Steve,

Amen to every word. I've built my whole career on becoming the kind of
enlightened senior manager you describe. It started in the trenches
doing what I was later going to manage as VP of Operations and
Technology. Unfortunately, it's rare that anyone with technical ability
has also developed their leadership skills enough to be given
consideration for top positions in a manufacturing company. Even with
the right credentials the concept is pretty universally rejected as too
risky because technical people are stereotypically seen as poor business
leaders.

If you want to be heard when you have an important message, consider how
it needs to be marketed. Have you taken their concerns into account? Do
you have a grasp of the 'big picture' that's typically hidden from you?
Can you successfully sell your position to all levels of the
organization and get their willing support? Have you developed enough
credibility (sound judgment and vision) from their perspective to be
making the call on the issue? I think you get the drift. I'm not saying
to sacrifice your principals, but they're worthless to everyone if they
get rejected out of hand because you haven't done your homework.
Efficiency is great, but effectiveness is what really matters.

I never used to understand why companies I worked for would spend so
much time and money for a consultant to tell them what I'd been saying
all along. In large part it's how they package the message.
Additionally, there's a powerful psychology at work that let's an
independent voice be heard over the babble of the in-house dialog. The
trick is to make yourself into a voice that gets heard.

Sorry about the preaching to the choir, it's Sunday :-)

Andy Magee - Flex Guru
Senior Consultant, Bourton Group
[log in to unmask]
(937) 435-3629

The Bourton Group (formerly Ingersoll Engineers) specializes in the
design
and implementation of strategic manufacturing initiatives. We typically
work 'hands on' at all levels from the boardroom to the factory floor
and produce 'real world' (not just textbook) solutions.




Stephen R. Gregory wrote,

Hi all,

I suppose I was rather harsh in my last email, but I won't apologize for
the
basic truths. Earl stated it, as I will I, management has a obligation
and a
responsibility to know (at least), how their factory makes it's living.

It may not be important that they know all the nitty-gritty details
about the
processes, but it is important that they know the basics about what it
takes
to get certain things get done...guys like me and Earl will take care of
the
details.

What we need is support! When we say that the equipment we have needs to
be
upgraded to handle the business that will be coming, or that the way we
process our product needs to be changed (involving a change in the way
that
things were done in the past) it's not a egotistical preference, but
it's
something that makes economical sense, and something that will make the
job
easier for everybody...not to mention more profitable.

I think back to all the jobs that I've held in the past, and why I have
left
those jobs, it's not because of the people I've worked
shoulder-to-shoulder
with (I wish I could've taken a lot of the people with me!), it's been
because of the management. Because of the management of the
organization, we
were always given an impossible task with the resources that we had, and
then
thoroughly chastised because we didn't make a profit...

Before you management people do that, you had better understand what's
going
on on your manufacturing floor before you wind-up sticking your foot in
your
mouth, or worse, losing the respect of the workforce that you're
supposed to
be managing.

If I sound frustrated, I am....

-Steve Gregory-

P.S. I really hope that some management people read this!! But they'll
probably blow it off as some ranting from a disgruntled engineer..

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