| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1010.1 | re: Motivation | ROYALT::FURMAN | | Wed Jan 17 1990 17:24 | 37 |
| From my perspective, Richard Lamm's article puts the finger on a
serious underlying issue: how does society, the educational system,
and business appropriately motivate the population to achieve the
greater good. As a simple example, consider the carrot vs. stick
component to motivation. Only half the population is motivated to
avoid a penalty in any given context: rising drug use and prison
populations bear this out. Now give the students entering high school
the promise of a college education if they graduate (as seen on 60
minutes several years ago, and now repeated numerous times by
philanthropists) and watch the dropout rate plunge.
A complete characterization of motivation has emerged and has had
remarkable success in job placement, management and sales for the
organizations using it, as I've been told by a V.P for a local
high tech company. The striking aspect of companies that understand
how to motivate their employees is their flexibiltiy in using the
motivational strategies available and the appropriateness of being
able to motivate their employees to attain mutually successful
outcomes.
The U.S.'s greatest strength is its diversity and its ability to attract
and welcome people from all over the world to contribute their talents
to our society. Perhaps this makes motivating us that much more
challenging. We are not a homogeneous society and we will express
ourselves individually and creatively, given a nurturing environment.
This then is a truth test for how competitive our market economy can be
in global competition. With legitimate leaders who can harness the good
we have to offer, we will succeed the way we do things now (in
business, education, etc). Until then, there will be a stream of big
winners and big losers (Montgomery Ward vs. Campeau, for example).
Hopefully our standard of living will not fall too far while we each do
what we can to develope our leaders.
This IMHO is one way to understand what's going on.
Terry
|
| 1010.2 | Rack up another one for Gov. Gloom. | COMET::LAFOREST | | Wed Jan 17 1990 17:32 | 7 |
| I won't respond to the article in context but I do want people to know
and realise that Richard Lamm was also know as "Governor Gloom". He is
also the one that made the statement that older people have a duty to
die in order to make room for younger people. My own opinion, as a
citizen of Colorado, is that I wouldn't take much of what this guy says
very seriously.
|
| 1010.3 | Cheap shots, | CSC32::M_MURRAY | | Wed Jan 17 1990 18:02 | 8 |
| RE: .-1
No, you won't criticize the article in .0 on its own merits or lack thereof,
but you will resort to name calling and to quoting the ex-Governor out of
context in an attempt to influence people's opinions. Mr. Lamm may
be annoying, but an attack on him is not germane to the discussion.
Mike
|
| 1010.4 | there is a world outside U.S. | TKOV16::AIHARA_T | | Wed Jan 17 1990 19:33 | 18 |
| RE: 0
What is going on?
I guess the U.S. is not as aggressive as Japanese companies.
Now, I work for DEC Japan. From my observation, Digital is just
as agressive as any other company in Japan. However, I do see
some lack of support from the U.S.
One thing that I want to remind you is that Digital is an American
firm but a global company. Thus, it is quite easy to offend people
in the same company by pressing the "Americal Way".
Let's think on an international and global scale.
Tim Takao Aihara
Edu Serv
DEC Japan
|
| 1010.5 | this is NOT the 'How we work in America' file | SNOC02::SIMPSON | Those whom the Gods would destroy... | Wed Jan 17 1990 19:45 | 9 |
| re .4
>One thing that I want to remind you is that Digital is an American
>firm but a global company. Thus, it is quite easy to offend people
>in the same company by pressing the "Americal Way".
Thank you. You said it for me. Equating Digital with America is
wrong. In an abstract sense I could care less if America went down
the tubes. But I still work for Digital.
|
| 1010.6 | | DEC25::BRUNO | An Innocent Man | Wed Jan 17 1990 20:38 | 4 |
| Ditto on the sentiments mentioned in .3. Character attacks don't
change the validity of statements.
Greg
|
| 1010.7 | | COVERT::COVERT | John R. Covert | Wed Jan 17 1990 20:56 | 6 |
| It's not clear that this is all that close to "The Way We Work at Digital."
Wouldn't PEAR::SOAPBOX, TRUCKS::EF90, or LDP::WORLD_FORUM be better places
for this discussion?
/john
|
| 1010.8 | Look Again | MPGS::BOYAN | | Thu Jan 18 1990 09:26 | 24 |
| re.7
John,
The topic most certainly does relate to "The Way WE Work at Digital."
I opened the topic commenting on supposedly real programs (Six Sigma,
Employee Involvement) that appear to have been left by the wayside
almost immediately after their introduction. WHY? They were trumpeted
in and introduced as effective tools to increase the global
competitiveness of this corporation. I understand that over 20 million
dollars is being or has been spent on the on the Employee Involvement
Program already. Was it well spent?
re. Doom and Gloom:
You are not impressed with what R.Lamm has to say. Dr. E. Demings has
been saying the same thing for years. So did the 1989 MIT Commission
report on U.S Industry. So did the 1987 report from the Blue Ribbon
Commission of Princeton University. H.Ross Perot also feels the same
way. So does Tom Peters of In Search of Excellence and Thriving on
Choas fame. So does the present Presidental Commission studying the
state of U.S. Industry under the Bush administration.
Perhaps Tim (of DEC Japan) would kindly tell us of the relationship
os Japanese Industry and Dr. E. Demings.
|
| 1010.9 | DEC = Global COMPANY | MOVIES::LESLIE | Is a movie better than a stationary? | Thu Jan 18 1990 09:37 | 4 |
| I hereby join in the chorus: DEC is a worldwide company that derives
the majority of its revenue from outside the US.
Thus this topic is not relevant to this conference.
|
| 1010.10 | you must get involved to affect change | ODIXIE::CARNELL | DTN 385-2901 David Carnell @ALF | Thu Jan 18 1990 09:41 | 205 |
| REF: <<< Note 1010.0 by MPGS::BOYAN >>>
-< DEC - Global Competition? >-
<<As of late, in the last several months at least, much rhetoric
concerning Six Sigma, Employee Involvement, Employee Empowerment, and
others, have been floating about.
<< Six Sigma is stillborn. Employee Involvement Program is impotent.
Employee Empowerment is simply propaganda.
<<What is going on here, people. The need for this company to
effectively compete on the global market is bandied about constantly.
Are we really serious though? (as a company)>>
Responding to Boyan's topic, I too have concerns. After all, my
economic livelihood, like Boyan's and every other employee, is directly
tied to maintaining the success of Digital, and building an even more
successful Digital than what is now.
Too often, however, have I seen employee apathy (managers and
individual contributors) who don't want to get involved, who don't want
to assert their ideas to build a better and more successful Digital,
and who don't want to make changes, for that entails risk, jeopardizing
personal career interests, like raises, promotions, power and fiefdoms,
and being perceived as a good team player who makes no waves for
change. Too often have I seen real customer satisfaction and real
employee involvement be regarded as of little concern, where changes to
improve both have been stifled by bureaucrat managers who put personal
agenda ahead of Digital and their people, and by individual
contributors who just don't care enough to take ownership to drive
change to make Digital more successsful because that's "not their job."
Yet, everyone has something they don't like and express it over
countless lunch table discussions (and VAXnotes conferences, like this
one, are just lunch tables, only bigger with more people at the table).
Criticism, without accompanying action, is worthless.
In your country where you live, if you don't like a law or action (or
lack of a law or lack of an action) that you think is adversely
affecting the country, and you can't get changes at a local level, you
write a letter expressing your concerns along with your recommended
actions for change to make things better. You send your letter to your
government representatives and even the president of your country
asking for action.
Similarly, the same should be done in Digital. Write a memo expressing
your concerns and list your recommended actions to make things better.
In the case of Digital, Ken Olsen is the president and the government
representative advocating employee involvement is the Corporate
Employee Involvement Group (e-mail addresses: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT @CFO
or SOCIAL::INVOLVEMENT).
The Employee Involvement program was chartered directly by the
Executive Committee "to make sure that our rapid growth in recent
years does not prevent employees' good ideas from being heard."
Ken Olsen himself even encourages all employees to share their
thinking. In the October 1989 Digital DECWORLD company newsletter
sent to our homes, there was a letter to employees from President Ken
Olsen. He said, "We encourage people to express their opinions and to
therefore help in the formulation of policy."
And as I recollect, I believe I read something in the Digital
Management Memo about 5 or so months ago that had Jack Smith saying
something to the effect that any manager, caught putting down any
employee for submitting his idea to anyone, was out of here.
Digital is NOT going to become more successful with just negative
criticism and docile employees, who take no further action, who only
say, "It's THEIR job to make the changes and fix things, not mine."
