Category: Purposeful Action

In this “Purposeful Action” category of the blog, we discuss how we can improve the quality of life with the four principles of purposeful action.

What is purposeful action? Purposeful action is a series of events motivated by commitment to a mission aimed at serving others beyond self. For action to be purposeful, the mission must be derived from inner conviction. Purposeful action requires belief and faith in the purpose of the action and demands unswerving commitment to the action.

References: Masters of the Game: Reaching Beyond the Nexus to Success and Happiness
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=purposefulaction&view=videos

Action has Three Components

The following article is excerpted from a lecture by Prem Chopra at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in September 2006. The text of the entire lecture can be found in Masters of the Game: Reaching Beyond the Nexus to Success and Happiness.

Three Parts of Action
To give you a complete picture of purposeful action, and how it leads to continuous quality improvement, I will place before you today three aspects of all actions. These aspects form a comprehensive framework that encompasses all actions in—quality, management, leadership and entrepreneurship. The Framework for Purposeful Action applies to professional as well as personal actions.

forming the purpose for action
performing the action; and
assessing and renewing the action.

Say, you are contemplating an action, such as producing a product, or planning a journey. You wish to travel from Atlanta to Los Angeles. What is the first thing to consider? Well, you must have a purpose for the journey. Then, you can set your goal to get to Los Angeles by a certain date and time. So, if you have a purpose and a goal, what you need next is a plan to get there. Without a plan to get to where you want to go, how will you progress towards your destination? How will you accomplish your goal? Without a plan, or with a plan that you do not follow, you will be easily distracted by the multitude of desires that drive you. External elements will distract you, and many will conflict with your journey, hindering your progress. In other words, you start traveling in one direction and when that doesn’t work out you go another way, and so on.

Purposeful Action Assures Quality

What is Purposeful Action?

To explain the framework for purposeful action, we must first define what we mean by “purposeful.” Basically, purposeful is something with a positive intent that contributes to other individuals, entities, or to society. With purposeful action we should add more value and not take away more as a result of that action. This is an ethical issue that cannot be divorced from action. Purpose implies good or ethical behavior. It is giving, not taking. The more value you give, the more you grow and succeed by producing something of value.

For example, let us compare Sony’s Play-Station with Microsoft’s X Box. Which one gets a larger share of the market? Is it the one with the lowest price? Or, is it the one with the best features, functionality, and reliability?

Let’s take another example of the impact of quality and value in this country. Consider the automobile industry. There’s a book by Halbersham, The Reckoning, that discusses the competition some years ago between Ford and Nissan—both companies manufacture cars and small trucks. The book is written as if Nissan and Ford were individuals. The author shows how and why one company declines as the other flourishes. And, what do you think the main reason was? What do you think the main difference is between General Motors and Toyota? The big difference is commitment to quality and value. Why do you think people buy Toyota cars? Is it because they cost more? Or, is it because they give more?

We will explore the answers to such questions in the context of the Framework for Purposeful Action in today’s discussion. We also will see how this framework can guide you to a more fulfilling personal and professional life.

The Quality Guru from an Iowa Farm

Some of you might have heard about William Edwards Deming—the quality control Guru from an Iowa farm. At first, no one in this country listened to him. General Motors would not give him the time of day. Did they feel that his teaching threatened their business practices and the lavish lifestyles of GM executives? They were busy golfing and socializing in their country clubs. Back in the 50’s and 60’s, some of the most lucrative jobs, for the brightest graduates, were to be found at General Motors. So, they had no use for Deming and his ideas about quality. Do you know what happened to Deming? He went to Japan.

The Japanese listened to him with an open mind, and they learned from him. Deming’s quality is a major force behind the high quality and performance standards we have come to expect from Japanese companies. In 1951, the Japanese Union of Scientists developed the Deming Award for Quality. They honored the man, because they understood the value of what he was teaching—and they applied it!

So what were we doing in the United States? Well, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors continued to build the cars they believed people wanted, and the kind of cars their MBA trained marketing and product management executives told them would maximize sales and profits. As a result, they continued to lose market share to the Japanese and European manufacturers, until one of them had to be bailed out by the U.S. taxpayer. Some 37 years after the Japanese had established the Deming Award for Quality, the U.S. Institute of Standards and Technology introduced the Baldridge Award for Performance Excellence. You might be tempted to say, “Better late than never,” but what happened to the automobile industry in the meantime? Well, you figure it out–Toyota is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world today.

