RE: Air Force speech, Deming and Quality

["Bawn, Loren" <LBAWN@dhs.state.ia.us>]

Jim Clauson, quoting a speech by General John P. Jumper, writes:
<begin quote>We once had a quality Air Force that was ruined by a concept
known as Quality Air Force. 
<snip>
Now, I had read about Deming and Baldridge, and some of what they
said made sense -- common sense. The management tools they talked about
were good in some cases. We were using them as well -- we didn't talk
about it though, we just did it. 
 
 When I arrived at Shaw, the first guy to meet me was the Quality guy.
He said we needed to have an off-site -- get the staff together and come
up with our "mission, vision and goals" for the future. I understand the
off-site idea, get folks focused on planning and get away from the
distractions of the office. Then he started talking about how we needed
to break down barriers. And this was a little curious, so I asked him
how we were going to do that. He said, "Well, we're not going to wear
our uniforms -- and we are going to call each other by our first names."
It was all about breaking down barriers in his mind. It was bulls***. My
plan was a little different. We went off station, but we wore uniforms,
and we used ranks and were professional in all we did. We used no
coaches, no timekeepers, and we were able to accomplish everything we
set out to do, and more.
 
 We were told to believe that big business had all the answers.
"Quality" was used as a substitute for leadership. It let words and
slogans guide our behavior. Words like 'empowerment,' 'break down
barriers.' We stopped mentoring our people. We lost touch with the fine
art of chewing ass. <snip>
 
 An example of this is the Blackhawk shootdown. We screwed up with those
F-15 pilots. <snip>
For starters, a good butt-chewing would have worked.<end quote>

Interesting how fear-based "leadership" is painted as a patriotic virtue.
In human services, we often run into examples where abusive behavior is
multi-generational.  Sons whose fathers beat their wives are more likely to
do the same, etc.  This speech suggested to me that perhaps fear-based
"leadership" is the same.  If that is what we are taught, and that is what
we believe will produce results, perhaps we are more likely to assume it is
the right way to lead.

Keep the Faith,
Loren Bawn
Executive Officer for Community Systems
Iowa Department of Human Services