Just who is THEY?
I submit that if every employee doesn't start getting REAL involved
-- supported, encouraged and nurtured by EVERY manager -- then as global
competition gets REAL FIERCE, we may all be out of here.
But if real employee involvment, participation and creativity IS being
stifled by some bureaucrats and apathy, then we, all of us, got a
problem, for it will adversely affect our future and our ability to
compete effectively and successfully worldwide.
And if you can't make a change locally because of such apathy, then,
like influencing government, you must stand up, and express your
concerns and ideas in writing, and send it.
Now, to answer those who are saying, "Yeah, did you do what your
preaching?" Enclosed is one of my memos I sent -- anyone has my
permission to copy and forward and post anywhere to anyone, this
VAXnotes reply and the copy of my memo imbedded, doing anything you
want with it. Whether you like or dislike what I wrote is not
relevant. What is important is that I took "lunch table concerns" and
translated them into action. If you want to get changes incurred, you
must get involved.
If you don't get involved, you cannot affect change.
I N T E R O F F I C E M E M O R A N D U M
Date: 24-Oct-1989 01:58pm EST
From: David Carnell @ALF
CARNELL.DAVID
Dept: SOA CS Proposals Sup Grp
Tel No: 385-2901/404772-2901
TO: Remote Addressee ( KEN OLSEN @MLO )
CC: Remote Addressee ( ANN JENKINS @MLO ) CC:
Remote Addressee ( EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT @CFO )
Subject: An employee suggestion for a vision and true empowerment
President John Kennedy galvanized our nation with the vision of
America putting the first man on the moon. With Japan having eight of
the largest corporations in the world, it seems that some corporate
leader in America should establish a vision and mission of America
having THE most successful and largest corporation in the world, using
new methods that take quantum leaps over the traditional American
business school approaches in order to ensure the attainment of that
vision and goal.
I would like to suggest the benefits of having Digital, as the leading
information technology company in America and the world, taking this
vision, galvanizing both Digital's employees to higher cooperative
levels of success, and America, via adopting new approaches that will
demonstrate once more that the United States offers the best
innovative leadership in the world.
If you feel that such a new vision might have merit, I would like to
suggest that the avenue to achieving this vision lies in
re-establishing some of the esprit de corps that was more present in
the Digital of the 60's and 70's where employees perhaps felt greater
ownership in building a successful company via perceiving one was more
empowered and had more opportunity to have a say in presenting and
trying new ideas.
One method of quickly bringing about greater ownership would be to
make every employee truly empowered by giving every direct report
employee an equal say in who will be their given group's manager.
And in order to guarantee continued effective leadership and coaching
to ensure higher levels of success and excellence, give every direct
report employee annually an equal say in whether the group, via a vote
of confidence, will elect to follow the manager's leadership for their
given group for another year, or to elect to get a new person from
within Digital to be their manager who can offer more effective
leadership and coaching.
By these simple changes in the rules within Digital, all employees
would own total responsibility for continuously making proactive
decisions and changes to enable the entire organization to more
effectively accomplish the vision and goals set by the representative
of the stockholders, you as president.
No longer could any employee say, "It's not me, it's management." Now
the employees are responsible for ensuring they have the best
leadership for their given group because now the employees have the
authority to guarantee THEY are receiving effective leadership and
coaching by a person who sees managing as a "calling" to lead others
to success, with their success reflective of the success of their
direct reports.
Through this change in the rules, bureaucracy and professional
bureaucrats who put personal agenda, self-aggrandizement and ambition
ahead of the success of Digital and their people would be reduced, if
not totally eradicated from Digital, thereby eliminating what may be a
major inhibitor to total employee involvement in building more
effectively a more successful Digital into the decades ahead.
Next, to further foster more effective internal "cooperation" (versus
personal competitiveness at the expense of other Digital employees and
the company), consider making all salary increases for managers
contingent on attainment of both business goals PLUS leadership
metrics, determined by both a manager's manager and the manager's
group of direct reports.
Then, consider implementing a corporate growth and profit goal, which
if obtained, allows every employee to receive a profit sharing bonus,
thereby giving all employees further ownership in the success of
obtaining Digital's new yearly goals and vision.
Finally, to accelerate proactive change to increase productivity, to
decrease cost and waste, and to more effectively grow products,
services, markets, customers, margin and profit, establish monetary
rewards to get every empowered employee to think, coming up with
effective suggestions and ideas, affecting any part or action within
Digital, bringing these benefits into reality. For every idea
implemented, award a monetary award in proportion to the impact, and
publicly metric all groups for the number of ideas created,
championed, and implemented.
I believe that almost every employee in Digital will follow you. Give
us a fantastic vision and goal, and give us true empowerment, full
responsibility and full authority, to achieve that vision and goal,
sharing in the success of Digital accordingly as it is realized.
To conclude this note reply, that was the memo I sent up, again,
translating lunch table discussion into action. I stood up for my
concerns and ideas, and I get involved in affecting change.
You, each of us individual employees, can make a difference, but only
if you, all of us, have the courage to express our ideas, suggestions
and opinions.
|
| 1010.11 | "BULLETS and BUZZ-WORDS" | CSMADM::GLASS | | Thu Jan 18 1990 12:10 | 24 |
| Very interesting subject matter from a long-time professional who has
"heard and seen it all", but still refuses to give up on any good or
new idea that will drive change or foster change artists to step for-
ward and be counted!
As for SIX SIGMA, there is a "special and active" notes file at SSVAX::
SIX_SIGMA on this latest project/program that we know as the way in
which Motorola positioned itself for and was able to win one(1) of our
initial Malcolm Baldridge awards(Of course few responded to the 10,000
applications and no service sector winners have emerged in 2 years!).
Continuous improvement is the goal. Whatever gets such a process
started is fine as long as the process starts. Be it a zealot, a glib
consultant, a well designed campaign, buzz-words or empowerment! We
seem to look at the negative sides of any 'scheme" and not what the
positive fallout might be from continuous improvement.
The recent Paul Revere "QUALITY HAS VALUE" project lead to a book that
is titled "Commit to Quality". Get it, read it and internalize the
thought of 'commit to...." versus the more popular "commitment to...."
theme that seems to leave out the pepole element.
When our feet are to the fire, we wil..........!
Tom
|
| 1010.12 | | FSDB00::AINSLEY | Less than 150 kts. is TOO slow! | Thu Jan 18 1990 14:05 | 3 |
| I probably don't want to know, but what is/was SIX SIGMA?
Bob
|
| 1010.13 | Dallas? | DEC25::BRUNO | An Innocent Man | Thu Jan 18 1990 14:11 | 6 |
| RE: .12
The fact that you had to ask that question is disturbing
commentary.
Greg
|
| 1010.14 | Six Sigma: Follow-on to Five Sigma? | NEWVAX::PAVLICEK | Zot, the Ethical Hacker | Thu Jan 18 1990 14:42 | 12 |
| re: .13 (re: .12)
I doubt that many (any?) people in my unit could define "SIX SIGMA".
I, for one, haven't the faintest idea what it is (other than the notion
that it might somehow be related to quality or somesuch).
re: .12
Gee, Bob, don't you know the answer by now? You obviously don't "need
to know". Get back to work now... 8^(
-- Russ
|
| 1010.15 | | FSDB00::AINSLEY | Less than 150 kts. is TOO slow! | Thu Jan 18 1990 14:54 | 3 |
| re: .13
Dallas? Yes. Is that good or bad?
|
| 1010.16 | somewhat inside anecdote | HANNAH::LASKO | Review often; Test often; Ship once | Thu Jan 18 1990 16:33 | 2 |
| I'm sure that everyone in VIPS knows that "Six Sigma" is 99.997%.
We all got this letter....:-)
|
| 1010.17 | More Input (Yes, this note DOES belong here | COMET::MESSAGE | Harder'n Chinese Algebra | Thu Jan 18 1990 18:32 | 59 |
| In the last couple years, I have done a large amount of reading
on the subject of declining American competitiveness/productivity,
etc., as well as reading on the general malaise of American society.
In my mind, these two seemingly disparate topic types are decidedly
connected. Read some/all of the books listed, and I think you'd agree.
"The Closing of the American Mind", Allen Bloom
"The Tempting of America", Robert Bork
"Quality, Productivity and Competitive Position", W.Edwards Deming
"Quality Is Free", William Crosby
Any of Louis Rukeyser's newspaper editorials
Etc.
