Published June 2003

Human innovation part
of success equation

Q. Our company recently hired a financial officer newly graduated from a prestigious business school. In meetings ever since, this newly bestowed MBA repeatedly suggests that we change our “management thinking” to what he calls a more objective and strategic model based on complicated numeric formulas and projections. Statistics “prove,” he argues, that minimizing the “fuzziness” of the human equation in management offers a more enlightened bottom-line outlook.

A. Nearly two decades ago, as a peach-faced lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, I was introduced to the concept of “Zero Defects.” The thinking behind ZD was to impress on the troops that their lives had changed from engaging in high school high-jinks to college frat parties to being in charge of million-dollar jet airplanes, so we’d better be perfect in everything we did.

On the flight line, airmen checked, double-checked, triple-checked the tightness of every rivet, every screw, every bolt of every aircraft. Those writing intelligence reports avoided like the plague misspellings or improperly placed commas. From the generals to the senior noncommissioned officers, nothing but “Zero Defects” was expected. And, that’s what they got.

It wasn’t because the troops were, indeed, perfect. We achieved zero defects because the brass put us in charge of the reporting. What outfit would have the temerity to actually report 15 defects?

“Zero Defects” was one of the boom-and-bust management initiatives that seemed to make perfect sense but was based on flawed logic. Later, as a business journalist, I watched in fascination as the nation’s business schools trotted out similarly compelling concepts such as Total Quality Management, re-engineering, management by objectives, among others, only to see them crash into flames of impracticality.

Why? It’s because none took into account the people charged with implementing them. They were based on the command-and-control management style that served the military and industrial segments well but have become irrelevant in an information-based economy that thrives on creativity and innovation. Yet, many business schools, individuals and organizations continue to embrace them.

It’s a matter of emphasis. Where does your organization stand on the balance beam of people vs. being a slave to measurement?

Does it have a clear vision that encourages people to serve others and be passionate about their work (think Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Merck)? Or, is it bound by rules and measurements that kill any semblance of excitement or enthusiasm?

Minneapolis-based business consultant Roxanne Emmerich, one of the nation’s foremost non-MBA thinkers, puts it very simply: “How many ways does your company tell you it doesn’t trust you?” Or, another way to assess your organization’s progressiveness is to answer whether it subscribes to:

• Controlling people for fear they will get out of line? Studies and anecdotal evidence suggests that to perform at peak levels, employees must be given freedom to make decisions and mistakes. Look at it as a learning experience.
• Relying on a “cookie-cutter, one size fits all” form of compensation like general pay increases and lock-step promotion paths? The reality is that employees respond more favorably to compensation options.
• Encouraging individual competition and performance values? Organizations that work together succeed together. Teamwork and open communication build trust, honesty and cohesiveness so that everyone benefits from an organization’s success.
• Sticking close to home? In today’s global economy, diverse organizations will outperform tradition-bound, narrow-thinking managers who promote “people like them” into management.

Look at your organization. Is it a “zero defects” outfit or one that relies on the energy, creativity and promise of human innovation to succeed?

Eric Zoeckler operates The Scribe, a business writing service with many Snohomish County-based clients. He also writes a column in The Herald on Mondays. He can be reached at 206-284-9566 or by e-mail to mrscribe@aol.com.

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