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Management improvement in federal state and local government: The Public Sector and Deming - Government Lean Six Sigma- Management of Government - Failure to Address Systemic SWAT Raid Failures
Related: Public Sector Continuous Improvement Connections - Doing More With Less in the Public Sector: A Progress Report from Madison, Wisconsin - Transformation and Redesign at the White House Communications Agency
The Baldrige National Quality Award winners for 2007 are:
President Bush met with winners for the first time since 2000, I believe (photo from Coral Springs web site). He did in private this year in the Oval Office. The Baldridge award had more prestige in the management community 10 years ago. In my opinion the award has failed to attract the best managed companies to apply.
When you purport to recognize the highest level of management excellence you should understand that leaving out those companies that are widely seen as excellent calls into question the credibility of the award. I can understand the challenge in convincing many potential applicants to apply. I would say that is the same challenge companies have that want to convince potential customers their solution is what the customer should purchase.
ARDEC provides a public version of their application (some details removed) that is interesting. ARDEC received the President’s Award Quality in 2000. From 1998 to 2002 the President’s Quality Award recognized management excellence in the federal government based on a Baldrige-style system (it was then switched from Baldrige-style to generic “excellence”).
Related: 2005 Baldrige Award - Vice President Presents Baldrige Awards (2004) - Problems with Lean Manufacturing Awards - 2007 Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing - Management excellence in government - Deming Prize 2007
Misuse of the “Customer” Concept
“We are told that the airlines are our customers,” FAA inspector Charlambe “Bobby” Boutris said. “But we have a more important customer, the taxpayers” who want government to ensure a safe aviation system.
That’s crazy. The FAA is supposed to be serving and protecting the passengers, not the airlines. This is like a supervisor in a workplace treating their employee as a customer… even in a “servant leadership” environment, that’s not right.
“Customer focus” is good, but only if you properly define customer relationships. I’d prefer the FAA think of me and my fellow travelers as the “customer,” not the airlines.
I agree there are several different customers. This is actually not uncommon outside of government but for government agencies multiple “customers” that might have divergent desires are more frequent. But the “customer” frame of reference I still think has value.
I actually think the problem is the way people choose to interpret the idea. If I buy a car from a dealer they don’t sell it to me for $100. They don’t agree to not tell the government so I can avoid sales tax. They don’t agree to sell me a car that is not legal in the state. Customer service does not mean do what is in the interest of the customer irregardless of laws, regulations, good business practices, etc..
I would say doctors don’t give patients anti-biotics for viral infections (but actually they do). They shouldn’t. When doctors behave irresponsibly and give antibiotics in ways that harm the heath of society, some might try to claim it is because they are giving the patient/customer what they want. That is not a reasonable excuse.
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Utah scrambling to meet need for technical workers
The situation continues to worsen, with jobs being created and unemployment remaining low in the state. And as the current work force ages, the supply of skilled workers is diminishing, forcing employers to recruit outside of Utah and sometimes leave Utah altogether, the report said.
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The college’s Lean Manufacturing Center was built from an old warehouse with state funds and $30 million from rocket-booster manufacturer Williams International. Williams provides the college with equipment and mentors to train students with practical, real-world applications, said Lloyd McCaffrey, the Lean Center’s director.
Related: Engineering Innovation for Manufacturing and the Economy - Applied Quality Engineering Education - Wisconsin Manufacturing - Top 10 Manufacturing Countries - Help Wanted: Lean Manufacturing Experts - The Lean MBA - Curious Cat Management Improvement Job Board
Quaker teacher fired for changing loyalty oath
Modifying oaths is open to different legal interpretations. Without commenting on the specific situation, a spokesman for state Attorney General Jerry Brown said that “as a general matter, oaths may be modified to conform with individual values.”
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“I honor the Constitution, and I support the Constitution,” she said. “But I want it on record that I defend it nonviolently.”
My take: stupid unthinking government action. First I can’t see what value the signing does at all. But even if you think there is some aim that having everyone sign supports does a Quaker inserting non-violently harm that aim in some way? Is it really unquestioningly doing whatever you are told that is the value that is what is being aimed for? Seems pretty clear to me from even this short article this teacher understands the constitution much better than most people and cares enough to take the values that constitution endorses seriously. While the government looks like they only care about getting their form on file and don’t care at all what the purpose of that form is (the purpose can’t really be just to coerce everyone to sign it, can it?).
