Six Sigma - SICK????
Thoughts from Thinking ...Caught up with Wayne Lindholm, formerly of 3M and now serving the manufacturing community as Manufacturing Advisors, Inc., for lunch today. It didn't take long before Six Sigma was the topic of conversation. Wayne, recalling 3M's encounter with the double S, quoted an interview with John Black
"Looking back to March of 2001 when McNerney, fresh off the GE/Welch machine, announced his Five Corporate Initiatives for 3M; there was no overarching, comprehensive, long-term vision that held the initiatives together. Instead, he launched five, "point improvement tools" that cut, slashed, and burned using up 3M cultural capital that took decades to create."To me the key phrase in his obersvation is "using up 3M cultural capital". Sadly the marvelous tool of Total Quality was repurposed to slash and burn in the interest of improving the bottom line - short term. McNerney is gone now and so are a lot of Wayne Lindholms. But this isn't just about 3M, it's far reaching. Best Buy just announced a profitable quarter and layoffs. How does that work?
Wayne's passion for a Total Quality manufacturing environment was learned and absorbed during his days with 3M's tape division. From the division president to the manufacturing floor everyone knew and participated in the process of making the best possible product - with pride, for profit and without flaw (almost zero defects).
We talked about the kinds of organizations where "they get it", where the goals, the effort, the resposibility and the rewards are shared. Sadly, most of the examples that he could point to were not publicly traded.
As we parted, Wayne handed me Leading without Power: Finding Hope in Serving Community by Max De Pree, chairman emeritus of Herman Miller - "they got it" he smiled.