Why Fads Are Dangerous; How To Truly Avoid Them; Use 10 Common-Sense Guidelines!
The latest business fad and buzz-words can often prove distracting, expensive, and time-wasting. Over the decades, they have produced new consulting cottage industries and certifications, which call for being certified by those who created the certifications!
- Don't get me wrong -- fads become fads not merely due to selling sizzle in cute theoretical packaging, but by having resonating grains of truth in them. Therein lies the danger and the trap. People often lose their "common-sense compass", inhale and don't admit it, and become wild adherents for the cause. That causes over-reaction, superficial adaptation or forced-march implementation, both of which can hurt the company.
- So let's be fair! Good concepts can be invaluable or approached faddishly. Quality has been a saving movement and many voices confusing many companies. About 30 years ago while at IBM, I remember "Zero-Defects Day" -- a focus on quality. It was held across IBM locations with much hoopla and fanfare, replete with balloons, pageantry, and impassioned speeches from IBM dignitaries. Zero defects is a very important principle and aspiration! The phrase was made by Philip Crosby, who along with Deming and Juran formed the great Quality Troika of that era.
- But Quality became a bit like political parties, with fervent adherents proclaiming the virtues of one movement while highlighting the deficiencies of the others. Common sense would say: learn from these 3 great quality approaches, and put into use their best practices in a careful, thoughtful way.
- Over the years conformance to requirements was a serious goal in companies, but Quality had become a buzz-word, filling Values and Vision statements across the world. The theme was being taken seriously. Toyota Manufacturing made tremendous contributions to influencing the institutionalization of efficiency and effectiveness Lean manufacturing has become a verb, as in "we need to Lean this process", a way of life in many companies. 6 Sigma disciplines have pushed us closer to the realization of zero defects than we may have hoped to achieve 3 decades prior!
- The emergence of ISO underscored the need to document processes, although I saw a couple of dozen times inside companies that certification had become the tail wagging the dog as customers gave deadlines that they would not work with non-ISO-certified companies by "X" date. Good intention, but some unnatural consequences in the short-run.
- In retrospect, there were powerful principles and practices learned and applied in the Quality movement. But to not thrash around taking the latest angle took wisdom and perspective.
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Common-Sense Guidelines To Not Make A Good Method Into A Fad: This list helps leaders and companies test new ideas that pose as hot approaches for immediate adoption by evaluating them in light of their overall business!
1. CEO's and executives: Avoid the "sea-gull" effect.
This is when leaders go to some high-level conference, convention, or B-School program and come back with "a great new approach that we need to implement ASAP in our company." Any change needs to be carefully, holistically considered in every regard: impact to other processes, time, effort, provable ROI, etc.
2. A company should do everything according to its Values and Vision, and nothing outside of its Values and Vision.
This of course means that a company should not bring in a new thing before it does the first and right thing. Articulate what are its aspired-to values. How do we, the people of the company, choose to be guided by every attitude and action we do in and as a company? If we could wave a wand to create our ideal and ultimate future for our customers, employees, etc., in our industry, what is that vision? All new programs and potential best practices are considered and carried out governed by the above!
3. Take a cold shower, followed by an ice bath, after you have heard that incredible presentation or read that amazing new book.
Do not hit "send" to your inspired e-mail or announcement before soberly consideration with the team.
4. Consider every major program proposal in light of the existing strategy, plan, priorities, resource allocation, budgets, and deadline commitments.
5. Consider a new program in light of all existing business processes, practices, procedures, systems, roles and responsibilities.
6. Consider a new program according to a carefully prepared and scrubbed business case.
This includes high, mid, and low outcome scenarios. What and when are the ranges of resources needed? What and when are the out-of-pocket (cash) dsavings realized? How about the future costs avoided? Are there audit, safety, security, and safety mandates that must be satisfied apart from potential savings?
7. Consider a new program in light of the strongest other alternatives, including not changing anything, utilizing an alternate methodology.
This includes alternatives such as doing things slower, faster, or unbundled in phases or stages, etc. Make the ROI/merits of this case clearly beat out competitive alternatives even in the low case. Why? How often have you hit mid and high case scenarios on time and budget?
8. Consider the impact on people's time, on the total resources required, and when.
People are usually maxed out on existing day-to-day operations and/or strategic/in-year goals and priorities. If they work on this new project, what will not get done? What quality or speed of progress on other commitments may suffer? Does this mean something else is delayed or stopped for now? All resource impacts need to be worked out!
9. Consider the impact to morale and existing momentum. This means making sure that any change is clearly communicated throughout the entire organization in light of those values and vision.
The plan and its benefits should be understood. They should make sense. This new thing is not in a vacuum. Everything affects everything.
10. Take another ice bath. Should we use these consultants or in-house it?
Sometimes they are worth every penny because of their unique approach, skills, and iron-clad payback/ROI. Is the outside tab worthat $200,000 (or $2,000,000, or $20,000,000) when we can hire or train people in a better methodology, teach ourselves how to fish, and be able to become experts and maintainers on our own? On the other hand, are we too timid for not accelerating this, or for testing its merits further? It is not about being too slow, but leap-frogging the complete thought process!
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Epilogue -- Lessons: Reminders From Experience:
- These points all came out of real-life experiences and observed situations. I saw an Oracle conversion in a global company enscope from one division and a couple of modules to the whole US operation and $22 million. That scuttled the whole thing. Instead, they they focused on how we can run our business better and smoother attacking the biggest improvements in synchronized, simple ways.
- I am not saying huge projects are always wasteful/sub-optimizing. Just usually. I saw another company spend $2 million to have a green/yellow/red metrics/key indicators system set up. Reciprocally, the ferocity of the recession forced them to come back to simplicity. The later light of common sense made prior monstrosities look foolish, the stuff of slick consulting proposals.
- The greater the stakes, the more common sense needed. These are the kinds of real-life ways to not be bitten by fads and buzz-words. Simply, run like a business, not the ER on a Saturday night! Lastly, this message is not about being slow and late. You can be aligned with you values, fast, and accurate. But this way you don't get off track and waste time, energy, and money. Common sense should not be uncommon! Coming into the next economic recovery, let's try to remember that!