What are the Three Phases of Action?

Three Phases of Purposeful Action

To review what we’ve just talked about, the first of the three parts of purposeful action is to form your purpose and commit to it. This is Phase I. Quality starts here. Deming talks about commitment to quality as well. You must be committed right from the start. In an organization, commitment to quality must come right from the top. If you are acting for yourself, then it is up to you to be the driving force. So, first you must commit to your purpose. Using the metaphor of an archer on a hunt, this phase represents the selecting of the target.

In Phase II you perform the action to which you are committed. The action could be designing a software application or building an airplane, whatever you commit to doing. Each action, by every individual in the organization, must fit into the overall plan for the action. This is when the archer aims and releases the arrow.

As the action proceeds, in Phase III you assess and renew the action and distribute rewards equitably in order to reinforce the quality and results you expect. In this phase, the archer examines where the arrow has landed and distributes the rewards equitably while re-adjusting the aim for the next release of the arrow.

Most people talk about quality in terms of the four parts of: planning, doing, checking and renewing. That is a meaningful way of looking at quality improvement, but it becomes superfluous when you apply the three phases of purposeful action. With these three phases, continuous quality improvement, or Kaizen, becomes automatic. Once you set your purpose to provide the best quality possible, pursue it ethically and measure your progress continuously, assessing and renewing the action to improve it. That is Kaizen. Finally, you must reinforce success with just rewards. Rewards can be positive or negative, but they must be equitable and just. Sometimes managers have difficulty in giving negative rewards, especially to themselves.

Equitable Rewards Reinforce Purposeful Action

The Final Step – Reward and Reinforce

The final or Twelfth Step of Purposeful Action involves Rewards and Reinforcement. In effect, rewards must be used to reinforce performance that meets or exceeds goals, and thus fulfills the mission. The mission, of course represent fulfillment of the vision, so we come full circle with the twelfth step. As we discussed earlier, rewards can be positive or negative, but they must be equitable and just. We also saw and discussed cases that showed how some managers have difficulty in giving negative rewards, especially to themselves.

We also covered, earlier, several examples of unjust and inequitable reward systems that prevail in the corporate world.

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Understanding the Twelve Steps of Purposeful Action is like seeing the entire elephant, and not just the rope-like trunk or the flapping ear that resembles a fan. You have a comprehensive framework that encompasses all actions—in your personal and your professional life. You have seen how this framework can be used for continuous quality improvement. Use it completely and consistently, in all your actions—to achieve both success and fulfillment.

Action is Incomplete without Assessment and Renewal

Phase III of Purposeful Action – Assessment and Renewal

Phase III of Purposeful Action involves assessing, renewing and rewarding the team. In the metaphor of the archer, in this phase, the archer examines where the arrow has landed and distributes the rewards equitably while re-adjusting the aim for the next release of the arrow.

Step 10 is Measurement and Assessment. In order to perform this step effectively, the goals of the action must be clear and measurable. Goals that are not measurable are meaningless.

For example, the goal to go to California is meaningless unless you know on what day and at what time you are going to arrive. Some of you are aware of the chronic delays and cancellation of airline flights. The quality of their performance is measurable because the airlines have published specific schedules for departure and arrival that can be used to measure their actual performance. In order to improve the quality of a product or service, one must constantly raise the bar that represents the quality standards you aspire to. This is also part of Step 10.

The Eleventh Step of Renewal involves readjusting and redirecting the action to improve the outcome. The story earlier about the Fatigue and Fail-Safe Training Program at the Boeing Company is an example of renewal of action to improve the quality and safety of all Boeing airplanes.

Another example of the significance of renewal is provided by the “outcome-based reimbursement system” introduced in the healthcare rehabilitation industry some years ago. Since rewards for the care providers are based on specific health milestones reached by the patient, there is continuous monitoring, assessment and renewal. At our software company, IVS, we designed a comprehensive scheduling and tracking system for rehab facilities. The system matches individual patients with therapists for specific care modalities and facilitates measurement of outcomes so that care plans can be renewed and outcomes improved.

