Quality Road Dogs

"Our need is to create infrastructures to network support of failure...infrastructures which bring people together to talk about what they don't know." I heard Paul Batalden, MD., say that at 17 years ago. He's now at Dartmouth still looking to create those networks in healthcare. Given the current state of affairs in "national health"... he's the epitome of the proverbial guy at the bottom of the mountain.
I guess you could say that Toyota has created some of that infrastructure he's talking about...sort of. They seem to have embraced their failings in the ways they're dealing with their "quality" imperfections. Although you'd never believe it if you only read the media coverage. The feeding frenzy of American negativity rumbles on.
But, let's look at failures...they're easier to talk about than the declining state of our existence.
If you want to do something fun, go find some business books from the '80's and '90's and look at some of the companies cited as successful in them. Then draw some trends as to where they are now.
Ask yourself, why do bad things happen at good places, even when their programs focus some much on quality? Ask yourself, why have "quality" programs at numerous organizations failed? Then pull some thoughts and threads to together and come to understand "why" Toy-oater" dropped their pedal, so to speak.....
The short answer:

• They started to believe their own press.
• They lost focus on improving quality. They focused on the process, not the result.
• They were driven for immediate gratification.
• They were compromised by the need to drive profit and cut costs.
• They only read the first of Deming's 14 points...and can't even come close to understanding his concept of "profound knowledge".
• They thought if they did the same thing everyone else was doing, they'd be successful
• ---------- but they also thought they were unique.
• Their motto was: "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc" (look it up..) and lemmng'ed their way over the cliff.
• They failed the first rule of Road Dog: Use your head for something besides keeping your ears apart.

By the way, I drove the pictured '84 Toyota SR5 4X4 for many years and it was THE Road Dog truck.... .

Road Dog's Bites - 1

THERE IS NO "RIGHT ANSWER".

Write this down... "There is no right answer."
We have been taught since the day we entered kindergarten, or before, that there are right and wrong answers to almost everything - and someone knows them - and if we don't we will fail and get an "F" or a "Poor" or some such deterrent to innovative thought.
Right and wrong works for math, some science, and dates in history. Other than that, the majority of decisions involving "human" have no right answer. There may be one in your mind, but as long as another human, or culture, is involved there's probably another opinion, and another answer, to most everything.
Sorry. That's just the Road Dog way..

FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE MONTH
For all of you "evidence-based management" gurus, who opine the need to practice "data-driven decision making"... Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. First coined by two doctors (MD's) in 1896. When did we forget that one?

PEOPLE ROAD DOGS DON'T LIKE:
Policy makers, survey takers, award chasers. (More to follow on each...)
The person who feels it is his or her duty to "constructively critique", to play "devil's advocate", or to otherwise continually remind everyone how smart s/he is by finding something wrong with every idea or statement someone else makes. I've met a million devil's advocates in my life, and one thing rings true with all of them: ANYONE can be a devil's advocate. The hard part is finding ways to get things done, not finding ways that they can't.

SERIOUSLY??

Did I really hear on the news that the Government is again seriously considering imposing a tax on "sugared soft drinks" as a way to offset some of the cost of the "healthcare reform plan" AND reduce childhood obesity and cut down diabetes? What? I'm somewhere between laughing out loud and crying. I don't even know where to begin on that one. This idea is not new, it's origins go back a few years anyway. New York gave it a run .. and got a belch from more than carbonation.

If the government wants to reduce diabetes, I do have a plan. Free diabetes meds to anyone with the disease. BUT given with the covenant that anyone using them must maintain a responsible diet and exercise program and maintain medical care. Nah, that won't work - it reeks of personal accountability and would suck a lot of the "victims of the system" out of their "poor me" existences.

Don't get me wrong...diabetes is a seriously tragic illness and needs to be addressed. BUT, the great unspoken is that a lot of the reasons for the increase in its occurrence is directly tied to expanding obesity and decreasing diets and exercise.

I'm sorry, but there is no "PC" way to tell someone, "put down the beer, nachos and double-wide cheese burgers, and tell your kids to put down the 54 ounce slurpee and taco chips, drop the playstation hand-held and both of you ... oh forget it It's not worthy of Road Dog consideration.

