Many CEO’s already understand the business case for quality but may lack the knowledge or the will regarding how to develop capabilities to improve organizational performance. How do they go about developing these capabilities?
There is also considerable risk in undertaking a visible initiative in an area that has been labeled a “fad”.
I think a lot of organizations struggle with that. You will see organizations readily embrace the latest fad, technique, or tool. Six Sigma seems to be what industry has currently embraced; it doesn’t make any difference if you are manufacturing or service, and prior to that it was “re-engineering.” So there is always a particular tool or technique. The problem that organizations have, and what you have to caution CEO’s and other senior leaders within the organization, is that there isn’t one tool that’s a panacea for all of the things that need to be improved or fixed within an organization. Sometimes it’s Six Sigma, sometimes it’s just straight continuous improvement tools and techniques, it could be “lean,” it could be anything. So the challenge (and I’ve got the same challenge at Exel) is try to convince the organization that we need to embrace a plethora of tools that focus on organizational improvement and process management, anything to help the organization get better under the umbrella/auspices of continuous improvement. So embrace some tools, have some experts on staff that know Six Sigma, some that know “lean,” some that just know basic problem-solving skills. And again, try to convince the CEO of any organization that there is no one tool that will cure all that ails an organization.