Zen and Industrial Management

I worked in industry for 40 years. I started on a shipping dock moving onto big trucks equipment and supplies for the lineman and installers of Pacific Telephone. The trucks took the materials to the field. The dock sat next to the Western Electric facility in San Leandro, CA. From there, I served an apprenticeship (starting a life-long love of alliteration and vocational education), back to college, management training and on to various positions ending with a brief (three month) stint as COO of a firm emerged from bankruptcy and headed to take over by some investors who bought its note from the bank.

During that time I participated in a multitude of "quality" programs. Quality Circles, Total Quality Management (TQM), "Lean" training, Statistical Process Control (SPC), certification to ISO-9000 (a quality management system). I never had the privilege of participating in Six-Sigma Programs with their green and black belts. I never applied for the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award. One CEO for whom I worked, suggested we read Good to Great by Jim Collins.

All these "tools" had the same purpose; to create a sustained program of improvement in quality. And whether they realized it or not, this was measured by customer satisfaction. Some efforts realized this. For example, after 13 years, the standards committee for ISO9000 formally put this concept into the standard.

Most of these efforts did not work. They were not sustained because they were not supported by the resources to keep them effective (even though most could have real positive return on the investment). Most died from lack of CEO support, if any, and the view they were simply bureaucratic exercises. Some, like ISO9000, result in certification, but typically this is driven by contractual requirements, not for the fundamental reason they exist: to promote and improve quality.

I contend the CEO and Quality gurus would be more effective in improving quality if they started programs of teaching Zen concepts.

For now let's explore one Zen aspect. I do not claim to be an expert, but in two books I am reading a concept becomes clear: Live in the moment. If we are to teach people doing work at our businesses to be in the moment, pay attention to what they are doing, do it the best they can, make this moment count, then wouldn't quality go up? Since spending time on work is required of us, then shouldn't we spend it doing the best we can, nothing less? In Zen Guitar, Philip Toshio Sudo says about beginning to play guitar, "Here is where you start: Play one note on one string and pour in every ounce of your heart and soul. Then repeat."

We should indeed pour our heart and soul into our work. In the moment. Otherwise, are we not just wasting our lives sitting at that desk?

More on this next time.