20 WESTERN PALLET
Is Focusing on Customer Satisfaction a Mistake?
Arguably, it was a trick question. Still, it was an extremely effective one. When asked to rank the importance of customer satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5, almost all participants rated it as a 5 out of 5. However, there was just one person who rated it as a 2. We all understand that customer service is critical to success. Who would demonstrate such disdain for customer satisfaction and yet manage to stay in business?
It was eventually revealed that the person with so little regard for customer satisfaction was none other than the presenter, Bill Bellows, Ph.D. Dr. Bellows led the WPA’s September 2023 Master Learning Group (MLG). As to why he is underwhelmed by customer satisfaction, we return to that a little later.
Dr. Bellows, President, InThinking Services, is a 35+ year specialist in the fields of Quality and Engineering Management. In addition to his role as Adjunct Professor for California State University, Northridge and Southern Utah University, he serves as President of InThinking Services, partnering with clients to facilitate both the understanding and application of the Deming Philosophy and integrating this philosophy within a greater framework of “better thinking about thinking,” a concept known as “InThinking.”
Upon retiring from Rocketdyne in 2016, Dr. Bellows joined The W. Edwards Deming Institute® for 2.5 years as Deputy Director to share his lessons learned within a worldwide Deming community. Today, as a member of The Deming Institute’s Advisory Council, he continues to tirelessly coach, mentor, facilitate, and advocate for the Institute’s aim.
List the Steps for Washing a Table
He started the session by asking participants the steps they would use to wash a table. It was a technique, he explained, that W. Edwards Deming, the famed business consultant, used many years ago in presentations. Some attendees provided a basic list of steps for table washing. Other attendees asked for additional information. Was it a work table to be cleaned or a surgical table, for instance?
A deeper understanding can deliver better result. “It's very easy for people to collect the cleaning supplies, the bucket, the water, the things that dry it,” Dr. Bellows continued. “But rarely is there a question of a step about ‘Tell me about the table. Is that a dining room table that we're eating off of?... Does it have to be clean enough to play cards or make a puzzle?’ Dr. Deming would say, ‘How can you do your job if you don't know how people use your work?’ So, if I'm handing you a list of how to clean the table, am I taking into account a question of how the table is used?”
The Perils of Breaking Work Processes Down to Tasks
The table washing example served as a segway to discussing a job’s instructions. When dividing work into several separate activities, there is a danger that employees might do it in a way that helps them achieve their individual goals but that it might not be
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