I have been a Quality professional more than 15 years, and I'm here
to tell you that DEC is in a large, non-exclusive group of American
companies that won't/can't seem to get it together to PRODUCE (not
only design) world-class quality products at a competitive price.
In fact, I was laid off at AMPEX (a maker of professional audio/video
recorders, etc.) due to increasing competition (SONY) eating AMPEX
alive. AMPEX, in order to begin to compete with SONY, needed to
discount it's products up to 40% just to keep from being told to hit
the road!
Every American industry, from shipbuilding, consumer electronics,
automobiles, computer chips, steel, ad nauseum, is being eroded
by foriegn manufacturers. Why? There is a wealth of evidence that,
if industry X isn't careful, country Z's performance will take over
most, if not all of industry X's market share. I refuse to believe that
even American industrial managers are stupid enough to believe that,
"It can't happen to me (us).", but maybe they are.
The way we work at DEC is to hand out oars, and tell EVERYONE to start
flailing the waters. Meanwhile, some folks have figured out that they
need to plan, organize, etc., but these are NOT the "people in power"!
Personally, I believe Ken is truly a great leader, but, somehow, the
professional bureaucrats beneath him, all 337 layers of them, are
distorting his message and leadership positions. There is potential
within DEC, as well as most of the rest of American manufacturing, for
things to be turned around, and America won't lose more than it's fair
share of markets/market shares.
Every day, time after time. I personally try to help DEC (therefore,
American manufacturing) pull away form the precipice of corporate
extinction by giving all I've got to performing my job function with
excellence, as well as demanding and encouraging and coaching for
excellence from my peers, subordinates and all other co-workers.
Being human, I sometimes get tired, disgusted, impatient, etc., but
I NEVER GIVE UP! Commitment to excellence from 100,000-plus individuals
on a daily, never-ending basis would certainly be ONE, small step
toward DEC being around for a long time, providing the right products
to the world.
Bill Message
|
| 1010.18 | Yea, so I don't know either.. Sue me | STAR::MFOLEY | Rebel Without a Clue | Thu Jan 18 1990 23:15 | 7 |
|
Would someone just please answer the question "What is SIX SIGMA?"
without a smartass answer? Thanks,
mike
|
| 1010.19 | European DEC way of Working | NBOIS2::BLUNK | Bruce P. Blunk NBO | Fri Jan 19 1990 06:00 | 42 |
| The DEC way of Working....! Does this mean the DEC way of working
in America only? I liked the comments from Tim Aihara DEC Japan!
I can assure everyone that the European DEC employees are working
hard for the success of Digital Equipment Corporation....!
RE: 0
I am an American Citizen living and working in Europe for several
years (Nuermberg Germany Office). I don not agree that the average
American worker works less than his international competitors.
The average German employee has 6 weeks vacation and ca 10 days
of public (religious) holidays. I do, however, see a big problem
in our (American) education system. Perhaps our priorities in Top
Management and Government are wrong.
We can compete, if we do it right and perhaps eliminate rather
ineffective government regulations concerning export to foreign
countries. You wouldn't believe how many VAX's are in East Germany!
This is a quote from the DEC European Publication; European Technology
News (Issue 53, Jan 1990):
From the Feature Section - Europe 1992
Assessing the opportunities and strategies:
"Opportunities exist for US firms in this growing market. In
fact, one could ask whether US firms are writting the 1992 agenda.
The experience of US firms in provision of products and services
in a deregulated environment has prepared them well for the challenges
of Europe's transitional phasing into a unified market."
"This is especially true given the continued dominance of large
technology-driven, multiproduct manufacturers in equipment markets..."
"Of course, any firms competing in Europe must respect the 'rules
of the game' in order to take full part in the market. This requires
local presence in areas such as R&D and manufacturing, which is
characteristic of the Europeanized US firms, such as I.. and DIGITAL."
GO FOR IT AMERICA....!
European Technology News is available to DEC employees. They may
be obtained by sending your name, badge number and location code
to the Editor (EUROPE::MURITH or Deborah Murith @GEO).
Bruce
|
| 1010.20 | | DEC25::BRUNO | An Innocent Man | Fri Jan 19 1990 07:09 | 3 |
| RE: .18
No.
|
| 1010.21 | | ULTRA::PRIBORSKY | All things considered, I'd rather be rafting. | Fri Jan 19 1990 07:43 | 12 |
| Oh, come on. Six Sigma is a statistics term. It's damn hard to draw
a bell curve on a terminal. Six sigma is the far right. The area
under six sigma is what the 99.997% meant. It means that 99.997% of
your things, if you've got six sigma quality control, will be correct.
It is an agressive goal. I've seen full-page ads from Motorola about
their six sigma program in the trade rags.
For more information on statistical quality control, read Deming's
books, sign up for the Introduction to Deming seminar, and if you can,
go to his workshop. I have had dinner with Deming. It was quite a
session.
|
| 1010.22 | SIX SIGMA | MFGMEM::BENCH | | Fri Jan 19 1990 08:11 | 16 |
| Briefly, SIX SIGMA is a quality improvement program being
implemented within SIMG and possibly within other organizations
in Digital. The program is based on the Motorola program and was
introduced to Digital's senior management at a meeting in
Breckinridge, Colorado.
SIX SIGMA strives to achieve very low product defect rates by
improving all stages of the manufacturing process. Designs are also
expected to be robust and able to tolerate shifts in the manufacturing
process mean.
Aside from the technical approach, SIX SIGMA is supposed to foster
an attitude whereby all individuals strive to constantly improve their
own individual job performances.
Claude
|
| 1010.23 | Top Down solutions | ISLNDS::BAHLIN | | Fri Jan 19 1990 09:08 | 12 |
| It's interesting that so few people know what Six Sigma is (as a
program or a statistical term). It seems to me that it is another
stillborn half executed strategy if we don't have more people that
know what it is (and isn't).
Frankly, I know more about the program at Motorla than I do about
the program at Digital. And, I have never read a single book or
article on the 'application of statistics in the management of
business' (SPC) that didn't endlessly recite the need for total
management commitment if one desires a successful execution of the
program. Why don't we (executioners, I presume) know what
it is?
|
| 1010.24 | Please explain yourselves before using specialised terminology | MARVIN::COCKBURN | Promoting International Unity | Fri Jan 19 1990 13:55 | 19 |
|
I do not know what Six Sigma is either, even though I studied maths for 6
years (in the UK and the US) and then 2 years at University. I have never
come across the term before.
I agree with the a previous reply, PLEASE give a reasonable explanation of
what this obviously important programme is about with out giving smartass
answers. We can't all have brains the size of planets. Not all of us have
PhD's in Statistical theory either. Reply .20 is nice and helpful, I must
say !!
How you can deduce 99.997 from the term SIX SIGMA is completely beyond my
comprehension unless you are psychic, telepathic, have a degree in stats or
have read the memo. Since most of the audience are none of the first three,
can you give a reasonable explanation or post the original memo detailing
the programme announcement.
thanks,
Craig.
|
| 1010.25 | Six Sigma | ISLNDS::HAMER | CASWAG | Fri Jan 19 1990 15:14 | 30 |
| Six Sigma, in the context of the program for producing virtually
perfect products, is **not** 99.997% good. Six Sigma really means plus
or minus six standard deviations from the mean under a normal
distribution, or on the Z Table, 0.000000001.
Because all processes, regardless of control, are subject to some
irreducible variation, the Six Sigma program allows for a shifted mean
of 1.5 sigma bringing the Six Sigma percentage to 99.999995, or about 5
per million.
The program relies on careful identification of opportunities for
defects (defect= anything causing unsatisfied customer, whomever
customer may be) and then working through a variety of methods with a
variety of tools for reducing those defects, or the opportunity for
them to occur, to 5/1,000,000 or better.
It is an exciting program because it is readily and sensibly extended
to all work, technical, service, support, or you name it. It provides
people doing all work with a common goal and a common vocabulary to
made stunning improvements in the quality of their product. It isn't
stillborn, it isn't unsupported at high levels of the corporation. It
is a long (over)haul, with the final Six Sigma achievement
optimistically five years off.
But journeys of a thousand miles and all that stuff...
There is an interesting and mathphobe-friendly article about it
in the January, 1990 Business Month magazine. "Stalking Six Sigma".
John H.
|
| 1010.26 | Simple Concepts sometimes are more powerful | CIMNET::MASSEY | Hide the paint, here's Gully Jimson | Fri Jan 19 1990 16:29 | 7 |
| SIX SIGMA means nothing to me. 5 parts per million defects is graphic and
to the point. If you want to excite lots of people talk
parts-per-million or for some who have already achieved this goal
parts-per-billion as a quality goal. This is a mind-grabber and
conveys more information to more people than SIX SIGMA ever will.