But stay tuned for an upcoming epistle about the healthcare crisis.

READER SURVEY

There's a rumor going around that driving a Buick will reduce your overall mental capacity and the ability to observe the world around you. My Dad drove a Buick (briefly), so I have always wondered this theory. Do me a favor and keep your eyes out for people who drive 55 in the left lane of the freeway - or change lanes without noticing you're right next to them - or come to complete stops at "yield" signs - or pull out in front of you - or any number of other things that might cause you to lay on your horn and blow a capilliary in your head yelling at them. My guess is the rankings will be Buicks #1, followed closely by Yuppiettes in SUV's talking on their cell phones, sipping their latte's while adjusting the DVD player for their 2.3 kids. In third place will be Subarus, and I can't understand that either.

And, in recent news...does anyone besides me actually see the humor in a Prius going 91 mph? Yes, yes, yes... tragic consequence could have occured, and Toyota should be pummeled silly for not practicing what they preach on the "quality bus" ... but a Prius going 91?

HUMOR?

While we're at it... what ever happened to humor? What does it mean when you go back to watching Desi & Lucy, Andy Griffith, and some of those and start laughing at pure humor? All of the brain death on TV today is geared to sexual innuendo and political smear. Seriously, it's all recycled trash put out as part of the conspiracy to overthrow America. (Go with that one...;-)

And, I miss George Carlin.

Our Demons

People sometimes perceive me as avoiding confrontations or conflict... or "issues". That's not true at all, in fact just the opposite. But I can understand that some people's perception of how I do things may lead them to that.
Aside from the fact that throughout most of my life I have come to find few arguments worth the effort, and even less of them productive to anythng in the long run. (Play the Eagles: "Get Over It" here...). As I think about it, I go back to a story which was first told to me around 1970; a story I brushed off at the time, but which stayed with me nonetheless.
It begins with a man who left his home to study. This was no short process for him to achieve, and the man was gone for some time. When he came home, he found that his home had been taken over by demons. The people of his village warned him of the predicament, and told him that no one had gone near his home for some time.
The man knew he could enter his home with no problem. Demons, you know, will never attack head on. They will do everything in their power to scare one into retreating, running away, or hiding, at which time they will stab you in the back.
As he entered his home, the demons began to scream and run by him with teeth bared and talons extended. The man responded with the words, "Welcome to my home !". At this many of the demons disappeared. Demons are a shallow lot, most of them are sincere cowards themselves and disappear at any sign of confrontation or approachment.
As the remaining demons continued to carry on, but with more ferocity, he began to sing to them. A calming, serene song of understanding and acceptance and love. This disposed of all but one of them.
The one remaining demon, the most vicious and mean of the bunch, was the biggest, most powerful of all. His fangs and claws were the longest and sharpest of any. His eyes were full of bloodlust as the man approached him.
This demon screamed with a fury unheard of, and his mouth flared open wide and fury raged from his heart.
The man stopped, looked the demon directly in the eye, then bowed to the demon and put his head in the demon's mouth.
The demon disappeared. The home, at once, become peaceful, and the man went on to live comfortably.


The point of this story is that we, and our demons are part of the same environment, and to win the demons over, we have to accept them, become part of them, and change them as we change ourself. We cannot change anyone else unless they want to be changed.

For those of you who take this story in the literal sense, play "Get Over It" again and ponder the idea that the Bible and other religious works are "parables", not necessarily facts. .

