Pitfalls on the Journey to Quality Enlightenment

Erich Pearson

Hubbell, Inc.

Quality and Culture

• Quality consciousness is evolving

• Cultural-based friction can interfere with the evolutionary process

Cultural Differences

• Can be easy to spot

• May be subtle

• Can shift with time and dynamics within a group

Discussing Cultural Differences

• Fear of being considered politically incorrect (or worse)

• My objective: talk openly about cultural differences impeding QS adoption

Dysfunctional thinking traps

• Drawing conclusions about an entire population based on a sample

• Drawing conclusions about an individual based on characteristics of a group

• Imposing value judgments on the characteristics

Culture Shifts Over Time

• Attitudes

• Behavior Norms

• Expectations

• All change over time

• At different rates in different places

• Jennifer Grasso - 2008

• Patricia Casey - 1958

How Do Others View Us?

• What preconceived notions are at play?

This Supervisor Stuff: How Hard Can It Be?

Quality Systems Defined

• ISO-9001

• FDA Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations

• Sarbanes-Oxley

• ITIL

• SDLC

• TQM

Early Messages About Quality

• RCA

• Ford

• Turnaround in Japan

• Deming, Juran

You Have to Start Somewhere

• Germinal Quality “Systems” at BASF

• Post-WWII Legacy Thinking

Banished From The Plant

Departmental Quality Systems

• First Attempt

• Juran Training and tQM

Build a Better Mousetrap...

Departmental Quality Systems

• Take Two

• Phillip Crosby

• Week of training

• Each received our own copy of “Quality is Free”

• Recorded POC and PONC

• What’s a system without knicknacks?

Raising Consciousness

• Roger Milliken drinks the Kool-Aid

• Are we certifiable yet?

That Killer Dress

Know When to Fold ‘em

2002: It’s Not Just a Good Idea

• Schering-Plough fined $500 Million

• Sarbanes-Oxley becomes law

• Benefits beyond compliance

None Of Us Are As Dumb As All Of Us

Breaking Down the Levees

To transform an organization, QS must:1) be driven by top management, and

2) pervade all functions and levels of the organization

Breaking Down the Levees

Apply Deming’s PDCA (PDSA) Cycle to the Organization as a whole:

1) Measure and record critical business processes.

2) Analyze for trends and learning points.

3) Share the analysis throughout the organization.

4) Set improvement goals with 360° input.

5) Implement changes based on goals.

6) Repeat.

A Success Story at Hubbell, Inc.

• Number of emergency changes released into production per month

• Collected the data

• Analyzed

• Change control process did not match our business requirements

• Implemented changes

• Reduced EMRF’s by 53% over 6 months

2 ½ Million Ways to Say “No Thank You”

Button on the wall 26.2 Fuji Photo Film Mission Statement How to say “No” in Japanese

• That would be difficult.• Ummm...• [silence]• Maybe.• [Sharp, sustained intake of breath while inclining the head]• [Most confusing way of saying no:] Yes.

The MES that never was

Top 6 Key Learning Points

6) Where possible, identify potential friction points related to cultural differences.• Fuji hired an interpersonal relationship

consulting firm to help identify gaps (10 years after opening)

Top 6 Key Learning Points

5) Expect to encounter unanticipated and unlooked for friction due to culture clash.• The marketplace is and will continue to become more

global.• The workplace will continue to become more diverse.• Don’t be afraid to discuss differences, but do so with

an attitude of acceptance.• Each of us is a point on many cultural planes, that can

be polarized depending on the catalyzing force.

Top 6 Key Learning Points

4) Attitudes and behavior change at different rates in different places.• Not all people will be at a uniform level of acceptance.

3) Recognize that there are no easy answers or punch-list solutions.

2) Establish the groundwork for communication up front.□ Give each other permission to make mistakes, but

work to resolve quickly and move on.

Top 6 Key Learning Points

1) Seek the common ground.• It’s 99% of the human experience.

Questions?

Thank you!

Erich Pearsonepearson@hubbell.com