Ken
|
| 1010.27 | Letter from Ken Olsen to employees 18-Jan-90 | ODIXIE::CARNELL | DTN 385-2901 David Carnell @ALF | Fri Jan 19 1990 16:49 | 73 |
|
Here is the latest letter from Ken Olsen to all employees posted
in Livewire, 18-Jan-90. Note especially the last paragraph. I
submit KO is behind employee empowerment, involvement and
creating ideas collectively to build a more successful Digital.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever
has." Quote from Margaret Mead.
Our world is Digital.
Regards,
David
I N T E R O F F I C E M E M O R A N D U M
Date: 19-Jan-1990 08:11am EST
From: VNS
VNS@CASEE@MARVIN@KOALA@RAVEN1@MRGATE@ODIXIE@ATO
Dept:
Tel No:
TO: See Below
Subject: VNS #1985
<><><><><><><><> T h e V O G O N N e w s S e r v i c e <><><><><><><><>
Edition : 1985 Friday 19-Jan-1990 Circulation : 7775
VNS COMPUTER NEWS ................................. 242 Lines
Please send subscription and backissue requests to CASEE::VNS
VNS COMPUTER NEWS: [Tracy Talcott, VNS Computer Desk]
================== [Nashua, NH, USA ]
Digital - Letter from Ken Olsen to employees
{Livewire, 18-Jan-90}
Our financial position is strong, and today we have the products that we
dreamed about a few years ago. We've realigned organizations to let sales
focus on selling and marketers on marketing. We've put decision-making closer
to the sales person. We're focusing on accounts. We've made a lot of progress
in our enterprise integration work. But we could do so much better with the
excellent products and people we have.
Remember, customer satisfaction is our paramount goal. We have to focus
attention on removing barriers that keep us from doing our very best for our
customers.
We're a big company in a fast-changing industry. Our size is a big advantage
in terms of all the products, services and experienced people we bring to bear
to solve the business problems of our customers. But we have to watch our
costs carefully while not allowing ourselves to get tied up in process. Like a
seven-foot basketball player, we need to work hard, constantly, to stay in
shape to be fast and effective. Size is an advantage in this game, but we have
to be agile, quick and lean.
We have so many creative people who want to contribute. We have to make sure
that good ideas are heard and implemented. We have to listen. And we also have
to speak clearly. We want to enable everyone to focus their collective
energies in new directions, to change as we need, when we need.
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|
| 1010.28 | Act, don't complain | PSG::GUPTA | | Fri Jan 19 1990 18:47 | 21 |
| I am sick and tired of hearing EXCUSES why the Japanese are taking
over. Blame it on the dumping, blame it on the short sighted Wall
street, blame it on copying trade secrets....
1) Why does AMERICAN quality suck? Take steel, automotive, cameras,
semiconductor equipment, home electronics, appliances.
2) Why are we a nation of information overload? We have more hype
than what the product or service deserves.
3) Why are we so arrogant? The customers don't want the "American
way", they want what is best for THEM.
4) Why are we, as an economy (and as a culture) so short term focussed?
5) Why is our productivity on the decline? Germany and Japan are sill
on the rise.
6) Why do we as a nation not save? If we spend beyond our means, someone
has to finance it. It would be nice if all Japanese financing was coming
in as productive capital investment (one that contributes to GNP) -
too bad it is not.
7) And finally are we just doing our job or trying to exceed our
goals?
Anil .
|
| 1010.29 | Not just U (S) | JUMBLY::DAY | No Good Deed Goes Unpunished | Mon Jan 22 1990 06:42 | 13 |
| Two small points ...
1. The perceived Japanese threat is not peculiar to the US.
Have a look at the UK Motorcycle industry/Car Industry/TV ...
2. The sigma discussion. As pointed out, sigma comes from very
basic statistics - standard normal distribution and so on.
As not pointed out, 6 sigma could also refer to the extreme
left of the curve - or supercrudsville if you prefer it that
way ....
Mike Day
|
| 1010.30 | more amplification | MPGS::MCCLURE | Why Me??? | Mon Jan 22 1990 08:47 | 25 |
| re .26
Six sigma is not 5 Parts Per Million. The specifics stated in
the six sigma training are "3.4 defects per million opportunities".
The problem is defining 'opportunities' for your piece of the pie.
I submit that however many thousand opportunities to mess up that
you may define in manufacturing a PC board, the only measure of
your success that makes sense is "How many failed to work at the
customer site?". If you think this out, it is mind boggling.
Re .29
The training told us about the +/- deviation. For the purposes of
this program, six sigma represents the total area under the curve
from + to - six sigma or 99.99nn% of the area.
Incidentally, Motorola is 4 to 4.5 sigma and DEC thinks its at
3 sigma.
Simply translated to decision makers, you can only be wrong 3.4
times out of a million decisions 8-).
Incidentally, there is a different definition for software folks.
Its "defects per thousand lines of code". One of the shuttle
launch aborts which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, was
caused by a missing semi-colon. However, they didn't tell us how
many lines of code were involved in that program. 8-)
|
| 1010.31 | Maybe I'll understand this after I take the course | HANNAH::MESSENGER | Bob Messenger | Mon Jan 22 1990 10:48 | 21 |
| Re: .30
As applied to software, the idea of having a .003% or whatever defect rate
seems just silly to me. Customer satisfaction depends on more than just
"bugs per line of code". It also depends on providing the features people
are asking for in order to achieve the customers' goals. Since each customer
has his/her own goals, we can never hope to write software that will satisfy
99.997+% of all customers.
As you pointed out, even assuming we've chosen to implement the right set of
functions, "bugs per line of code" is still more or less meaningless; it
depends on what the bugs are. A bug that one customer considered minor might
make the software worthless as far as another customer was concerned.
The VIPS letter mentioned earlier said that not only would we achieve
99.997% quality, but we'd also reduce product development cycles by 50%. The
only way I can see us achieving both goals is if VIPS decided to sell nothing
but VT320s from now on: if we keep engineering the exact same product, maybe
eventually we'll get it right. ;^)
-- Bob
|
| 1010.32 | U.S. companies realize the problems...now they just have to start doing domething about them. | CELICA::SANTORO | Your grasp should always be farther than your reach | Mon Jan 22 1990 12:34 | 101 |
|
RE .28
To take a cut at answering some of your questions...
> 1) Why does AMERICAN quality suck? Take steel, automotive, cameras,
> semiconductor equipment, home electronics, appliances.
There are many reasons why quality and productivity in this country
are not as good as in other countries. The high cost of capital, too much focus
on short-term ROI, too little focus on process technology developement,
management/labor conflict/complacency attitudes, I could go on. These are not
excuses but just some facts that have long been identified as 'problems' in
U.S. competitiveness. However, I think the biggest problem the industry
has to overcome is dealing with the continual decline in the pool of
skilled workers in this country. The sad fact is that not only are less younger
people coming into the workforce due to the last of baby boomers moving into
middle age, but the few that are coming into the workforce are even more
uneducated and untrained than ever. It'd be tough enough trying to regain
a competitive edge with a superbly trained workforce let alone one that
continually lags behind every one of our major competitors.
I'm not just talking about the workers at the lower levels of the company
either, the lack of an education effects a company at all levels; at the
factory floor, in the cubicles, and in the offices with doors. Anywhere from
10 to 20% of our 17 year olds can barely read at the 8th grade level let alone
excell in math and science. Less and less people are graduating with
engineering and technical degrees, and many of today's managers are still
too complacent in their old ways of doing business and in relating to their
employees. All of this has to change before the U.S. can hope to again
be known for it's quality, cost effective products.
We need the 'Education President' we were all promised to finally stand up and
start putting more effort and investment into education in this country.
Corporations have
to begin investing heavily in internal education and training programs
and also increase thier cooperation with community schools, technical schools,
and universities to develop programs for long-range fundamental and specialized
skills development.
DEC has long believed education and training to be important and has what I
believe to be one of the better in-house training programs. It stands to be
a bit more focused but at least everyone in the company has (or should have)
the opportunity to gain the skills they need to be more effective, flexible
and productive.
> 2) Why are we a nation of information overload? We have more hype
> than what the product or service deserves.
The U.S has long been putting too much enphasis on the marketing and selling
of product and not on the processes involved and designing and building product.
