🚀 go-pugleaf

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Fear, and the presence or lack thereof, and the ability to have a
"Qualitiy" work environment probably varies greatly by the organization and
the mission of that organization.  I work in a basic research environment
where most of the principles of quality have been infused into the system with
one notable exception:  Eliminate Fear.  Fear, as defined here, means that
each year one is rated and ranked and where you wind up determines both your
salary and your vulnerablity in any downsizing situation.  In 1986, the
organization was cut in half based strickly on one's rating at the time.
Everyone left knows someone better than them that did not survive because
they were on the wrong project or worked for the wrong manager or
were  in the wrong part of the research cycle --everyone knows the meaning of
fear.      What does it do in a basic research environment?   It forces people
into boxes.  And researchers in boxes have predicable and evolutionary output.
  A researcher has to feel free to take a chance and propose an idea that at
first glance looks and sound absurb because it violates an scientific,
technical or organizational paradigm.  When fear is present, few such
outside-the-box ideas ever emerge.   Management thinks everything is OK
because what they see is relevant research directed at the current lines of
business.  Because FEAR is there, the next generation required for survival is
not.
       As a staff person, I've thought a lot about quality in research and how
to make it work and why research presents such a difficut target for the
concept.  Part of the answer, I think, lies in the concept of teams.  In
research, intuition is the most important ingredient for a breakthrough and
intuition comes from an individual not a team.  So, teams in a research
environment have to foster intuition and focus on how to facilitate the
growing and nurturing of fragile ideas.  That ultimately means turning the
organization upside down and making the management servants instead of
masters.
       As for me, fear is no longer a factor.  I've reached that magic
combination of age and service where I can hang it up here and have a new
life.  My last day here is June 30, and I already feel that I've lost 10
intellectual pounds.  I can see a notable improvement in my thought processes
and my output.  What is missing is fear--the box I didn't even realize I
was working inside of  is gone.    So,  I can tell you based on personal
experience that Deming is right.
      Reading the previous discussion on this topic, I think that that those
who think Deming was out to lunch on fear are mostly in management where fear
is a control tool.  If you take away fear, that means you have to manage by
the quality of your ideas and to allow those ideas to be subjected to the same
rigerous examination as any other idea.  Few management egos are stong enough
to put their ideas up for disussion and refinement let alone for possible
death from lack of form or substance.