support the family accomplished her aims, and were all far better for the experience.
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Many years ago, I subscribed to the theory that there was a "cycle of business." A busy time and slower times. Whenever business would slow down, I "knew" it was the cycle, and not anything I had done. This was comforting, but somehow left me with a problem.
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Lucien certainly provided an inspiration to me, though he may have never known. I think in managing a business it may be helpful to consider who may be watching and what message one might wish to convey.
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When we do things for others, most people expect some sort of recognition. Payment, a thank you, maybe a future favor. This may simply be human nature, an unwritten rule of reciprocity. As long as the give/take remains balanced there is seldom a problem. Problems sometimes develop over time when either or both parties fail to understand fully.
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This may sound a bit archaic, the thought that work can be enjoyable. Clearly, in our society, work is that which we do to earn enough so that we no longer have to do it. Often we work so that we can retire and no longer have to work. The thought of work as enjoyment for most is quite strange.
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Once upon a time there was an industry that produced toasted bread for clients. The clients would come in and tell the Serving Administrator (SA) how they would like their toast. The SA would write the order and send it to Staff, Heating, Operations and Preparations (SHOP).
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Many, many years ago, and far, far away, there was an ogre named Dummkopf. Dummkopf owned a carriage repair shop. The shop had been fairly busy in the past, but the kingdom was in the midst of a recession and now business was off. Dummkopf knew it was not his fault, but he just barely making a living . . .
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There was an intersection that had a thirty-percent higher than average accident rate. The city held a meeting and decided this was unacceptable and set a goal to reduce accidents by 10% a year for three-years. They announced the goal with a great deal of fanfare and sent out a memo to all departments . . .
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One of the four things Dr. Deming said were necessary for management was the theory of knowledge. He held that knowledge comes from theory; without theory there is no knowledge, only information . . .
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Good automotive service, it’s very difficult to find. Not only does it take two to three days to get the vehicle back, often it’s not fixed the first time. Better shops often have a week or longer waiting lists for appointments. Whatever happened to the "good ole guy" at the gas station that could fix anything? The answers may be a surprise . . .
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When I was a young boy, I once asked my Grandmother what things were like during the great depression . . .
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An old adage goes, "Employees feel they don’t make what they are worth and employers think their employees are overpaid." One explanation is employees may measure their contribution in terms of their potential. Managers instead, tend to measure outcomes. The discrepancy in potential may be as much as fifty-percent.
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It has been my experience in life that those with whom we associate tend to influence our thoughts, opportunities and even possibly our potential. I feel this is seldom more so, than when choosing an employer in the auto repair trade.
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The word efficiency brings about different reactions from different people. Most managers embrace the concept wholeheartedly, at least as it applies to those that work for them. Many times workers are less enthusiastic about the concept.
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Thibeaux (pronounced Tee Bow) owned a small hardware store. It was no larger, better stocked, are much different than the other hardware stores in town. Thibeaux did a good business mostly because he was convenient to his group of clients. As time passed a few more hardware stores opened and Thibeaux started to notice a drop in sales. Not drastic at first, just a slow day every now and then.
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Bob sees himself as the voice of authority, "Do it this way because I say so." John sees himself as someone who enables, "What do you need to best get this done?"
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When discussing improvement I often refer to Dr. W. Edwards Deming. His work is the basis I have used to build my own business. Occasionally I am also asked where a person might learn more about Dr. Deming's philosophy.
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The cost of solving these problems is relatively low, the cost of allowing them to exist is unknown and perhaps unknowable
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I believe, "the market" is the people that a business, through knowledge, skills and product is able to attract and retain.
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Did the dinosaurs realize what was happening to them? For millions of years they did exactly the same things that always worked in the past. Unfortunately for them, the world was changing. Creatures that were able to adapt survived, those that could not perished.
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What happened to company A? Why is Company B successful? How does this relate to the auto repair industry?
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The goal is happiness, and not just for the owner at the expense of everyone else. There are many stakeholders in a business,
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There is no instant pudding, when it comes to resolving business problems. Better outcomes or the result of improvements to the system that produces them, not gimmicks or tricks.
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