IT Organization Circa 2017

This post picks up on Part 1 and Part 2, and examines the second of Deming’s 14 Management Points. As I said in the first post, I believe Deming’s 14 Points have great resonance in today’s economy, even if his original language seems a little stilted in today’s world of Tweets and sound bites.

Let’s take his second point:

Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.”

When Deming mentions the “new philosophy” he is covering a huge swath of leadership principles that he developed over the years – in some respects, the embodiment of total quality, with a strong dose of Zen and Buddhist teachings.  An electrical engineer by training, a statistician by vocation, and very much a humanist at heart, Deming believed that management (especially from his US-based perspective) had lost its way.  He saw workers on the one hand be berated for productivity failures that were more to do with the processes management handed them, and on the other hand, be exhorted to “do it right the first time” by posters and tee shirts, without getting the tools and training they needed.  In other respects, the “new philosophy” is embodied in the 14 Points.

But there’s a hidden meaning in Deming’s 2nd Point – unless management adopts the changes they want to see, they shouldn’t expect the workers to do so. Unless these changes are adopted and recognized at all levels, they’re unlikely to succeed. i.e., Practice what you preach.  When we ask our organization to be rigorous with time recording, or adhering to the project methodology, management has to model the behaviors they require from their workers.  People will follow the walk, as they say, not the talk.  And if the talk and the work are inconsistent, management has lost its ability to lead change!

Image courtesy of Cathy A Price Leadership Coaching.

Filed under: Change Management, General, IT Management, IT Maturity, Next Generation Enterprise, Next Generation IT, Useful Tools Tagged: | Business, Business-IT Maturity, Enterprise 2.0, IT transformation, Next Generation Enterprise, Organization, organizational change management, Productivity, project management, reaching level 3