I was just doing some reading here about the technique known as LEAN, which is the methodology that my organization is lurching towards. The site I referenced describes one manifestation of LEAN this way:
“A philosophical approach to business that is based on satisfying the customer (whether internal or external) by producing quality products that are just what they need, when they need them, in the quantity required, using the minimum of materials, equipment, space, labor and time.”
I've seen a number of actions, initiatives, and programs over time, from ISO9000 to Quality to variants thereof, and this smells like another one, complete with secret words (one here is muda, which is allegedly a Japanese word meaning waste -- very bad), certifications, and protestations about why THIS manifestation is ever so much better than the LAST manifestation. Everybody's doin' it, doin' it, doin' it -- why aren't you?
As you can tell, I find it hard to believe that THIS is going to be the one, the golden bullet that's going to solve our problems. I think it'll be useful, but I don't think it'll solve everything. And yet, I want to believe that solutions are possible. I know that some programs do work... for a while, and in specific cases, and locations. Not without thought -- no One Size Fits All -- but some do work. Why?
My thought: The Westinghouse Effect.
The program's content matters, the tools and methods, they matter, even the sensation of 'being in the secret club', that matters. But the Effect? Ah, I'll bet thats the ticket.
What do you think?
2 comments:
Probably true. I like to think the Westinghouse Effect is representative of the eternal optimism of the human race, rather than than the idea that we're all just mindless plebes easily distracted by something new and shiny but ultimately no different.
That's what I tell myself when I lie awake at night and worry about the overall intelligence of the average person in this country *grins*
I'm impressed, both by your comments and that you knew what the effect was. After I wrote that, I thought 'and who the heck is going to remember the effect, dummy?'...
Post a Comment