Norm Howe's blog

Boeing’s New Bonus Plan is all PR, we hope

Until now 75% of Boeing’s bonus score was based on financial metrics…and we wondered why their planes crashed and burned.  Now, their Commercial Airplane division has elevated safety and quality metrics to 60% of their annual incentive score.

What are we, the flying public, to make of this change?  We don’t have any details, but for a start, how about, “It’s about #$^g time!”

Speaking as a quality professional, now comes the hard part for Boeing.  Again, no details, but the term ‘annual’ does not bode well.  How many safety/quality improvements are started and completed within a year?  Especially with complex products like passenger jets?!  Anyone who’s been around for more than six months knows the answer.

GEMBA Walks are Stoopid

Everybody’s got a GEMBA recipe for sale.  They want you to believe that if you follow their formula [just click on this link and send money] you can become a charismatic leader.

In fact, GEMBA walks only get between you and your followers.

I hasten to add, GEMBA Walks – stoopid – should not be confused with ordinary Management by Walking Around (MBWA) which is essential.

Measurement is Even Harder than You Think

When we take a drug or a dietary supplement, we often ask ourselves whether the active ingredient is actually there.  And is it there in the amount listed on the label?

We hope that the manufacturer tested the product.  If it’s a drug, the answer is almost assuredly yes.  If it’s a dietary supplement, well…

But even if it did get tested, there are lots of things that can go wrong.  We’re not going to get into the technical details of analytical method validation here.  We’re going to zoom out and ask about the purpose of measurement.  What are we trying to accomplish with our measurement?

It Just Might be a Medical Device

If you are among the one or two people on this Earth who’ve never heard of Jeff Foxworthy, I guess I’ll need to clue you in.  I didn’t think there was anybody in that category, but, as you’ll see in a minute, I was wrong.

Why is Root Cause Analysis SO Hard??

Actually, it’s not that the actual process of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is so hard.  In fact, it’s fairly straightforward.  The biggest problem is the number of people whose critical thinking skills are critically deficient:

Let’s say that something has gone wrong in your organization.  You are assigned to lead a team to find the root cause and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Coach in the Clubhouse: Why?

In 2012 the Detroit Tigers paid $26 million to a once-great player, whose best years were behind him.  I could not figure out the rationale for the hire.  The Tigers were getting much fewer hits per buck with Hunter than any other reasonable option.  Was General Manager Dave Dombrowski crazy?  Why would the Tigers do that?

Who Needs Albania?

Deming says that management must drive out fear.  He does not talk much about how to do it.  Part of management’s job is to explain the company’s goals to the frontline workers.  If they are convinced, they will achieve greatness.  If not…, perhaps a different goal?

The Mere Act of Measurement…

…can change the process you're measuring.  Of course, quantum physicists declare that the act of measurement always changes the measured.  In the world of quality management we’re not dealing with such small scales.  But the concept still applies.

When we initiate quality improvement projects in business, we need to ask the question, “Are the results we’re getting simply the outcome of increased management attention to the issue?”  The worry is that after the project has been embedded as a standard procedure we assume that the benefits will continue

Class Action Lawyers Troll FDA Warning Letters

“Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc. is initiating this recall as a precautionary measure due to out of specification (OOS) results for the conductivity test for one of the excipients, Microcrystalline Cellulose (Avicel pH 102), NF supplied by DuPont.”

This letter was issued on October 1, 2021, and it was only the beginning of the bad news for DuPont Nutrition USA.

A Good Theory Saves You Time

You come back to the house after a night on the town and you flip the switch in the hallway…nothing happens; no light.  You remember that the light on the porch was still on when you came in, so you know you have power to the house.  The other lights work, so you know that the breaker box is probably functioning.  You switch the light bulb...

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