To me she is doing a great service to defend that constitution with her actions. Hopefully she can do so and have her job. But standing up for what is right often can leave you worse off personally.
I understand that it is easier to ignore the purpose and just focus on compliance with the rules. But what does it say if your actions show that actually loyalty doesn’t matter and signing something you don’t believe is ok? It just bothers me that this loyalty oath situation puts an emphasis on empty promises above the true intent of the constitution. Devaluing it harms us all in the long term.
Related: The First Amendment - Public Management - Customer Un-focus
New Erie County Government Executive, Chris Collins, discusses the director of six sigma position that will drive their new six sigma efforts.
Related: Six Sigma for Erie County Government - Public Sector Management Improvement Site - Posts on improving management in the Public Sector - management webcasts
Chris Collins proposed bringing six sigma to Erie County government in his campaign for county executive. He won the election. From his web site:
As County Executive, Chris Collins will reform county government to make sure it serves its customers: the taxpayers. He will implement new management techniques – Total Quality Management, Continuous Improvement, ISO, Six Sigma and more – to focus on making every government agency and worker more efficient and accountable. These are the same techniques he’s used to turn around failing companies.
Chris Collins will also choose a business management expert as Deputy County Executive – and then make their only duty to fight everyday to make sure taxpayers get the value we deserve for our tax dollar
Where did he pick up this interest in six sigma? He is the founder, owner, Chairman and CEO of Audubon Machinery:
Audubon Machinery is one of the fastest growing companies in the United States and will be recognized on the INC 500 list this year as well as the new Business First list of the fastest growing companies in Western New York.
I wish him luck in bringing management improvement practices to Erie County.
Related: Bringing Deming to the Public Sector - Public Sector Continuous Improvement Site - Six Sigma City Government
Editorial: Engineering Innovation, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Or Werner Zobel, a Modine Manufacturing engineer working in Germany who hatched the idea for a new cooling system that the Racine-based company believes could be revolutionary. The system uses ultra-thin layers of aluminum to dissipate heat, a breakthrough that has potential for car and truck radiators and air conditioning condensers.
Intellectual candlepower will fire the regional economy, the Milwaukee 7 regional economic development group believes. Its strategic plan relies on innovation-driven manufacturers that are heavy with engineers. But across the region, those companies say they can’t recruit enough engineers, and they worry that shortages will worsen as baby boomers retire. Complicating the picture is a shortage of visas for foreign-born engineers and increased competition from rapidly developing economies in China and India for those students even when they complete their studies in the United States.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering are racing to fill the pipeline. Marquette and UWM are promising expansive new buildings and increased enrollment of both undergraduate and graduate students.
The USA continues to be by far the largest manufacturing in the world. And one important reason is the contributions provided by science and engineering (fed by strong science and engineering schools). In addition to other smart economic policies (The World Bank’s annual report on the easiest countries to do business in ranks the USA 3rd - after Singapore and New Zealand). Wisconsin manufacturing continues to get good discussion on various lean blogs for good reason(More Wisconsin Lean, Wisconsin Continues to Lead in Lean Government, History repeats itself). The success Wisconsin is enjoying is not due to one single factor but the efforts of many actors including companies, universities, government, the press… and groups like the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Madison Quality Improvement Network (I have managed MAQIN’s web site since it was created - John Hunter).
Related: Best Research University Rankings - 2007 - S&P 500 CEOs - Again Engineering Graduates Lead - Invest in New Management Methods by William G. Hunter, Commentary to the Milwaukee Journal, 1986
Edwards looks toward future of testing
In a recent Benefield Anechoic Facility test, the 412th Electronic Warfare Group used Design of Experiments methodology to cut a two-month program to three weeks. This schedule reduction translated directly into savings and helped reduce the concept-to-fielding cycle time while still ensuring the system was thoroughly tested. While building these capabilities is critical, the most critical piece of the puzzle is our people. We must continue to develop engineers, pilots, navigators, program managers and maintainers to test these systems and “find stuff so the warfighter doesn’t.”
It is hard to tell if they really are using Design of Experiments or just using the term but it seem possible they are really using it. As I have said a number of times it is a powerful and under-utilized tool for improvement. Related: Using Design of Experiments - design of experiments articles - posts on public sector management - Why Use Designed Factorial Experiments?
