A635.2.3.RB - How Companies Can Make Better Decisions
The Marcia Blenko video was very interesting. I agreed with
her approach to decision effectiveness – an issue that can literally stop a
company in its tracks. I have worked in organizations where decisions were made
entirely at a corporate level and driven down through the ranks. A lot of
retail places are run that way – as an employee you have to conform to new
norms or you’ll most likely be disciplined or just fired. In the companies I
have worked for in manufacturing there seems to be an acceptable amount of
push-back from the employees when a new directive is passed down. The decision
for some change is made but the employees had no say in it so they are
initially resistant. I understand that not all decisions need to go through the
entire organization for buy-in – that would be ridiculous and nothing would
ever be decided. However, the day-to-day things that Blenko mentioned should
have some buy-in from the employees because it is something that seems more
tangible to them than some of the more lofty corporate goals. The day-to-day
things are things that matter to them on a more personal level. Blenko says
that it shouldn’t be surprising that companies where it’s easier to make
decisions and get things done are better places for employees to work. (Blenko,
2010) One issue is that some companies are so big and have built up so many
layers of bureaucratic approvals and signatures that even the seemingly easy decisions
take on a slow and dreary life of their own. Back to employee engagement; when
employees feel as though their voices have been taken into account – even if
the ultimate decision is not what they wanted – they are more willing to accept
the outcome. I think it must be human nature to want to be a part of decisions
that affect us instead of allowing things to happen to us.
Some of the impediments Blenko discusses have to do with the
organizational chart and understanding who really makes the decisions in the company
– it can be ambiguous if the people on the org chart are there in name alone
and really don’t make any decisions that matter. She also discussed leadership
behaviors and making sure that the right talent is in place for making those
critical decisions. When the CEO of a company is merely a figurehead and the
real decision making is two layers under that individual – what are we paying
them for? I used to think that being seen and known by senior leadership and
directors was good for my career – it certainly doesn’t hurt – but it doesn’t
matter in most cases. In most cases, finance makes the final decisions about
lay-offs, raises, promotions, and budget allocation for the year. I have a
feeling that they are the organizations who secretly, or not so secretly, hold
the key decisions in their hands regardless of what the director promises.
One of the things we had to do as final assembly industrial
engineers (IE) is schedule the work for each build. We went down to a shorter
build and now have only a few days between each jet. In the 787 program we have
to move jobs from one position to another because of engineering changes or new
requirements – I can’t get into deep detail on this but we have to make these
changes quickly and a lot of times it’s the same change on every single jet. We
have a process where we initiate a work transfer which has to have four
signatures to be processed and then about four more for acceptance. Personally,
I had over 25 work changes for every jet – we couldn’t get a permanent change
because it wasn’t exactly the same process as the Everett 787 build. (This is a
whole other bone of contention that I won’t get into here but does have to do
with a critical decision failure.) I have a few days to get the schedule loaded
in the systems so that parts can be allocated to the position when the
mechanics need them. Having to go through all of these signatures usually meant
that those jobs were late getting scheduled. God forbid if a key signer was out
of office and their back-up had to sign! I’m no longer an IE but I swear last
week I still had job transfers I’d initiated back in MARCH of this year just
now clearing. The airplane it was supposed to be moved to has been in the hands
of the customer for a month now. The work got done but we had to expedite parts
and create non-conformance reports on the scheduling. That process is held hostage by a system
where not everyone has the same sense of urgency. No one wants to make the
decision to change that process because they don’t understand the time it takes
out of our day to baby-sit these changes. I’m not in that department anymore
but I swear if I’m ever in a position to make changes like that – I will. Time
wasters like that cost way too much money and hold back innovation that could
make us more competitive.
The four measurements that Blenko uses to gauge the
effectiveness of a company’s decision making are: quality, speed, yield, and
effort. I think that all four of those things are very important in determining
the effectiveness of a company’s decision making – in my example above alone
speed is the one thing that keeps that process from being effective. The work
gets done with the same quality, yield, and effort even if the “official”
change request isn’t approved because our main job is to get airplanes out of
the doors. Anything that keeps us from doing that that isn’t a safety or
quality issue doesn’t really matter. (Well, I’m sure it matters to someone but
ultimately, we have to get the jet out.) Quality, speed, yield, and effort are
very reasonable things to measure the effectiveness of decision making but are
there any other factors that could be included? I want to say that the human
factor is always important but I’m not quite sure how to fit that in those four
things other than to say that the human factor impacts all four. So I’m not
sure if that’s a fifth element to this or that it’s an implied factor in each
of the existing four elements.
I have always thought that it was extremely important to
include as many levels of employees as possible when making big decisions. As I
said before, even if the result is not what they wanted, any maybe even if the
decision has in reality already been made, people need to feel as though they
have some input when change is coming. We spend most of our day in these
organizations and we feel an ownership to the work we do. Wouldn’t it make
sense to at least talk to some of the people who drive the machine forward when
trying to change that machine a bit? A corporate culture must achieve goals as
well as satisfy the needs of the members if the organization is to be
effective. (Brown, 2011) I also know that in an organization the size of
Boeing, or GM, or Apple – that getting each and every person’s input is unrealistic
and time consuming – mostly just unrealistic. And this means that we have to
make sure that the people speaking on our behalf understand what impact their
decision making will have on the workforce. Cultures helps members fill in the blanks
between formal directives and how work is actually done. (Brown, 2011) I don’t
think that is unreasonable or unrealistic to expect senior leadership to listen
and ask questions of the people who actually do the work. As for what I can
take away from this video that I can use immediately in my career? I can make
sure that when I’m an advocate for my work and changes that may impact it that
I’m talking to the people who truly make the decisions and that I speak succinctly
about the true needs of the organization and not just my personal preference. I
have always learned that when presenting to the executive level of management,
the presentation needs to answer just a few specific questions: What’s in it
for them? How much does it cost? What is the ROI? Now I know that it also matters that the
person who is getting this information can actually make the final call on the request.
References:
Blenko, M. (2010) How companies can make better decisions.
Harvard Business Review. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbxpg6D4Hk8
Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to
organizational development (Eighth ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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