Dr. Deming: Remove Barriers That Rob Workers of Pride of Workmanship: Podcast

2a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

12b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective. — Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s 12th point for management.

Leaders put up a lot of obstacles that keep workers from taking pride in their work individually, as team members and in support of the organization. The result: an unenthused workforce, a lack of productivity and a company merely hanging on rather than thriving.

Dr. Deming knew this. In the 12th of his 14 points for management, the thought leader exhorted management to remove those barriers to workers’ right to pride of ownership. He also doubled down on his call to eliminate management by objective, a controversial message Deming first raised in his 11th point.

As they continue their exploration of Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s 14 points for management, Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer, hosts of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, delve into the teachings of point 12.

Saleh discusses the relationship between pride of ownership and respect for people, and shares a list of common barriers that destroy pride in workmanship. Those barriers include annual performance ratings or forced rankings; unclear standards or constantly shifting priorities; broken processes, tools and understaffing; management by numbers alone; and workers who don’t have a voice in improvement.

The two hosts delve into the “why” of pride of workmanship, with Dyer talking about “enthusiastic productivity.”   

‘If you have a workforce that is well trained, they are respected, they are empowered, they work as a team, and they get things done, [then] productivity is going to go through the roof,” Dyer said.

Saleh raises two questions he says every leader should ask:

• What barriers have been so normalized that leaders don’t recognize them any longer as barriers?
• Do your rituals (huddles, reviews, job design, etc.) energize or drain the workers?

“You can’t motivate people into pride,” Saleh says. “You have to design systems that allow it.”

The hosts wrap up this episode with an intriguing and possibly controversial take on the practice of kaizen to spread best practices.