I started looking at quality management resources online in 1995 (maybe 1994). At the time I was on the board of the Public Sector Network - what would become the American Society of Quality (ASQ) government division. When we started working with ASQ it took something like 2 months from the time I wrote an article until people received it. Now in 1995, the internet (outside of universities) was in its infancy. I was writing a column on the resources online for quality management - these consisted of bulletin boards (that you used your modem to call directly) and “gopher” and “ftp” sites and email lists a very few web sites. Ftp and gopher are internet protocols (as is the hypertext transfer protocol - http - we all use for the web now). Well things changed frequently back then and by the time my article would be published phone numbers wouldn’t work, addresses would be out of date, etc..
So I figured I should post my article online so people could just go there and see the updated phone numbers, addresses, etc.. That wasn’t so easy to do back then. But several of us at a W. Edwards Deming Institute conference decided to create a Deming Electronic Network (DEN). And one of those people was Del Kimbler who worked at Clemson and had access to a web site where he agreed to host the DEN. So I asked about posting the Online Quality Resource Guide there and he agreed.
Del is retiring from Clemson and so we are moving some of the material off Clemson to curiouscat.com. As part of that I ran across this November 1995 edition of the Online Quality Resource Guide. There really was a small number of good online resources for managers back then. We forget how lucky we are today. The first article I can find (right now anyway) is from the Spring of 1995. It listed a total of 2 web sites in addition to a BBS and several email lists. Clemson was listed as a gopher site and web site.
We have recently moved the Public Sector Continuous Improvement Site and Community Quality Electronic Network to curiouscat.com. Some history on PSCI and CQEN.
Related: John Hunter history - Using Quality to Develop an Internet Resource by John Hunter (1999) - Management Improvement History
It is sad to see so many examples of bad customer service. I wish enough companies would adopt management improvement principles so that at least I could avoid dealing with the others altogether. Here are 2 more bad examples from the Washington post today. Cellphone Contracts - Hard to Get off the Hook
Another in the long list of bad service from Verizon examples. And the Post also has a story on the continuing Passport saga, which just feeds the perception that government can’t manage:
Wouldn’t you love to see what lean thinking passport operations could accomplish (which is really just part of the system that passed the law - one of the numerous failing of the State Department was not adequately explaining the consequences/requirement of the new law? I know I would.
Related: Customer Hostility from Discover Card - Standard Prepaid Cell Phone Policy - Ask Your Customer What They Would Like Improved - What Job Does Your Product Do? - Public Sector Continuous Improvement Site
The systemic failure of police raids continues to cause deaths of innocent people. In congressional testimony last month Radley Balko presented more evidence in: Our Militarized Police Departments:
I’d estimate I find news reports of mistaken raids on Americans homes about once a week. If you’re wondering, yes, there was one just this week. This past Saturday, in Durango, Colorado, police raided the home of 77-year-old Virginia Herrick. Ms. Herrick, who takes oxygen, was forced to the ground and handcuffed at gunpoint while officers ravaged through her home.
They had the wrong address. In just the last month, there have been mistaken raids in New York City; Annapolis, Maryland; Hendersonville, North Carolina; Bonner County, Idaho; and Stockton, California. In each case, innocent American citizens had the sanctity of their homes invaded by agents of the government behaving more like soldiers at war than peace officers upholding and protecting our constitutional rights.
800 times per week in this country, a SWAT team breaks open an American’s door, and invades his home. Few turn up any weapons at all, much less high-power weapons. Less than half end with felony charges for the suspects. And only a small percentage end up doing significant time in prison.
It is a shame that the evidence of systemic failure is ignored and business as usual continues (when that business as usual is so extreme). It sure seems to me this situation calls for intervention and a replacement of current methods of business with much improved management practices. Talk about lack of respect for people - those with homes being invaded and even killed due to systemic failure of police raids. There is a need to fix this system - not just making excuses every time yet another mistake is made. The mistakes are not special causes unique to the individual case but the common cause errors resulting from the current management practices.
Jeffrey Pfeffer Testifies to Congress About Evidence-Based Practices:
Great stuff. Read the entire document. via: Bob Sutton’s Work Matters
Related: Evidence-based Management - Illusions - Optical and Other
Books: The Knowing-Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton - Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton
A recent report from the Brookings Institution, Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities, has some good words on the efforts of Fort Wayne, Indiana:
In this time, Fort Wayne’s first-in-the nation municipal foray into Six Sigma practices has proven that statistical analyses and stringent quality control standards do not lose their power outside the boardroom. Such data-centric attention to detail, in fact, is making all the difference.