The Role of Planning in Action

Continuing with Phase II – Planning, Organizing, Staffing, and Guiding

Once you have set your goals and developed your strategy, you are ready for the Sixth Step – Planning. A plan is nothing but a road map to a goal that marks the accomplishment of your mission—the mission to which you committed in Step 3. Some managers and even some reputable management schools consider the setting of goals as a part of planning, while others might even draft a plan from which they derive goals. How can you make a plan before you have a goal? How can you make a plan to go to Los Angeles from Atlanta and arrive there on a specified date, if you have not already decided to get there on that date? It is the difference between being reactive or proactive. In a flowing river, or brook, it is the difference between a speed-boat and a floating straw or a log. One is navigating with the purpose, following a plan, while the other is at the mercy of the whitewaters.

You can consider the entire Twelve-Step Framework for Purposeful Action to be a framework for planning. You can plan any action, proactively, by going through these twelve steps. We have been using this framework for business planning in our graduate classes on finance and entrepreneurship for more than a decade. Today, hundreds of our graduates use this framework for business planning and decision-making in their occupations as engineering managers, leaders and entrepreneurs.

With a plan in hand, you are ready to build your Organization. This is the Seventh Step in the Framework for Purposeful Action. Using the example of the traveler to Los Angeles, organization involves determining the numbers of drivers, passengers, mechanics, and etcetera, required for the trip. In addition to the plan and strategy, you need specific domain knowledge to design the appropriate organization to implement the strategy effectively. To accomplish this step for a large project or organization, you also need to possess or have access to knowledge and skills in the areas of human resources and budgeting.

Once the organizational structure is set, you are ready for the Eighth Step of Staffing the organization and providing the needed Resources. The accomplished manager must know how to attract and recruit the right people for each task. Then, in addition to providing the staff with the necessary resources, you must explain to all team members clearly what their responsibilities are. The organization is a whole made up of different parts. If an organization is committed to quality it should have the appropriate training programs in place for all involved. Staffing and resources are covered in detail in the areas of human resources and budgeting.

The Ninth Step, of Guidance, which some people refer to as direction, involves mobilizing the organization and guiding all effort toward the company’s goals, in accordance with the plan. This step demands the highest level of domain knowledge and skill. This is when the real work of the organization begins and the traveler embarks on the journey with the entire team. In addition to your plan, you have on-board all needed provisions for accomplishing the mission, and consequently for realizing the vision.

With the Ninth Step underway, purposeful action is in full swing, and you are now navigating the whitewaters to your destination.

The archer has released the arrow. Attention will next be focused upon where the arrow lands.

Quality is Key to Boeing’s Success

The Quality Strategy of the Boeing Company

Do you know the quality strategy of the Boeing Company? At Boeing, they design and test for quality up front, years before delivering the first airplane in a new fleet. Let me tell you a personal story about quality at Boeing. It was 1966 and I was working on the design of the new 747 jumbo jet airliner at Boeing’s plant in Everett, Washington, which is a suburb of Seattle. Then the largest enclosed structure in the world. There were just four of us fatigue and fracture specialists, led by an extremely competent manager, Max Spenser, who had a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University. The five of us served as failure analysis and safety consultants as well as advisors to several hundred stress analysts who worked on the 747 project. These analysts designed the airframe and specified the materials. Despite our efforts, design deficiencies and even failures continued to show up during component tests and during the full-scale testing of a test airplane in a hanger.

It occurred to me that if we were to provide some basic training on fatigue and fracture mechanics principles and give some basic guidelines to all stress analysts, we would reduce the numbers of defects that slipped through. I had in mind simple guidelines such as adjusting the radius of a curve on a drawing, or selecting a more fatigue-resistant material for a component. It did not then occur to me that it would be a bold step and a major corporate investment to set up a training program across the entire Boeing Company, serving thousands of engineers in four locations in the Boeing’s Seattle, Everest, Tacoma and Kent operations.

Max privately endorsed my idea and encouraged me to write directly to the Chief Engineer, Paul Sandoz. I got my point across by using a simple example: I wrote, if our stress engineers knew how metals fail from fatigue and fracture, they could avoid or mitigate many failures by simply adjusting the radius on a compass or by specifying a more fatigue-resistant material. The same mistake, if not corrected at the design stage could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars at the component test phase, and millions if it remains undetected until the fleet test stage. If the failure would occur in service with an airline, the same defect could cost the company the entire project, or more. It was a quality message and Paul Sandoz got it. In addition to receiving a special Quality Award, in less than a week, I was on the job of designing and delivering the Fatigue and Fail-Safe Training Program for the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company. Several stress analysts and one fatigue specialist from each of these projects, 747, 727, 737 and KC-135 were assigned to help me develop the training manuals and deliver the program. Max was gracious enough to give me a copy of this historic three-set volume of the training manuals, which you may view in my office.

