It's About Attitude

I recently learned a valuable lesson about what it takes to make things better.

I was doing a Measurement Systems Analysis (an MSA, sometimes called a Gage R&R) for an automotive firm in the Piedmont area of central North Carolina. When I charted the results of the MSA, the graphs clearly showed the operators could use a powder scale reliably and repeatably. All three operators measured 10 different weights and got the same measurement each time they tried, and all three operators got the same measurements as each other. Great stuff! However, when they had to measure the actual product (a metallic powder) the results were not as good.

Gage R&R is a good thing.

Of course, I reviewed the results with some of the most experienced managers in the company. These were manufacturing experts with years of experience in their field, and we couldn't help but brainstorm ideas for improvement. When I went over the same results with front line employees, some of whom had less than a year's experience on the job, they quickly came up with many of the same suggestions for improvement. Most of them were easy, and none of them was very expensive.

So, we had an area that managers and workers both suspected needed improvement (they were right), and both knew how to improve. At the same time, no one had taken the initiative and made those changes.

• The question is, I believe, how do we foster a continuous improvement mindset that makes it okay for ordinary people to fix what bugs them?
• Or maybe the question is, what do we do, as a company, that stifles people's natural desire to take control of their environment and make things better?

These are questions that are worth your thoughtful consideration. When you have the answer to these questions for your company, you will have something truly valuable.