Lean Programming and Dr. Deming
February 26th, 2008 by Rich Sharpe. Posted in Books, Process Improvement, Software QualityLean programming has been a popular topic in conferences over the last couple of years, largely thanks to the experience and work of Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Lean programming has its roots in lean manufacturing, a management system focused on reducing waste and empowering workers to improve processes themselves. Lean manufacturing is largely based on the work of W. Edwards Deming, the statistician who revolutionized the culture and operations of many businesses by focusing on driving quality through the whole of the organization. Deming’s work was adopted and improved the results of many companies, most notably Ford, Toyota and Bell Labs (AT&T).I just finished reading Dr. Deming – The American Who Taught the Japanese About Quality, which was written by Rafael Aguayo who studied under Deming in the 80’s. The book is not, as I initially thought, a biography of Deming (although there is a short appendix on Deming’s life). It is a well-written explanation of Deming’s 14-point management system, littered with numerous examples covering a multitude of organizations and industries.Interesting points made in the book include:- Without having profound knowledge, making corrections via a feedback system is just tampering and can lead to disastrous results.- Who is responsible for quality? 90% of the things we define as ‘Quality’ are out of the “workers’” hands: training budgets, deadlines, design acceptance, tools budget and selection. These are all management issues, yet the “worker” is the one often blamed for poor quality - does that sound familiar?- Cooperation with your competitor in R&D. In Japan, R&D costs are lower because groups from different organizations are brought together to work on the technology, sharing ideas. Once they have technology figured out, competition in the market place is fierce, concentrating on features, price and performance issues.This last point may seem strange to many western development managers, but we have a great example in the Eclipse IDE project. Eclipse was created by numerous groups of people for a common cause, and then companies such as IBM and Borland compete in the marketplace with Eclipse-based products such as RAD and JBuilder.Having spent some time working as a sales manager myself, one part of the book I found tough to buy in to was the suggestion of eliminating sales quotas/targets. Aguayo presents no alternative to replace these metrics, and there may be a good reason for that - there isn’t one.Although written almost 20 years ago, this book is suitable for anyone wishing to learn more about how to change management techniques to focus on quality throughout the business. Although it is not software industry-specific, it provides some useful background to understanding many of the concepts of lean programming. Some of Deming’s management points and Aguayo’s examples may seem contradictory or even irrelevant in many development managers’ eyes, especially ‘Stable Systems’ and ‘Removal of Inspections’. This is something I will blog about some more in the next few weeks.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Here is a response to my review of this book from the author, Rafael Aguayo, reproduced here with his permission:
“Thank you for you positive comments on my book, Dr. Deming. I do not receive many letters about the book at this point in time, although I do get occasional comments from people. The book is still quite relevant and we have quite a ways to go in the US.
I have to disagree with you that shareholders demand quotas or targets. Shareholders demand results and it they are not forthcoming they tend to sell their shares. It is management’s job to understand management and make the right decisions that lead to success. Of course many managers are ignorant and feel they can duplicate the success of a strong company by demanding better results. Thus Ford’s management after Petersen retired kept demanding lower prices without understanding how that could be achieved.
The net result for the Automotive industry has been tens of billions of dollars of losses and many of the suppliers in bankruptcy. Is that what shareholders demanded? I think not.
Not every company uses quotas, especially the strict ones that many writers say lead to success. You can tell which companies use them by the comments of the chairman and the eventual failure or mediocrity of the business.
In reading Warren Buffett’s letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders I hear a very different tune. There he is willing to support companies who are having a bad year. He also has no targets for his acquisitions. In his insurance company when the industry is having a slow or poor year he does not lay off his staff. He understands that business and waits for the turnaround. And when the turnaround comes he is better prepared than anyone else.
But in your case you have a company that demands quotas or targets. Maybe there is a belief within management that this will help the stock. It will not, but that is a different matter that would require a much lengthier explanation.
Let me take the liberty of assuming that management of your company is fixed on the idea of targets. Then my short answer would be set the targets you announce to the individuals at a lower level than the mean. Remember that we have a probabilistic world. If a company grows 15%, exactly, every year. It is lying. Yes, Jack Welch’s numbers when he showed that kind of consistent growth were a fabrication that became clear when they had to restate earnings for the last 5 years of his term as CEO of GE.
The mean is sometimes called the expected value, a very poor term. If you flip a balanced coin 100 times the expected value is 50 heads. But probability theory says you will achieve 50 heads just 8% of the time. Substantially more heads and substantially less heads are possible. And this is if we assume a state of statistical control.
Well the economy is not in a state of statistical control, far from it. But let us assume stability of some kind. You believe that the average, or mean or expected value for every worker is 100. Obviously, I hope [this is obvious], some are much less capable, because of their lack of training, poorer areas and so on. But let us say you have a group of people (programmers, salespeople or anyone else the theory is the same) who on average can achieve 100. Set the quota at a lower level, like 70 or 80.
What that is heresy\! Your management is probably crying set it at 110 or 120. And unfortunately if your people have had the intrinsic motivation drummed out of them they just might only produce 70 or 80 in response to years of quotas. But for those who achieve their quotas you provide recognition. For those who achieve their quotas plus 10% you provide recognition and maybe some kind of financial rewards (Yes, I recognize that most people have not yet obtained that level where money does not matter anymore).
Someone who reaches the full 100 gets personal recognition from the CEO of the company. And those who do much better, perhaps get a dinner with their partners with the CEO, or some other recognition that is important for them.
This does mean that you have to understand your people, know who they are and what motivates them. Yes, this is more work than just setting a quota, but you cannot achieve excellence without work. Once again a full explanation of this might require many more pages.
But the whole point of this is to bring back intrinsic motivation. People should be coming to work to because they love being there. They love the work, they love the respect and appreciation they get, they love the team environment, they love that the company is looking after them and it is a two way agreement. And in this environment people and teams perform miracles. The quotas and targets become meaningless, which is what they are anyway.
I hope this helps. I know some of this can be hard to swallow or understand, but this is a quick answer to your question.”
March 5th, 2008 at 8:51 am
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