I mentioned somewhere downthread about how the lessons of Deming allow me to operate more efficiently.
Here's a concrete example from today: under my supervision is an extremely good, but also somewhat expensive contractor.
My predecessor hinted that upper management has started to become nervous that the costs will run away, and recommended that I try to control that cost by having everyone in the company ask for my permission before they used this contractor's time. I'm not a fan of blocking other people's work on my approval. Besides, it's not like I understand the nuances of each situation well enough to make a good decision.
So instead, I asked for the historic bills from that contractor and plotted them on an XmR control chart. Sure enough -- every single one in statistical control.
It's a stable system. There's no sign of increasing costs. NNo unusual amounts billed. Barring special causes, I can predict the future costs of this contractor perfectly, with zero intervention -- just from the data.
Now maybe this stable system results in too much expense, and that's a conversation about common causes worth having. But I see no reason to meddle with individual decisions. It can only make the variability worse.
Here's a concrete example from today: under my supervision is an extremely good, but also somewhat expensive contractor.
My predecessor hinted that upper management has started to become nervous that the costs will run away, and recommended that I try to control that cost by having everyone in the company ask for my permission before they used this contractor's time. I'm not a fan of blocking other people's work on my approval. Besides, it's not like I understand the nuances of each situation well enough to make a good decision.
So instead, I asked for the historic bills from that contractor and plotted them on an XmR control chart. Sure enough -- every single one in statistical control.
It's a stable system. There's no sign of increasing costs. NNo unusual amounts billed. Barring special causes, I can predict the future costs of this contractor perfectly, with zero intervention -- just from the data.
Now maybe this stable system results in too much expense, and that's a conversation about common causes worth having. But I see no reason to meddle with individual decisions. It can only make the variability worse.