But no matter how well you market or try to sell a product, no one will buy it
if it is a piece of junk. This again is finally being realized by many of
today's manufactures. For many years DEC was at the other end of the
spectrum..."a quality product is all that is needed, it will sell itself"
was quoted many a time, marketing and sales were never really focused upon.
A better position, maybe, but still far from the most effective attitude.
Full cooperation and integration between manufacturing, marketing and sales
is necessary.
> 3) Why are we so arrogant? The customers don't want the "American
> way", they want what is best for THEM.
It's mindset that has been ingrained into the heads of us for years. I believe
it is finally changing....just not fast enough.
> 4) Why are we, as an economy (and as a culture) so short term focussed?
Economic and cultural shortsightedness can probably be explained by that fact
everyone over the years had become obsessed with everything fast; fast growth,
the fast tract, fast food, fast cars...the mindset built up over
many years and especially in the financial community, is very difficult to
reverse. Wall st. punishes companies that sacrifice short-term profits
for long term strategies. This forces managers to take short-cuts in
process and product development. A cycle that is though to break and can't
be done overnight.
> 5) Why is our productivity on the decline? Germany and Japan are sill
> on the rise.
For the many reasons I've already stated.
> 6) Why do we as a nation not save? If we spend beyond our means, someone
> has to finance it. It would be nice if all Japanese financing was coming
> in as productive capital investment (one that contributes to GNP) -
> too bad it is not.
We used to save as a nation but not anymore, Easily available credit (credit
cards, car loans, etc..) and the consumer generation has seen to that. The
saving rate of this country is directly responsible for the high cost of
capital that keeps our companies from being able to cheaply finance new
investment into new and innovative process technologies, training programs,
and R&D. I'd personally love to see credit cards done away with and the
return to deductable retirement savings, but those are just simple-minded
approaches to the bigger problem of changing the attitudes of everyone
in this country.
> 7) And finally are we just doing our job or trying to exceed our
> goals?
I think way too many people today are just doing the former.
|
| 1010.33 | | REGENT::POWERS | | Tue Jan 23 1990 14:39 | 24 |
| > < Note 1010.31 by HANNAH::MESSENGER "Bob Messenger" >
> -< Maybe I'll understand this after I take the course >-
Yes, you will, because.....
> As applied to software, the idea of having a .003% or whatever defect rate
> seems just silly to me. Customer satisfaction depends on more than just
> "bugs per line of code". It also depends on providing the features people
> are asking for in order to achieve the customers' goals.
...and this is, indeed, part of the quality process.
A great deal of "Quality" is really just applying what we learned as
students of engineering, business, sales, whatever. Designing
to accommodate variation in the manufacturing process (mfg's 3 sigma and
eng's 3 sigma being 6 sigma) is so obvious I've often wondered how
people like Deming and Taguchi could become famous for pointing it out.
In large measure, it comes down to getting out of the sand box and paying
more than lip service to the rigor (bureaucarcy, if you will) that we
have all been taught as applying to each of our disciplines.
Number one on the list: SOLVE THE RIGHT PROBLEM.
- tom] (recent veteran of one six sigma offering)
|
| 1010.34 | It's Probably Too Late | MSCSSE::LENNARD | | Wed Jan 24 1990 09:52 | 19 |
| There's not enough storage on this system to list all the things that
would have to be done to start the turn-around.
The absolute frightening level of ignorance of far too many Americans
of the world around us is a major contributing factor to our decline.
I sat in a business meeting yesterday next to a "professional", who
did not know what country Budapest was in. We were discussing East
Bloc business potential.
We will clearly be a second-rate power by the year 2000. All of our
major financial institutions and most manufacturing companies will be
foreign-owned by then.
If I could do one thing, I would turn our shameful primary and
secondary education systems around. I would fund it at exactly the
same level as "defense". I would also to a large extent get the
local yahoos out of the decision-making loop on education. An educated
youth is a national resource far too valuable to leave up to town
meeting decisions and local school boards.
|
| 1010.35 | It's all in the mind...folks... | STRIKE::KANNAN | | Wed Jan 24 1990 15:32 | 22 |
| >> If I could do one thing, I would turn our shameful primary and
>> secondary education systems around. I would fund it at exactly the
>> same level as "defense". I would also to a large extent get the
>> local yahoos out of the decision-making loop on education. An educated
>> youth is a national resource far too valuable to leave up to town
>> meeting decisions and local school boards.
IMHO, throwing more money at the problem of school education is not going
to help one bit. There's got to be a sea-change in the attitude of the society
as a whole. When a kid who is interested in Math and Science is considered
as a "Nerd" or socially unacceptable while an athlete is considered a hero
(Don't get me wrong, I am not against sports, only for it to be considered
for what it is really worth in a new world where wars are being fought
on Industrial production and economics). When it's "cool" to be
studious you can produce extremely good products out of the schools even
with half the facilities currently available. I ought to know. I come from
a country with extremely poor resources for education. Schools in this
country now have facilities comparable to some institutions of higher learning
elsewhere in the world (libraries, laboratories, computers etc..). There's
absolutely no excuse. It's just a question of attitudes and motivation.
Being a developed country leads to complacency and slackening after a while,
I guess.
|
| 1010.36 | But more funding wouldn't hurt. | SCAM::GRADY | tim grady | Wed Jan 24 1990 16:56 | 8 |
| Still, it is shameful what little value we place on education as
demonstrated by the typical salary scale of our teachers. We can't
expect to attract the best teachers when we offer the worst rewards.
Teachers should be paid more. There is no reason why the person
teaching me how to better my career in computers should be routinely
making less money than me.
|
| 1010.37 | close rathole please | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Wed Jan 24 1990 17:01 | 4 |
| This in not the place to discuss the state of education in the
US. Sorry but there are other better forums for that discussion.
Alfred
|
| 1010.38 | I wonder what a teacher in Japan earns | VMSDEV::HALLYB | The Smart Money was on Goliath | Wed Jan 24 1990 17:41 | 3 |
| .36> Teachers should be paid more. There is no reason why the person
Looks like someone needs to learn the law of supply and demand.
|
| 1010.39 | Interesting Story... | STRIKE::KANNAN | | Thu Jan 25 1990 14:50 | 80 |
|
Here's a story that came floating around from someone in DIGITAL. It clearly
brings home the point about getting lost in technology while the real task
of providing solutions for customers goes ignored.
Enjoy!
Nari
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE PARABLE OF THE TOOL BUILDERS
Once upon a time, there was a great and wealthy nation by the
name of Latigid that built its wealth by providing stone to its
neighboring countries. Previously, the citizens of these
neighboring countries depended on their own government to take
the large, monolithic stone and to break it into smaller sizes
with which the citizens would then build their homes. Latigid
was able to develop a process which allowed them to export small
stone economically to the citizens of these neighboring
countries. With this capability, home building flourished and
Latigid became a wealthy nation.
As time passed, other nations were able to replicate Latigid's
process, and in some cases, were able to produce and export even
smaller and more economical stone. Seeing their dominance in
this market place eroding, the leaders of Latigid decided that
they would not only export stone, but even more valuably would
assist the citizens of these neighboring countries in building
their homes. "After all, that was the business they should
really be in." And so a great effort was mobilized to develop
the talents necessary to be successful in this home-building
market.
It was also decided that the stone salesmen would be the ones
who would now offer this new service. Over time, they reasoned,
the declining stone sales would be more than offset by the
increasing home building sales, and so it made perfect sense to
use the same salespeople to offer both.
Whereupon, the craftsmen of Latigid proceeded to develop their
art for export to these other countries -- architects,
carpenters, stone masons -- each with their own specialty. And
being a truly open society, each craftsman in turn, approached
the salesmen and discussed how their tools would help construct
the homes of the neighboring countries. As time passed, this
endless procession continued, each craftsman describing how
their tool was the best suited to construct the homes of their
foreign neighbors.
It also happened that in those few instances where home building
services were actually sold, the salespeople were not able to
deliver the necessary resources, because it appears the
craftsmen were much more interested in designing tools and
promoting their quality, than they were in building anything
with them. At last, frustrated by the lack of support and
thoroughly confused by the multiplicity of tools, the salesmen,
each in their own way, quietly withdrew their support and
continued selling their stone.
