Please accept this as a continuation to my
response to Eva Durants question about my seeming avoidance of the question
"who is going to pay?". This quote is from another list I
monitor, posted by a Mr. John McLaren.
This put me in mind of a story in one of the
books on my musty
shelves. Took me a minute to find it ... [url is The Project
Manager's Desk Reference by James P. Lewis, p. 25].
-------Quoted text begins-------
Insistence on writing a problem statement is usually met with
skepticism, the reaction being, "We all know what the problem
is. Let's get on with it. This is a waste of time!" ... [T]his
is often not the case. I will cite only one [example] ... about
a company that received complaints from its distributors that it
was sending them damaged goods. They hired an efficiency expert
to investigate, and she accepted the definition for the problem as
offered -- to reduce damage to goods. To solve the problem, the
expert designed for them a computer-controlled conveyor to load
trucks. She estimated that the conveyor system would cost
around $60,000 per warehouse location, with savings yielding a
payback in about either months. Since the company owned 24
warehouses, the total investment was to be $1.44 million.
The vice president ... decided ... to ask the internal
industrial engineering group for a second opinion. The assignment
was given to a staff engineer who was a recent college graduate.
... Rather than accept the definition of the problem as given,
he asked a new question ... what are we really trying to
achieve? His answer was, "We are trying to find the best way of
distributing our products to the marketplace." ...
When the time came for the presentation, the vice president
asked, "Well, do we go ahead and spend the $1.44 million?" The
young engineer responded, "no, sir. I think you should sell all
the warehouses." It turned out that he did not mean they should
sell *all* of the warehouses, just most of them. The company
ultimately followed his recommendation and sold all but a few
regional warehouses, each stocked by air shipments directly from
the company's manufacturing plants. ... The solution saved the
company hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and
eventually forced their competitors to restructure along the
same lines. [Capitalist pigs!!]
This example drives home a most important point about
problem-solving: The way a problem is defined determines the
solution possibilities.
-------Quoted text ends-------
shelves. Took me a minute to find it ... [url is The Project
Manager's Desk Reference by James P. Lewis, p. 25].
-------Quoted text begins-------
Insistence on writing a problem statement is usually met with
skepticism, the reaction being, "We all know what the problem
is. Let's get on with it. This is a waste of time!" ... [T]his
is often not the case. I will cite only one [example] ... about
a company that received complaints from its distributors that it
was sending them damaged goods. They hired an efficiency expert
to investigate, and she accepted the definition for the problem as
offered -- to reduce damage to goods. To solve the problem, the
expert designed for them a computer-controlled conveyor to load
trucks. She estimated that the conveyor system would cost
around $60,000 per warehouse location, with savings yielding a
payback in about either months. Since the company owned 24
warehouses, the total investment was to be $1.44 million.
The vice president ... decided ... to ask the internal
industrial engineering group for a second opinion. The assignment
was given to a staff engineer who was a recent college graduate.
... Rather than accept the definition of the problem as given,
he asked a new question ... what are we really trying to
achieve? His answer was, "We are trying to find the best way of
distributing our products to the marketplace." ...
When the time came for the presentation, the vice president
asked, "Well, do we go ahead and spend the $1.44 million?" The
young engineer responded, "no, sir. I think you should sell all
the warehouses." It turned out that he did not mean they should
sell *all* of the warehouses, just most of them. The company
ultimately followed his recommendation and sold all but a few
regional warehouses, each stocked by air shipments directly from
the company's manufacturing plants. ... The solution saved the
company hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and
eventually forced their competitors to restructure along the
same lines. [Capitalist pigs!!]
This example drives home a most important point about
problem-solving: The way a problem is defined determines the
solution possibilities.
-------Quoted text ends-------
Thomas
Rightly or wrongly, my perception is there must
be a compelling reason to change before the methodology of change can be
examined. FutureWork is an ideal place to ask this question as it is or
should be composed of individuals who are interested and concerned about the
future of work.
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