Question: What are the typical mistakes that senior leaders make in implementing quality initiatives in the start up phase and later in the process? 

Townsend:

Way back in the beginning, when the process was in the design stage, they declare they think the improvement is just a dandy idea, we really ought to do this thing. They give their blessing to the effort, and then they declare that they have to go do real work. They kind of wander off and delegate the design and implementation of the process to other people. In doing that, they lose touch. They lose touch with the process itself; they lose touch with people whose input is being sought. They also make the process very vulnerable. At that point, without their obvious personal involvement at the beginning and throughout, the process is vulnerable to being down-graded or even dropped. There’s a story that goes back to the early 1980’s. Dr. Demming, who of course was born in 1900, so in the early 80’s, he was also in his early 80’s. This was on the heels of the TV show, If Japan Can Do It, Why Can’t We?, which made Demming a star in this country finally at age 80 or so. He was invited to speak at Ford Motor Company to a gathering of the very top managers throughout Ford. He was going to address them and talk about how they could and should change. And how they could and should bring an environment and structure for change into Ford Motor Company. He was introduced by the CEO. The CEO gave this glowing, marvelous introduction. Ended up by saying, “I really wish I could stay to listen to this, but I have something else on my schedule.” And he proceeds to walk off the stage and head down the middle aisle of this auditorium to leave. As he is walking out he starts hearing this giggling and whispering all around him. He stops and looks over his shoulder and Demming is about this far behind him. And he says, “Where are you going?” And Dr Demming said, “If you don’t have time to stay, neither do I.” Basically senior managers must accept at the outset of a process that if an attempt, an improvement fails, it’s their fault.