Mentors Revisited

Where have they all gone? When did we enter the world of assigning someone to be a mentor? Is this something people now put on their resumes? Do we really have a job description for Mentor?
As my Dad, and my first great mentor would say, "Another sign that the world is going to hell in a handbasket !". I'd probably respond with something like, "yeah, but the good news is that 50 years later, it's still going !" Dad was a "Road Dog".
Anyway, there are a few words that I do take seriously in their definitions, and this is one of them. I've been blessed throughout my life and career with some good ones. Of course none of mine had any formal training in mentoring, nor were they assigned to me (well, maybe my parents were...), but somehow these untrained mentors did a good job. At least I think they did.
Mentors in my humble mind, just sort of happen. They're the people who have influence on us, and I'm not sure they plan to do that. Mentors are the people that you keep in touch with because you want to, not because you're supposed to. You reach out to them like you would for comfort food. You trust them with your vulnerabilities, and you trust their words (whether you like them or not).
They're Road Dogs personified.
My parents, of course, mentored me in many of life's nuances. And, of course, I didn't fully realize that until it was too late to thank them in person. But that's okay too. I'd tell you that I still talk with them regularly; and they've been gone for over 35 years. Parents, as Mentors, are there in your "formative years" to show you good and bad... oftentimes without trying and through examples more than words. Mine taught me about hard work and love and sacrifice.
My Marine Corps drill instructors were some of the best mentors I could have asked for at the age of 18; but there's no way I would have called them "mentor". Consider my DI who looked at me and said, "Private Schrum, I can't make you do anything, I can only make you wish you did."
Seriously now, how profound is that as a mentoring statement? Isn't that the key to leadership... to parenting... to getting anyone motivated, and all of those things people spend millions of dollars trying to teach people?
Work-wise, I'd have to start with the CEO of my first healthcare facility. He put the first helicopter program in the world up. (Look it up yourself - Flight For Life, Denver). He didn't look for a lot of data-analysis and didn't form any committees, sub-committees, task forces or work groups. He didn't do any surveys and would have laughed if someone said "benchmark". We used to tease him about watching too many episodes of "MASH", but the truth is that he saw us losing a lot of patients coming down from the mountains via ambulance, and saw an opportunity to save some. He went to his Board and was called a lunatic, but he persisted and they gave him the go ahead to lease a helicopter and give it a go. Bingo. The rest, as they say, is history... and I got a great quote, "Every now and then the lunatic fringe becomes the cutting edge."
My work "mentors" all had one thing in common: they cared a lot more about the people and the relationships then they did about the finances, the data, the committees, and all of the other things you read about in business books. I've got a placque from Dr. Thomas Frist, Sr., founder of HCA, the world's largest healthcare company, hanging over my desk. The words on it, "Good people beget good people". He was right. Take care of the people, do the "right thing" and the rest will take care of itself.
Mentors will show you that none of us can really make anyone else do anything they don't want to do, if they really don't want to. The key to our success is getting them to WANT to do it. Peter Drucker summed it up for business when he said, "you can't motivate people, they have to motivate themselves; you just give them the opportunity.".
My Mentors all did that, and this carried through with me in my belief that I don't want anyone with me who doesn't WANT to be there. My job is to give them the opportunity, but if they don't want it, then my job is to help them find a place they want to be. I'll say it again, Mentors care about the people first, not the job or the P&L statements. That helicopter would have never gone up in Denver, if money was the decision point.
Another sidebar here, why would ANY company want any employees who don't want to be there? And, why would any employee come to a job they hate? I cannot comprehend the 20 year employee who has spent most of that time complaining about his job. I think there's therapy for masochism. Seriously, what possesses someone to get up day after day for 20 years to go somewhere they hate and spend 8 hours in misery? Don't say "money"; because you know better.

Mentors aren't assigned to you, they happen. In work and in life. They don't look for you. They aren't assigned to you. Most of them probably don't even encourage you to follow them too closely. They know they're human and they have failings.
Mentors are like the Phantom of the Opera... In sleep they sing to you, in dreams they come to you, the voice which calls to you and speaks your name... the "Mentor" is there, inside your mind.

Bill

Perspective

I started writing a book awhile back, based on tokens and tales of my career in healthcare and human resource management. My working title is "WTF?".
Stop gasping and let me tell you the story of how that term became etched in my mind.
The story of WTF goes back to my Marine Corps experiences as a photo-journalist in the southeast Asian section of our world. Its origins and subsequent memories over the years speak to my use of humor in crisis.
Imagine, if you can, a squad of Marines trudging through the jungle. It's 100+ degrees with humidity to match. They're chasing "Charlie" and all of them are hot, tired, angry, scared, and otherwise edgy.

Then it happens. They come "under fire". They are pinned down and it doesn't take a genius to figure out they need help to get out of the situation.
The squad leader does what he's supposed to do; he grabs the radio and calls back for help. He asks for artillery, helicopters, jets, he doesn't care... he just needs a break to get his men out of harm's way.
His request is answered with, "we have other actions going on and can't get your support now".

