Tom Gilb and Kai Gilb's blog
GETTING MANAGERS TO REALLY INVEST IN CHANGE, IN BAD TIMES WITH SMALL BUDGETS
On 26 Nov 2008, at 15:37, L. Lars wrote:
In the last problematic years, around 2000, I observed the same thing. Companies in other countries were more positive, less problems to sell in process improvements. The management here does not want much improvement since "we can not afford it"...
Lars
OK! Good question!
1. Sometimes the present management is hopeless and suicidal - meaning they would rather allow the company to go bankrupt than to manage well. Nothing we can do except to work with companies who actually care.
2. In some companies there is a new top manager trying to justify his appointment, anxious to make his mark and reputation as a positive changer. If I can get to them they will dictate to the slower middle managers to do things properly (like quantify their objectives to him).
3. Hopefully, if you are 'stuck' working with a certain company, you can find out what these managers claim they are interested in. If they are not interested in any improvement at all then we can stop wasting time with them. Their management needs to get rid of them! If they declare that they want some improvement (even though they don't really care to make the effort, or suffer the pain of change, but are just saying so to look better themselves) then we should try to help them.
4. We start by helping them define the measurable degree of improvement they want or need.
See: Vision Engineering http://www.gilb.com/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=237
Top Level Critical Objectives Cases http://www.gilb.com/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=180
5. Most managers, even smart experienced ones, cannot do this well on their own. Have never been trained to do so. Might need to be told by their boss that they have to quantify their objective. Might need some handholding and help to quantify their uppermost objectives.
6. Then these quantified objectives need to be approved by the powers that be, as the agenda for change that they are.
7. Then we can begin the process of finding strategic investments necessary to reach the objectives.
8. Then approving the finding and change process.
9. Then we can carry out the change, evolutionarily, and measure the improvement we are getting for money, and change strategies that are not working as expected to some that are working better.
10. If no responsible manager will engage in this and drive it, we are wasting our time, pearls before swine. But my experience is that there is often one ambitious manager or senior engineer who will welcome the opportunity, and welcome some help from us to make this happen. If there is not - don't waste your time. Let their world fall apart. Let them lose their jobs. Wait until someone is motivated to do things better.
11. "we can not afford it"
Is a challenging starting place. There are many things that can be done with minimum capital outlay, which quickly increase productivity and reduce costs, and have a great return on the little investment, in a short time. A classic Case Study of this is Raytheon.
Author of TR-017 sei 1995 and 1993 article Raytheon process improvement
www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/95.reports/95.tr.017.html
I made some slides for this and a corresponding IBM Study see slides 6, and 7 onward in Inspection Facts for Managers slides http://www.gilb.com/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=88
Slide 18 reminds us that the return on investment was $7.70 per $1 invested at Raytheon and that productivity of 1,000 software engineers went up by 2.7 x (slide 13).
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