Whenever other craftsmen heard of this lack of success, they
reasoned that surely the reason for failure was the poor tools,
and so, decided to develop yet another set of tools and tried to
convince the salesmen that theirs were the best tools to build
homes with. In the meantime, a curious thing happened -- so
many people were developing tools that this great nation
collapsed from inattention to internal matters, economic strain
and dissension amongst the craftsmen as to whose tools were the
best. The heads of foreign governments remarked how strange it
was that such a great nation had collapsed so suddenly. "I
don't understand," said one of these government officials, "why
they never understood that what we really needed were
home-building services and not stones."
|
| 1010.40 | | SCARY::M_DAVIS | Marge Davis Hallyburton | Thu Jan 25 1990 17:18 | 6 |
| re -.1:
Ties nicely with Ken's parable of the restaurants. Check it out in the
January Management Memo, volume 9, #1.
mdh
|
| 1010.41 | Maybe someone can relate the parable? | NEWVAX::PAVLICEK | Zot, the Ethical Hacker | Fri Jan 26 1990 11:57 | 8 |
| re: .40
*sigh*
This would be much easier to do if it were made available to us...
-- Russ (who has seen just one issue of MGMT MEMO in the almost three
years I've been here)
|
| 1010.42 | make you manager read MGMT MEMO today | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Fri Jan 26 1990 14:26 | 26 |
| If you aren't seeing MGMT MEMO or at least getting a summary in
some staff meeting then it sounds like you boss isn't doing their
job. Topic for an other note perhaps.
Anyway Ken's story talked about a resterant where when people placed
an order for any not pachaged item the waiter had to negotiate
with all the different cooks about it. He had to figure out who
did would work and got what credit. "Woods meetings" were held
to work things out. I assume deviding the tips got real complicated.
While this was going on the customer went hungry.
The customer doesn't want to be involved in all this. He just wants
his food. It goes on and on like this. It really does sound like the
way DEC dues business but in the context of a resterant the sillyness
is obvious.
Bug your manager to let you read it. That's even better than you just
reading it here or somewhere else. Why is that better? Because if enough
of a managers people ask to read something *they* are likely to read it
themselves. I'll bet a lot of managers don't read theirs (Sorry R.S. sad
but true).
KO's article is one of the best things I've seen in MGMT MEMO in a
long time. Make your manager read it.
Alfred
|
| 1010.43 | | ULTRA::GONDA | Is this a PARACHUTE or what? | Fri Jan 26 1990 14:27 | 65 |
| � <<< Note 1010.37 by CVG::THOMPSON "My friends call me Alfred" >>>
� -< close rathole please >-
�
� This in not the place to discuss the state of education in the
� US. Sorry but there are other better forums for that discussion.
Well since DEC has started this program in Education I think
that Education is a relevant issue for this conference. See
the Livewire listing attacted.
Digital - 'Engineers into Education' program offers career change opportunity
{Livewire, 23-Jan-90}
Digital is offering a small number of employees in the U.S. the opportunity
to change careers and go into teaching. The MEM pilot program, "Engineers into
Education," will provide some employees who are re-evaluating their career
directions with an additional option. At the same time, it will help some
communities deal with the growing shortage of qualified mathematics,
chemistry, physics and computer science teachers. The program is primarily
intended for those individuals who in mid-career feel motivated to give their
time and effort to the community through teaching; and who, with financial and
other support to help them through a period of change, could manage with the
lower levels of income common to the teaching profession. Support available
from Digital (the "Education Bridge Package") includes counseling, the
opportunity to maintain certain benefits coverage for a fixed period of time,
a lump-sum financial package based on the number of years worked for Digital
and help with tuition for teacher preparation and certification courses. In
April, the first phase of the program, "Explore Education," will help eligible
employees decide if a career as a math or science teacher is appropriate for
them. This phase will be conducted by a local education consortium of public
schools over a 10-week period. The first two weeks will be held in a local
school district. Employees can participate in this part of the program without
obligation. During the 10 weeks of Explore Education, those who decide they
actually wish to leave Digital for a career in teaching may do so by electing
the second phase of the program, the Education Bridge Package. March 9, 1990
is the deadline for applying for the program. Applicants must meet the
following eligibility criteria:
o apply and submit all necessary materials;
o have at least a bachelor's degree in engineering, mathematics, physics,
chemistry or computer science from an accredited college or university;
o work in MEM (Manufacturing, Engineering and Marketing);
o work in Massachusetts or New Hampshire; and
o have a 1, 2 or 3 rating in their last performance review.
Following completion of the pilot, the program will be extended to other
organizations and geographies within the company. Whenever there are more
eligible applicants than opportunities, applicants will be selected in the
following order:
o first, those who have been designated as "available" under a formal
transition program;
o then, those with the most company seniority, defined by total length of
service with Digital.
Informational presentations will be conducted at Digital sites in
Massachusetts and New Hampshire in February and March:
Feb. 5, 1:30-3:30 p.m., General Doriot Auditorium, MLO4-5
Feb. 12, 9:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-3:30 p.m., Babbage Auditorium,
Spitbrook Road (ZKO)
The following three sessions will all be held in the MRO3 Amphitheater,
Marlboro:
Feb. 15, 1:30-3:30 p.m.; Feb. 16, 9:30-11:30 a.m.; Feb. 23, 9:30-11:30
a.m.
Additional information is available on videotex (to access, type VTX EEP at
the system prompt), or contact Burt Goodrich, DTN 223-3603 (RDVAX::EDUCATION).
|
| 1010.44 | | WMOIS::FULTI | | Fri Jan 26 1990 15:17 | 7 |
| Can you believe it? Digital expects that there are engineers willing to
give up their careers and go into teaching....
I don't know for sure but I suspect that any engineer here in DEC is making
at least twice what any school system would be able to pay. Isn't that the
reason for the shortage of qualified teachers to begin with?
- George
|
| 1010.45 | They will! | SIVA::ELMER | | Fri Jan 26 1990 15:35 | 23 |
| Perhaps there are some DEC engineers who would cherish the thought of
teaching in the secondary school system....and perhaps $$ money $$
becomes secondary after a while.....
I "expect" that there will be a modest response to this program
particularly from those engineers who:
o need a change
o are financially secure for the long haul
o want to make a significant contribution to education
o want to enjoy something
o want to have "customer contact" on a daily basis
o WANT TO HAVE FUN.
I applaud the concept and the program. Massachusetts really needs
something injected into its educational system besides mediocrity.
The American university system was based on the "industry/school"
partnership. MIT, Carnegie Inst of Tech (old name), and Rensselaer
were founded on the endowments of industry; designed to promote
engineering as a discipline and a profession. I believe a similar
approach can and should be considered for the secondary school system.
RICK
|
| 1010.46 | Average teaching salaries in U.S. | PHAROS::DMCLURE | Your favorite Martian | Fri Jan 26 1990 19:45 | 9 |
| re: .44,
> I don't know for sure but I suspect that any engineer here in DEC is making
> at least twice what any school system would be able to pay.
See note 475.2 for statistics which also include average high school
teaching salaries for every state in the U.S. (complete with rankings).
-davo
|
| 1010.47 | KO's restaurant story and surrounding article | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Mon Jan 29 1990 08:53 | 186 |
| Posted with permission from MGMT MEMO. Please note that it
is clearly marked for DIGITAL INTERNAL USE only and not for
sharing outside the company.
*********************************************
DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY
from MGMT MEMO Jan. 1990, based on speech delivered at State of
the Company Meeting, Nov. 16, 1989
STATE OF THE COMPANY ADDRESS
by Ken Olsen, president
By all traditional measures, we are doing well. We are growing
and are profitable, like the best of the big companies. In terms
of cash flow, even in Q1, which was our slow summer quarter, we
ended up with $180 million positive cash flow. We also are
investing $1.5 billion this year in new product development and
are budgeted to invest $1.2 billion in capital expenditures.
By those measures, we are doing well. But considering the assets
we have, we are doing poorly.
We have the best products by far. We can say today, "Digital has
it all." We have everything from the simple terminal to the
supercomputer. Those products which we dreamed of and planned
for two and three years ago, we have today. They are beautiful.
Much of the computer industry is in serious trouble. If you look
at the list of computer companies, very few have a significant
operating system, or the products to go with it. The future for
most of them is very bleak. And we have it all. And yet, we are
not selling anywhere near as much as we should. We are not
growing like we should and not getting the marketshare that we
should.
Phil Caldwell, our director and formerly of Ford, said we have
done the hard part. It takes years of investment to build up the
staff to generate the products, and to be able to deliver them,
sell them and service them. He said the easy part should be to
market and sell them.
But how do we do that?
If you go into a fine restaurant, all your contact is with the
maitre d'. The maitre d' takes care of all your wishes without a
hassle. There are chefs and many people to serve you, but you
don't notice them. It is a pleasant evening, and you look
forward to coming back again. That's the way it should be.