Related: Doing More With Less in the Public Sector: A Progress Report from Madison, Wisconsin (pdf) - Public Sector Management - Lean Government - Quality Best Practices in Government (pdf) - Six sigma management resources
The Scott County Way by Jillian Ogawa:
Center for Quality People and Organizations:
Great. The Education area does require special care but management improvement concepts can work very well in education. David Langford has done some great work in this area as has Alfie Kohn. They are not focused on the Toyota Way but their principles and lean thinking go together well and there expertise in the education area is very important.
via: Scott County Schools Trying Out the Toyota Way
Related: K-12 (kindergarten though high school) improvement resources - articles on quality education - posts on Toyota management methods - quality learning books
Here is an excellent article from 1999: Transformation and Redesign at the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) (pdf link) by March Laree Jacques
The article is informative and interesting, enjoy. A couple years after this article I I went to work for Gerald Suarez at the White House Military Office (WHMO). WHCA is one of seven operational units of WHMO, others include: Air Force One, Camp David and the White House Medical Unit.
See more management improvement articles including in the Curious Cat Management Improvement Library.
Related: articles and podcasts by Russel Ackoff - Deming on Management - Deming related blog posts - Public Sector Continuous Improvement Site
Nice article, nice title too, a bit overoptimistic maybe but still nice 
- It’s Easy Being Lean:
Loderstedt says NJMEP helped companies develop 338 projects last year. Of these, 160, or 47 percent, focused on applying the principles of lean manufacturing. That was up from about 25 percent in 2003, he says.
NJMEP is part of the national Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which falls under the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. There are 350 such locations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, which operate through a mix of state and federal grants and revenue from private companies.
Related: Wisconsin Manufacturing - Global Manufacturing Jobs Data - Applied Quality Engineering Education - lean thinking articles
No one is insulted. On the contrary, everyone is enthralled by Gingrich and his well-informed romp through management history. (”There’s this whole romantic side to him,” Gingrich says enthusiastically about management guru W. Edwards Deming. “He wrote religious songs.”)
I am not really sure what he means by “externalized systems.” He does actually know about Deming’s idea and management history. For those outside the USA he is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and current Republican Presidential candidate.
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Superintendent’s method used by Boeing, Motorola by Helen Gao
Good question. I think the Baldrige criteria can help, but it is not the most effective strategy (it is too often just a surface attempt to apply some “tools” without real change). I believe improvement methods, strategies and tools can work for education but the education area has special factors to consider. I suggest the following resources: David Langford, Alfie Kohn - books and articles by Kohn, Applying Lean Tools to University Courses, Ivan Webb’s School Improvement website, books on education improvement, k-12 education improvement links, Jenks Public Schools - 2005 Baldrige Award - UW- Madison Office of Quality Improvement, Improving Engineering Education
Counties caught in conundrum: getting Amish to take food stamps by John Horton
Taylor and his Holmes counterpart, Dan Jackson, called the mandate a waste of tax dollars, time and resources. In their eyes, the directive is government bureaucracy that ignores the obvious in setting an unrealistic goal.
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Taylor and Jackson said they’ve both asked the state to readjust participation goals for their counties. Carroll said the request is under consideration. This is the first year for the performance standard.
Data, such as participation rates can be used as in-process measures to help you locate areas to look at for improvement. When you discover a good reason for the numbers then look to other in-process measures. Don’t make the mistake of managing to the measure. The measure should help you manage. Improving the number is not the goal. Improving the situation that the number is a proxy for is the goal.
Related: Another Quota Failure Example - Forget Targets - Welfare waste
via: Amish Refusal to Accept Food Stamps Makes Welfare Workers Look Bad
Editorial: A way forward for state companies, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Manufacturing and related industries are still a huge piece of Wisconsin’s economy - nearly half by some estimates.
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The state should boost funding for the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which preaches the gospel of lean manufacturing. Statewide, companies helped by the partnership reported $233 million in improvements during fiscal 2006. The non-profit group offers low-cost consulting to small- to mid-sized companies and receives both state and federal funding.
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It’s a sign that Wisconsin manufacturers can play a major role in the state for years to come. And lean manufacturing is a key to that.
Wisconsin continues to succeed as an example of manufacturing success. (more…)
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