A Process is a Process - NOT! LO15047 -Comments

John Zavacki (jzavacki@wolff.com)
Fri, 19 Sep 1997 05:37:03 -0400

Replying to LO15042 --

<JOE_PODOLSKY@HP-PaloAlto-om4.om.hp.com> forwards an interesting message
which says, in part:

>Businesses are social constructions, but they have historically been as
>focused on productivity as on social enjoyment. Tipping the scale the
>other way (toward social satisfaction) will not be humanistic in the long
>run -- it will lead to failure of the business.
>
>Dave Clarke (W.L. Gore Co.)

For five years, I strove to educate the population (between 150 and 250
people) in both systems/process thinking and social enjoyment. We had fun
and the business grew from 15 to 48M. Customer satisfaction rose (as
reflected by sales figures), the teams took quality results from 97,400
ppm to 211 ppm with minimal capital expenditures.

It is three years later, the focus is on cash flow. The people are
unhappy, the customer base has eroded. Revenues are at 15M and dropping.
Management's efforts at productivity improvement disregard the social
elements It will lead to the failure of the business. 

-- 
John Zavacki
jzavacki@wolff.com
Wolff Group, Inc.
800-282-1218
http://www.wolff.com


     Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations
    For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>