But instead of operating like that, we follow modern management
techniques learned in business school. Service is way down the
list of priorities. The most important thing is to measure
everybody because, obviously, you get what you measure.
In the other restaurant, nobody knows how many chefs there are.
But in this restaurant, there is a meat chef, a fish chef, a
salad chef, a pastry chef, a dessert chef and a wine steward.
And the important thing is to measure each one.
Then, some customers, who are used to the other restaurant,
nicely ask the maitre d' if could they could have a piece from
that item and mix it with this one, and they would like one side
of the steak cooked well and the other side not as much. In this
restaurant, they use "process" for making decisions. So the
maitre d' goes back and negotiates with all the chefs, and there
is an argument about who will get what share. They hold "woods
meetings" to talk about it. Then the maitre d' comes back and
explains the problem. Meanwhile, the people are getting hungry.
The customer just wants a meal. He only wants to deal with the
maitre d'. He doesn't want to get in the middle of contests
between all the different people who are measured.
We have to remember that the measurement is not the reason we are
in business. The process of developing consensus and making
decisions is not the main reason we are here.
In the other restaurant, the customer never notices the six
people who quietly serve. In this one, they are all vying to be
the one who serves, and they argue whose right it is to serve
whom, even though the customer doesn't care.
In this restaurant, when it comes to billing, the finance
department won't allow the waiter to bring the bill until the
customer signs that he accepted everything. By then, the
customer doesn't even want to remember what he bought and what
changes he made.
That's the way many customers look at us. We try to tell them
how beautiful this way of operating is -- that it is process that
counts. We explain why we wouldn't want them to pay us unless
they signed for it first. We explain why we wouldn't want them
to get the equipment, unless everybody in the organization had
their share of the order and had their lawyers argue with one
another.
Some people believe in process like a religion. With process you
don't have to know anything about customers or service or
products. You simply follow the process. But, unfortunately,
the more you are devoted to process, the farther you get from the
customer's real needs.
Last night I called Jack Smith and I said, "Jack, Pete Zotto has
a DECWORLD all planned for Boston in second week of July next
summer. How do you want to make this decision?" He said, "Oh,
quit this process stuff, Ken. Just do it." And he was right.
Generally, at Digital, we would talk about a project like that
for nine months. July would be over if we followed that process.
So DECWORLD is on for July.
Sometimes people complain that it takes forever to get a decision
on a proposal. But far too often, the people making the
proposals don't state them clearly. They present all the data
and assume the committee will ask the right question. Instead,
they should pose their question in a way that can be answered
with a simple yes or no, and make clear who is going to be
responsible for the project.
Before Jack Smith took over Engineering, Engineering was in
trouble. We had had five years with no major new products. One
time we had a woods meeting to analyze our products, I looked
around and saw that the people there were all staff people -- no
product development people. We had gotten so caught up in
process that people who knew nothing about technical matters were
making decisions about products.
From then on, we promoted the people who were running product
development, and now we are on top of the world in terms of
products. But the rest of the organization is still in love with
process.
Process, when carried to extremes, means we take our best sales
people and make them staff people -- at district or area -- and
because they are good, they want to control everything.
Process people often measure their success by how thick the
proposal is. They make pie charts because their personal computer
makes pie charts. But they have no message to get across.
Many of the committee meetings and staff meetings we hold aren't
really needed because we have no clear questions to resolve. If
the question was clear, we could give an answer -- yes or no --
without all those presentations.
Process people need consensus to make decisions; and every time
they look for consensus, the process gets bigger.
I will tell you how you run "consensus." Jack Smith says, "We're
making this change. This manager moves over here, and that one
over there. Now let's have a meeting and get consensus about
it." He makes the important decision, and then they talk about
what they are going to do.
At a drill company which was doing very well financially, the
chairman told his top managers, "We're in trouble. People don't
buy our products." The sales manager, the chief engineer, and
others objected, "But we are doing so well." He said, "Yes. But
people don't want drills, they want holes. If you insist on
selling drills, you are never going to get the point."
Likewise, people don't buy networks or computers. They have
problems to solve.
We have to get away from process issues and change our mindset.
Instead of explaining our internal processes to customers, we
should be focusing on solving customer problems.
For 32 years, we have sold computer hardware and software. We
have to move beyond that now and tell our customers, "We'll solve
your problem."
We have to give up the processes to which we have become devoted,
and act like the first restaurant where the maitre d' makes the
decisions that satisfy the customer. We have to let our sales
people stand on their feet and make a deal. Our process just
keeps us from simply telling the customer, "We have a solution
for your problem."
Today, our message is "we truly have an architecture." It covers
the whole problem for any customer. We've got the hard part
done. Now let's solve the easy part, which is to satisfy the
customer.
|
| 1010.48 | Where are we today.... | STRIKE::KANNAN | | Tue Jan 30 1990 11:47 | 53 |
|
Here's something more to chew on. Note the entry of Japanese firms into the
top 10. It seems that they weren't there about five years ago. IMHO,
If DIGITAL doesn't think really long-term in terms of Information Management
Services or at least solutions and is happy with producing more RISC machines
and Version 25.190 of DECNet, it could lose its position. There is a good
chance that EUROPE 1992 might produce formidable competitors with technology
from Western Europe and an inexpensive well-educated labor force from Eastern
Europe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPIED FROM THE JAPAN TIMES, DECEMEBER 15, 1989:
NEW YORK (Kyodo) Five major Japanese computer makers were among the world's
top 20 computer producers in 1988 in terms of sales, according to an
announcement made Wednesday by Arthur D. Little, a leading U.S. consulting
firm.
The announcement said Fujitsu placed third, NEC Corp. fifth and Hitachi
sixth among the top 20.
Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. also joined the top 20
for the first time, placing 13th and 17th.
The consulting firm, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, predicts that
annual sales by the top 20 firms will only grow by 8 percent to 10 percent
over the next five years since the global general-purpose computer market is
already saturated.
Firms without international competitiveness and with outdated machinery and
equipment will definitely drop from the list and be forced to either merge or
be bought out, the report said.
Japanese computer makers will likely outstrip their U.S. and European
competitors due to their long-term strategies and strong positions in the
semiconductor and communications markets, it said.
The following are the top 10 firms as rated by Arthur D. Little, with
parentheses showing nationality:
1. IBM Corp. (U.S.)
2. Digital Equipment Corp. (U.S.)
3. Fujitsu (Japan)
4. Unisys Corp. (U.S.)
5. NEC Corp. (Japan)
6. Hitachi (Japan)
7. Hewlett-Packard Co. (U.S.)
8. Siemens AG (West Germany)
9. NCR Corp (U.S.)
10. Group Bull (joint venture between Bull S.A. of France,
Honeywell of the U.S. and NEC of Japan)
|
| 1010.49 | Lack of MGMT MEMO illustrates part of the problem... | NEWVAX::PAVLICEK | Zot, the Ethical Hacker | Tue Jan 30 1990 13:52 | 49 |
| re: .42 (reading MGMT MEMO)
FWIW :
o I've been here almost 3 years.
o I've reported to 3 different managers (4 if you count an interim mgr
for two months, 5 if you count one person whose been my manager twice
already).
o I've seen MGMT MEMO once (that I recall -- about two and a half years
ago).
o We've had maybe six unit meetings in the three years.
My point: It's not just one manager, but a significant portion system
which is busted!
In the field, sharing a single physical document is absurd. We aren't
in the same physical location. We can't afford to take off billable
time to come to the office (which may be WAY out of the way) to read a
document periodically -- especially when we don't know when it comes in
or what's in it. Sharing a document in a unit meeting is likewise
inefficient. Meetings occur every 3-6 months (maybe -- can't lose them
billable hours, ya know...). Trying to get 8-12 people up to snuff on
however many MGMT MEMOs in a few minutes just doesn't happen.
Being in the field means that you are in the outer darkness of Digital.
Information falls like crumbs from the divine New England table. If
your manager is good, he/she will be able to gather enough crumbs to
assemble something which resembles a meal. If your manager is not so
good, you can prepare for information starvation.
Ken's restaurant story is quite interesting. It is a story of factions
and frictions which prevent service from occurring. Well, the MGMT
MEMO information is a good example of the breakdown. I know that many
of my coworkers could identify with the restaurant parable;
unfortunately, many of them will never read it in MGMT MEMO (however,
since it is now posted here and I happen to be the self-appointed NEWS
editor & publisher for my district, I will correct that VERY SOON!
I'm not one to lay down and die, -- I do the best I can to keep the
information flowing -- but there is a clog up the pipe and there's no
way to snake out the clog from underneath!)