He keeps his cool, and restates his case, this time citing the number of casualities he's already taken and the impending catastrophe about to come upon his squad.
Once again he's told, "can't do it for some time, try to hold on."
Finally, after several attempts and his voice increasing in volume, most of the men in his squad have picked up on what's not happening. They are realizing that they're alone; and that they are pretty much on their own.
Then, the squad leader, feeling totally frustrated and helpless, yells into the radio, "WHAT THE F---, OVER?".
At that moment in time, his men realize the total surrealness and insanity of the situation. One of them surpresses a cry and it comes out a laugh. Then another, and another, and pretty soon this group of young men who have little hope, start laughing... and the laughter grows louder and louder.
"Charlie" hears this, and the firing stops, as he no doubt wonders, "WTF?".
And in that moment, the young men rise up with a new sense of energy that comes with nothing left to lose and they fight their way out of harm's way.

Yes, it's true.


Now read this story again and make a correlation to your world.

Think of those young men as your colleagues or your staff.. or your family, and the frustrations they feel when every request or idea they have is met with a "no" or you give them 100 reasons why something "just won't work".

Think of the boss, when every time she asks her boss for something for her group is given a policy or a procedure or a budget process or some bureaucratic nightmare to answer before anything can happen.

Odds are that those scenarios won't create the laughter of my story. Lives aren't necessarily in danger. BUT,spirits and motivation are. And, if the spirit dies what have you got?


My life has shown me that there is rarely enough time, money, people, or resources available to do much of anything; and sometimes a good old, "WTF?" serves to put things into perspective and focus attention on the idiocy of what, or who, you're dealing with.

Success isn't in the policies, procedures, rules, regulations, or other reasons "why you can't do something". Sucess is in opening gates, finding ways to get things done, facilitating the accomplishment of your mission. And that's true in your personal life too. Don't wait for the day you decide you need a "bucket list".

And, laughing in the face of adversity still does make the other side stop and think you're just nuts enough to ..........

Bill

The Naming of a Blog

In the 10 minutes I spent pondering names for this thing, I was trying to come up with something that would be both interesting and broadly applicable enough to let me write about anything. Thoughts wandered from the fashionably cool to the mundane (same thing??) as I searched the wall lockers of my brain for something catchy, but real. I kept asking myself what has been the most consistent thing in my life that could tie to random opinions, but be quietly worthy of reading. I moved through the memories of wine, women, song, (D, S, and R&R for my generation), and on to learnings, to pain, to joy, to just breathing... and then it struck me: dogs. I have had dogs in my life for at least 90% of my life and have gained more wisdom and comfort from them than I have from a whole lot of "teachers".
My first was a cocker spaniel named Mickey, who guided me on the walk from toddler to ten. Then Mom went on a puppy spree and we went through several who were a blur of sickly to hysterical, to mean, but all memorable. (Yes, I'm rambliing, but it's my blog so keep reading it might get better.)
Then came "Puddy" (short for Puddles). Puddy was my first "road dog", and she sat next to me in my '66 Chevy as we travelled the roads of America when I got out of the Marines in 1971. When Mom died, Puddy and I drove the U-Haul from Tacoma to Denver. Coming through Oregon, I fell asleep at the wheel and she barked to wake me up. That's a road dog. Road dogs listen, and then dispense wisdom when needed.

The Blogging Begins

Splash. That was me diving into the blog pool, after years of hearing people say that I should do one and humbly ignoring them. But, as I peruse other bloggers and bloggites responses, I figured WTF, why not? On the grand scheme of this planet, my ego is strong enough to say that my wisdom is at least as relevant as the top 50% and no worse than the bottom 50%, so here goes.
This won't be a regularly scheduled posting; heck I'm not even sure I can find it again if I can figure out how it gets posted. These writings will be subject to sporadic thoughts brought on by mood swings, things I see, read, or hear, and/or caffeine induced opinion sharing impulses.
If anyone actually reads this, you have my gratitude and wonder.
Keep the faith,
Bill