In writing the letter, my purpose had been to use education to improve the quality and safety of this new family of airplanes, the like of which had never flown the skies before. I had no thoughts of personal rewards or recognition. The assignment as Training Director came as a total surprise. It was my first experience of being responsible for managing such a major program. However, with commitment and hard work, and much guidance from Max, the program was remarkably successful. The main reason was that the top managers recognized the need and importance of quality and safety and there was a strong commitment from the top. They recognized that this program satisfied that need.

Over the next three years the program grew and made its contributions. I was fortunate enough to complete my doctoral work as well during this period.

This is my personal story about quality improvement, which is intimately woven with the historical Boeing 747 airplane and the world’s largest airplane manufacturer. In summary, a commitment to quality, initiative in following through with the commitment and the education of engineers resulted in improving the quality of the design and the safety of the airplane. A commitment to quality and safety was inherent in Boeing’s design and manufacturing strategy.

Strategy is Vital for Achieving Goals

Phase II of Purposeful Action – Goals and Strategy

Phase II of Purposeful Action involves planning and performing the action. This phase consists of six steps. This is when the archer aims and releases the arrow.

The first step of Phase II, which is the Fourth Step of Purposeful Action, is to set a Goal that represents the accomplishment of the mission to which you committed in Step 3. You may set a single clear goal, or a series of inter-dependent goals. The vision you formed in Step 1 is not a goal. Goals are specific and measurable, like milestones on your journey to your vision. Your dream is not a goal. For example, as a product manager, goals might be how many units of a product you will sell, how many you must produce, and what standards of quality your products will meet. On the financial side, goals might include sales revenue, which is a function of the quantity and price of units, operating income or net income, even though these measures are a consequence of the revenues and expenses.

In reality, there are many levels of interrelated goals in an organization. The overall success of an organization can be jeopardized if customers return defective products and new prospects refuse to buy. The collective achievement of all organizational goals represents the success of the action and thus of the organization. Another way of saying this is that the success of an organization depends upon the collective and synchronous achievement of the goals of each organizational element.

Having set goals, you need to determine the most effective way to achieve them. This is a simple definition of Strategy, which is the Fifth Step of Purposeful Action. Strategy is the most effective way to get to where you want to go. Like goals, there are many levels of interrelated strategies in an organization. Examples are corporate strategy, financial strategy, marketing strategy, product strategy, and even exit strategy. Each level or area of strategy addresses the corresponding goals. Strategy is of vital importance in the accomplishment of purposeful action for any individual or organization. Strategic decision-making is an essential attribute for leaders, managers and entrepreneurs.

How do you get somewhere? Do you go alone? Do you take an airplane? Or, do you take a boat? For example, in the 1st Gulf War the U.S. had a strategy to use overwhelming force, and the allied forces moved into Kuwait over land, sea and air. Strategy is the most effective way to get to where you want to go in order to succeed with your plan. There are a many good books on strategy. Clausewitz was a great strategist, and many military writers have written on strategy because war is all about strategy.

You also need a strategy for quality. What quality strategy should manufacturers use? Should they inspect all units, or just a sample? Should they allow a certain number of defective units to be sold if it is cheaper to replace them than to improve the entire production and inspection process? Should they inspect the raw materials and components or inspect only finished goods at the end of the assembly line?

Purposeful Action starts with Vision

Phase I of Purposeful Action: Vision, Reality Check, and Commitment

We begin with the first three steps of Purposeful Action, which comprise the First Phase.

The First Step is Introspection, to form and develop a vision. A vision is like a dream. It comes from within, as a consequence of deep beliefs, meditation, contemplation and even prayer. That is why we call this step Introspection. Have you ever dreamt of something you desired or something you wanted to do? That’s what vision is. The greatest actions in life are accomplished when there is a vision that inspires the actions. For example, Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream”, and his was a dream of freedom. Freedom was also Gandhi’s vision–freedom from British occupation. President John F. Kennedy had a dream of putting a man on the moon. When he first spoke of his dream it was not yet a plan; it was just a desired state. It would require time and a great deal of money to develop a space program, but Kennedy found a way to put a man on the moon. And that was Kennedy’s purposeful action. It started with the first step—a vision.

