Re: Pay for Learning LO1547

jack w. patterson (vjwpa@calgary.chevron.com)
Wed, 7 Jun 95 11:06:42 MDT

Replying to LO1532 --

Dave Buffenbarger wrote ...

------- snip snip ------ [...and quote shortened further by host...]
>
> Needless to say, the theory was not directly applicable. However, through
> relatively controlled experiments (this was 1978-80; prior to teamwork
> stuff in the U.S.) we actually made some original theoretical discoveries
> not covered in any scientific literature. To this day they are still a
> trade secret. We were brilliant? No! Were we interested in making our
> plant run better. Not initially. Only through building trust, caring for
> each other, collaborative thinking, engaging our minds to look at the
> whole system, and some dumb luck did we begin to care about the plant. WE
> more than doubled capacity, reduced manpower needs by 40 per cent, and
> decreased consumer complaints by a factor of 6. ****When I moved to a new job,
> this effort stopped along with the improvements and original ideas we
> implemented.****
>
----- snip snip ---

Does this last comment mean that learning stopped at that company? Who did the learning you or
the organization? Sounds to me like the reason for the improvement was through your efforts.

--
Jack Patterson
vjwpa@calgary.chevron.com