A MATTER OF CHANGING OUR MINDSET IN THIS

NEW ECONOMIC AGE

Dr.PULIN DUTTA

I begin here by putting before the reader the basic transformation required to succeed in the New Economic Age, as seen in the post “World War II miracle”, since 1950. Dr.Deming, an American began this in Japan in 1950, joined by Dr.Juran (1954). In the West, gradually the dark cloud of economic uncertainties became a stunning reality. One by one the old industrial giants fell in the Western Industrial societies; but they refused to wake up.

Now let us examine the following Table 1 in some depth and ask ourselves individually how he is going to imbibe the spirit and use it henceforth..

Table 1

PRODUCT OUT MENTALITY (Past & Present)	MARKET IN MENTALITY (New Thinking)
Manufacturer/Supplier/Giver dominated, not much concerned about the customer. The Customer was a necessary nuisance!	1.Customer/buyer/user-friendly thinking. How to fulfil his needs is the only question. If nobody wanted my work, then I am useless!
Single stage oriented no consideration for others around. Only self-interest in terms of gain and loss!	2. NOAC mindset, meaning the next person is my esteemed customer. How do I satisfy his needs well?
Self Centred, resents others’ views. Do not trespass thinking!	3. Everyone is every other ones customer, member of the same society and are interdependent. So, mutual consultation, seeking out help and guidance is honourable.

The consequences of the past ways can be summarised as:

• Egoism, arrogance, ignoring problems, faking information to gain rewards, politics, frequent management meetings, poor work-force morale, no improvements, no growth leading to ultimate demise.
• Work becomes boring and demoralising.

Now, Let us see the consequences of the New Thinking, from the outcomes of the past 60 years after Dr.W.E.Deming’s revolutionary (4^th.Generation of Management) beginning in Japan:

·        Modesty and reflections to examine by individuals to see if his buyer/taker/next in line or anyone else around was happy with his job/work/service

·        While, being humble and introspective, he willingly discovers more problems asking for solutions.

·        Uncovering these problems takes him to solve them instead of ignoring so that continually he keeps his buyers/takers/next in line and every one in his sphere of influence happy with his work.

·        It brings him great pride and joy at work, which creates a joyous atmosphere, builds togetherness in an open environment, improves transparency.

I have in the course of my interpersonal discussions often found a number of highly educated engineers, managers etc. who wondered who could be their customers or happy takers of their work? In other words, they were working alone in a lonely place. This is a sad situation. For, anybody’s existence in any organisation, be it business or public affairs, becomes relevant only if he satisfied his customers who pays for his service by cash or by kind. With this point of view as Mr.Masaki Imai told me that in Japan following the Deming philosophy developed the concept of “internal Customer” which they called “NOAC”, (next operation as customer) meaning next man, who received the output, is the customer, who must be satisfied to proceed further. A very enlightening and meaningful way of making people work together, interdependent and productive. It not only eliminated adversarial or ego related issues; but also reduced the chances of errors in execution. Because it is transparent.  No one will like to hide anything. No self defence, no ego clash. The Western type of organisations, people behaved as if they were living alone in a deserted island, in vertical silos, removed from the others. So, the “private turf” attitude was pervasive enough to build barriers between people and between functions. This bred internal politics and blaming one another syndrome. The work suffered the organisation suffered, waste increased. Finally, the customer suffered and if possible goes to another supplier.

I often suggested to the managers, engineers, and others in the organisations inviting me to brief them on the basic principles of the 4^th.Generation Management, the following quick self-check.

For, I have no doubt that if one has no customer, internal and/or external, then he is not required. It is the very rudimentary principle in business, satisfy the customer to survive and grow.

The Self-Check List:

·        Do I have a Customer, internal/external?

·        Do I know my customer?

·        Do I precisely know his/her needs and expectations?

·        Can I satisfy those needs/expectations?

·        Did I satisfy them before?

·        Am I satisfying them now?

·        Could have I done it better?

·        How?

If your answer is ‘NO’ to some of the above questions, then it is imperative to find their answers as early as possible, otherwise you may find it difficult to survive and prosper in the new economic age.

Good luck!

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