RE: TARGET SETTING

["Prevette, Steven S" <Steven_S_Prevette@rl.gov>]

A few random thoughts:

There is a big difference between making a target for yourself (I will
read all my DEN emails by tomorrow) and making a target for others (Jim,
you must . . .).  

Also, what is the purpose of the target?  Is it a schedule so I know
that I must schedule a sequence of events to be done by a certain date?
Or is it something I am going to use to judge some by?

I would be wary of apparent "facts of life".  Is the fact of life really
"costs must be cut by 10%"?  If so, that implies the means to do this is
to cut the workforce by 10%.  If instead, the real target is, we must
make a profit as a company, perhaps a quality improvement to the product
may allow us to raise the selling price.  Or maybe we really should just
drop that product line and move on to something else.  The problem is
that the target statement "costs must be cut by 10%" is but one means to
reach profitability.  But if I now focus upon the target of cutting
costs, rather than making a profit, I am likely to fail.

Another danger is a partial success becomes a failure.  What if we only
cut costs by 9%?  Then we fail.  I much prefer SPC directional targets -
we must achieve a statistically significant improvement in costs.  Some
targets can be hit by blind luck, random noise.

I recommend taking a systems look at your so-called "Facts of life" and
be sure that they represent an over-arching truth, not just one means of
success which may be suboptimal.


Steve Prevette
Occupational Safety and Health
Fluor Hanford, A Fluor Government Group Project
ASQ Certified Quality Engineer
steven_s_prevette@rl.gov
509-373-9371