HURRY UP AND DO IT BETTER!
The search for improvement never ceases. Do more with less.
Do it better faster. And, by all means, do it right NOW!
As managers we constantly seek improvement. It is our
responsibility to promote achievement by our organization, our work
teams, and each individual staff person around us. It is not
enough to maintain the systems that we inherit. As a well known
college football coach has been known to say: “If you’re not getting
better, you’re getting worse.”
Not-for-Profits generally do not make widgets, so there are some limits
to the ways in which they can adapt industrial production models to
their needs. However, the basic principles of quality management
and improvement still apply. They can find ways to improve the
pricing and quality of the materials they purchase from their vendors.
They can improve their advertising and interviewing techniques to find
better staff. They can train their personnel to constantly improve
efficiency and product quality. The list goes on and on, and that
is just the raw material side of the equation. In short, there are
many quality assessment and improvement techniques that apply to
not-for-profits as well as to for-profit companies.
In fact, in the opinion of this writer, one particular expert in the
for-profit arena espoused ideas which have a special meaning for
not-for-profits. This individual, W. Edwards Deming, was
considered a world leader in the fields of Quality Control and Business
Management.
Dr. Deming focused on the effect of organizational processes and
systems. This fits nicely with the Systems Theory which provides
the framework for much social work practice. He also took time to
closely examine the problem of conflicting mandates. He has been
known to link these to quotas, and oppose those as well.
“He cites the example of the airline reservations clerk, who is under a
directive to answer twenty-five calls an hour, while being courteous and
not rushing callers.” (p.78, The Deming Management Method, by Mary
Walton) What if there is a computer or communication problem?
And, what is she likely to do if she achieves the twenty-five call quota
early? Would she work with vigor to achieve a higher level of
productivity? Or is it more likely that she will be satisfied with
what has been established as satisfactory by the company?
Perhaps most importantly, as Dr. Deming would point out: “What is
her job? To take twenty-five calls or to satisfy the customer?
She cannot do both.” (p.79, The Deming Management Method, by Mary
Walton) This illustrates another key area of similarity between
Dr. Deming’s ideas and those of the human relations professions.
That is, Dr. Deming’s description of the reservations clerk’s situation
is a perfect example of a double-bind.
The idea of clear messages is at the heart of the approaches of many
fields commonly seen in the non-profit setting. The concept ranges
from the skills taught to enhance interpersonal relationships
(assertiveness, TA, etc.), to the principles of goal planning, (Clear,
achievable, measurable, & observable objectives in IEP’s, TPR’s, ISP’s,
etc.).
This is a serious issue in the management of not-for-profits. It
is not the blatant conflicting directives that most concern this writer.
It is the gradual erosion of clarity created by the continual addition
of “just one more thing” to the responsibilities of workers. You
must always be on time, but could you squeeze one more appointment into
your schedule? You must make your clients feel appreciated and
understood, but you need to utilize your brief contact with them this
week to attend to purely administrative functions. You need to
take care of yourself or you won’t be any good to anyone. But
things are too busy right now for you to utilize your vacation time.
Contradictions. Incongruities. Double-binds.
The impact of these things is not immediately catastrophic. If it
were, people would react and defend against them. Instead, onset
is insidious. This will lead to accelerated burnout in
individuals, and entropy in organizations.
Maybe the idea of
schizophrenegenic
parents is dead. Unfortunately, the
schizophrenegenic
organization goes on.