Shaun, W.E. Deming, Father of TQM, observed that you will destroy organizations if you run them simply "by the numbers." For example, the main campus of Lands' End clothing company is forty miles from where your humble servant lives. Last week it laid off 200 workers, all of them senior staff with years of loyal service and high wages. After throwing overboard the loyal servants, it turned around and is rehiring replacements for in effect minimum wage. This "by the numbers" move has demoralized everybody there, for it sends a powerful message about what Sears, the corporate owner, thinks about its workforce. Yes, an accountant said Sears could increase profits by cutting labor costs; the way it went about cutting costs also demotivated the survivors to do less - minimal - because doing a good job no longer makes any difference. That is the powerful message "by the numbers" sends. Lands' End made a dumb move.
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