After developing a vision or a dream, Step 2 of purposeful action is a reality check. In this step, you look at all variables internal and external to your organization that would impact your dream. You assess your strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. We call this step, Extrospection, which implies researching and looking without, just as Introspection means looking within.

Take the Toyota Motor Company for example. Toyota had a dream to seize a share of the U.S. automobile market. Their vision was to convince the American people that they could buy a low-cost, reliable vehicle built in Japan. But Toyota had to first perform a reality check. Their Extrospection showed that they could not initially penetrate the luxury and performance car segments that were dominated by American icons such as Cadillac and Corvette. So, back in those days, Toyota and Honda decided to sell small cars at a low cost. That was the result of their reality check. They saw that the American manufacturers were not offering small economical cars. Initially, to meet low price targets, the Japanese manufacturers chose to cut their production costs by using inexpensive recycled metals that rusted easily. This was a major quality blunder and they almost never recovered from it. Then, thanks to Mr. Deming and some competent Japanese managers, they measured their performance, performed another reality check and the rest is history. After achieving their early vision, with an eye on quality improvement and value, Japanese car manufacturers today are at the forefront of all segments of the automobile and light truck markets, including the luxury and performance segments.

The Third Step is to make a commitment to the vision that has been refined through the reality check. In the case of the Japanese auto manufacturers, it was first a commitment to produce and export economical cars. When they experienced quality problems which threatened their very existence, they revised their commitment to manufacturing reliable and economical cars. So, this became their new mission. Mission is what you commit to accomplishing in Step 3.

It takes courage to start any action, even after commitment is made. That is to say, it takes courage and fortitude to proceed from Phase I to Phase II of action.

Having set the target in Phase I, the archer is now ready to aim and shoot the arrow, in Phase II.

Reinforcing Performance Fairly

Reinforcement with Tough Love

It is unwise to work for companies that have inequitable reward systems, or to tolerate such systems in companies you manage or lead. Let’s say one of your subordinates is incompetent, such as an office assistant who does sub-standard work, is lazy and uninterested in the assigned tasks. Despite receiving repeated training and warning, her performance and attendance is still unacceptable. What should you do? What if she’s a single mother with two kids, and it’s almost Christmas time. What would you do? If you were the manager, would you keep this person in the job or would you terminate her?

We had such a situation with an employee who reported to one of my managers. The manager told me that she should be fired, but he did not feel right doing it, particularly, since Christmas was coming. Our management team reviewed the company’s purpose, goals, staffing needs and our budget, and the manager re-confirmed that this employee did not fit in his organization, she would not improve, and there was no future for her in the company. But he still refused to fire her. So, here is the solution we came up with. I asked the manager to step into my office so we could talk in private. “Look,” I said, “This is how much you’re paid, and this is how much she is paid. If you feel so strongly about keeping her on, we will take this amount from your salary and use it to pay her. That way neither your wishes, nor the company’s objectives will be compromised”

Needless to say, the manager walked right out of the office and terminated the employee. You see, people do not think of the organization’s money as their own. If they did, they would make more prudent decisions. If you have true empathy for someone and you’re concerned about their financial welfare, then why not share some of your own money with them? Why use the company’s money to satisfy your personal conscience, when you are unwilling to spend your own for the same purpose? In the case of this assistant, we gave her a generous severance package.

The lesson here is: don’t reinforce negative behavior with positive rewards. When you are dealing with children, do you scold them when they misbehave and then bribe them with candy so they won’t do it again? Do you think the child remembers the short reprimand or the lingering sweetness of the candy? No, you don’t want to reinforce negative behavior. You don’t want to keep paying people to produce defective products, and you don’t want to pay executives for making the wrong and, sometimes, unethical decisions.

Fair and balanced corrective action, or tough love, is very important. Organizations fail when companies or individuals forget their purpose and their commitment to quality. Products must fulfill a certain quality standard, and we must perform all the necessary actions to fulfill those standards. Otherwise, the quality fails and the business fails. You must honestly apply whatever purposeful actions that are required to meet or exceed those quality standards. This is what customers expect. And, this is purposeful action