Wouldn't Ken be interested to know that his restaurant is so loused up
that the busboys don't even know that the head manager wants to improve the
restaurant's service...? 8^(
We'll never improve our service if the service providers aren't even
kept in the loop!
-- Russ
|
| 1010.50 | Willing information surpression?? | THEWAV::PFLUEGER | Complex nonsolutions to simple nonproblems | Wed Jan 31 1990 19:25 | 17 |
| re: .49 (Russ on Mgmt Memo and the field)
I agree whole-heartedly. In the SWA, info. of this kind is not "put out
to the troops" (can you say surpressed? I knew you could ;^).
I guess we're just too busy bringing in revenue to be concerned. Ya,
that's it! Just do your job and we'll tell you what you need to know.
Gee, I think I'll just leave it the the bean-counters to figure out
how to "fix the course".
Set mode/sarcastic=off
The only practicle way this is going to be overcome, is through the efforts
of individual who want ther fellow workers to be informed, and pass the
word(s) to them. Control of information is power; just ask the Chinese.
=Jp=
|
| 1010.51 | Job security? | ULTRA::GONDA | DECelite: Pursuit of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Happiness. | Wed Jan 31 1990 20:42 | 4 |
| MGMT MEMO rathole, what I don't understand is that if it is to be
``shared by employees'' then why don't they cut the crap and put it
in maybe Livewire and some other such electronic/hardcopy bulletins
form where it can also be more accessible!
|
| 1010.52 | | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Thu Feb 01 1990 09:09 | 5 |
| RE: .51 A usually reliable source indicates that MGMT MEMO may
be coming to VTX in the future. The problems are more of resources
than politics.
Alfred
|
| 1010.53 | What is MGMT MEMO | ZPOV01::HWCHOY | So many Men, so few Brains. | Thu Feb 01 1990 10:42 | 12 |
| Can someone please explain the purpose of this "MGMT MEMO", who is to
receive them, what are they supposed to do with them.
My country (Singapore, Far East) obviously have never received such a
beast. I forwarded the memo to all Sales and SWS, and the response is
overwhelming. Including line managers who comes to me and ask me how I
managed to lay my hands on such good stuffs.
This company may have a bigger problem than people in the good old US
of A suspect.
HW (excuse me, Ken WHO!?)
|
| 1010.54 | RE: MGMT MEMO | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Thu Feb 01 1990 11:37 | 11 |
| From the front page of MGMT MEMO:
"MGMT MEMO" is written by Corporate Employee Communication for the
Office of the President. It is written for Digital's managers and
supervisors to help them understand and communicate business information
to their employees.
It is sent to all managers and supervisors in the US at least I
don't know about elsewhere.
Alfred
|
| 1010.55 | please share | ODIXIE::CARNELL | DTN 385-2901 David Carnell @ALF | Thu Feb 01 1990 12:29 | 9 |
|
Ref 1010.54
Alfred,
You forgot to mention the most important part that says please share
with your employees!
|
| 1010.56 | DEC - Global company - in fact but not in spirit | ZPOV01::HWCHOY | So many Men, so few Brains. | Thu Feb 01 1990 21:31 | 9 |
| re .53
I think this company still has a lot of USA-orientedness embedded in
people's thinking. Why can't this simple thing as distributing MGMT
MEMO (and by what it claims, should be distributed to ALL, not just US)
be done properly? I'm tired, I'm really tired...
hw (flame me if u want)
|
| 1010.58 | ARGH | MARVIN::COCKBURN | Promoting International Unity | Fri Feb 02 1990 09:08 | 7 |
|
Please do not post very long notes like .-1 without giving a warning to
DECwindows notes users in a previous reply. Decwindows notes had to read
in all 2624 lines of that note before I could read the next new one, tying
up my session unnecessarily for about 10 mins!!
Craig.
|
| 1010.59 | I agree, but... | LEXIS::COHEN | | Fri Feb 02 1990 10:59 | 10 |
|
re: -1 and -2.
I agree about warning users of a long file ahead, whew!
On the other hand, the article is very interesting.
A lot of it is just as ethnocentric (i.e. America is great because...)
as the United States he criticizes, but there are many valid points as well.
Bob
|
| 1010.60 | what happened to 1010.57 | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Fri Feb 02 1990 12:18 | 9 |
| .57 contained a 2600 line article which is part of a book called
"A Japan that Can Say No". Because of the problems such large postings
cause, especially to batch readers and DECwindows users, I have deleted
it and asked to poster to provide a pointer to a location on the net
where people who want to can get the whole note.
Alfred
|
| 1010.61 | Modern UI should not limit access | CUSPID::MCCABE | If Murphy's Law can go wrong .. | Fri Feb 02 1990 12:52 | 5 |
| re .58
Sounds like a design flaw in DECWINDOWS Notes.
|
| 1010.62 | feature not bug :-) | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Fri Feb 02 1990 14:47 | 7 |
| RE: .61 DECWindows does not limit the number of lines read. What
it does do is read the WHOLE note before it returns control to the
user. This is not normally a problem. Except for long notes. It is
related to the DECwindows widget Notes uses. There are long discussions
on the issue in the VAXNOTES product conferences.
Alfred
|
| 1010.63 | Microcosm | VMSDEV::HALLYB | The Smart Money was on Goliath | Mon Feb 05 1990 14:16 | 11 |
| Re: .62
STILL sounds like a design flaw in DECWINDOWS Notes.
I don't care how DW Notes operates, I just don't want it to take
forever to read the next note. If you tell me I'm asking for too much
then I'll go use some other product that does what I want.
Sometimes our customers feel the same way about other DEC products.
John
|
| 1010.64 | Looks like a flaw to me | DELNI::MCCABE | If Murphy's Law can go wrong .. | Mon Feb 05 1990 14:17 | 2 |
| ...as I said.
|
| 1010.65 | Fine so beat up on someone who can do something | CVG::THOMPSON | My friends call me Alfred | Mon Feb 05 1990 14:29 | 8 |
| RE: Last couple. If it's a bug or a flaw then jump into
CLT::VAXNOTES_BUGS and beat up on the developers. They seem an
open minded bunch. If enought people complain I'm sure they'll
move fixing the problem higher on the priority scale. COntrary to
popular opinion I don't have any pull there. I suspect that the
Notes people may not even read this conference either.
Alfred
|
| 1010.66 | Workaround in the meantime... | PSYCHE::DMCLURE | Your favorite Martian | Mon Feb 05 1990 16:29 | 6 |
| Simple solution to the DECwindows VAXnotes dillema is to try this
the next time you start a notes session in a DECterm:
$ NOTES/NODECWINDOWS
-davo
|
| 1010.67 | The pointer, please | TKOV58::SHIMONO | Computers & Communism made Tetris | Tue Feb 06 1990 00:39 | 6 |
| Re: .57 "A Japan that Can Say No"
I missed it. Please let me know the pointer to the text.
Dolby SHIMONO (who can say Yes/No/I donto andastando Engrish welu)
DEC-Japan Tokyo
|
| 1010.68 | Thanks | TKOV58::SHIMONO | HyperBigMac contains computer worms | Tue Feb 06 1990 19:32 | 8 |
| < Note 1010.67 by TKOV58::SHIMONO "Computers & Communism made Tetris" >
> Re: .57 "A Japan that Can Say No"
>
> I missed it. Please let me know the pointer to the text.
Someone showed me the location of the file. Thanks.
dolby
|
| 1010.69 | For example like this | PAXVAX::SONTAKKE | | Wed Feb 07 1990 13:51 | 11 |
| Alright, I will raise my hand too. Can I get the pointer to the text?
Thanks,
- Vikas
P.S. Won't it be great if "*" on the note title can actually
cross-reference a pointer to the text? Would I be asking too much if I
expected Notes Utility (or moderator) to move the text in a separate
file and provide the pointer rather than people asking for the pointer?
I am assuming that the disk-space on the host node is not premium.
|
| 1010.70 | Does anybody still hav "Japan that can say no"? | USAT05::BURKHART | | Thu Jun 21 1990 16:53 | 6 |
| I have looked through the replies that follow .57 but I do not find a pointer to
the article by Morita.
Does anybody still have it and better yet will somebody post a pointer to the
article ?
|
| 1010.71 | | BOLT::MINOW | There must be a pony here somewhere | Fri Jun 22 1990 15:02 | 5 |
| re: .70:
Try MAY14::PUBLIC:JAPAN.PS (for US LPS40) or JAPAN.TXT
Martin.
|