President’s Message - Methodology Versus Tools

By Benjamin Rand

I was having lunch with a friend of mine recently. He happens to be a successful business owner who has been able to consistently grow his company, even in these challenging times. “I've got a question for you,” he said, “and spare me the sales pitches and political correctness. If I wanted to launch an improvement program in my business, which one should it be? Frankly, I can't keep track of them all-Lean, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement. I remember TQM and I read The Goal, wasn't that Theory of Constraints or something… Which would you do?”

“None of them,” I said.

“Don't be difficult. I just asked a simple question.”

“Maybe, but methodologies don't matter. Tools matter and selecting the right tools depends on what you're trying to do. So the real question you should be asking is what do you want to achieve in your business? Do you want more sales? More new products? Lower costs? Faster delivery? Better brand recognition?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. I want all of that and more,” he said in exasperation. “Doesn't everybody?”

“Look,” I replied, “everyday you go to work and you have to decide what's important today. You prioritize because you can't do everything at once. This is the same thing. That's usually where a consultant can help. A good one should help you identify where and how to get the biggest bang for their buck.”

“Okay, so I have to decide what I want to focus on. I get it,” he said, “but then I should be able to select a methodology, right?”

“Well, you should be able to select the tools,” I replied.
“Think of a methodology as a tool box full of tools-analyses, concepts, process changes, techniques, etc. The tool box may help you stay organized, but it's the tools themselves that get the job done not the box.”

“That's exactly the problem!” he exclaimed sending his potato chips flying. “Which one should I do?”

“My whole point is you should not be wed to one methodology. I don't care if you call your program ‘Lean’ or ‘Continuous Improvement’ or ‘Six Sigma’ but your consultant should be selecting the tools you need from among all those methodologies to get the job done.”

“Why are you so uptight about this?” he asked.

“I've seen people lose sight of the goal because they got so hung up on methodological purity,” I said, “and I wouldn't want that to happen to you.”

“What goal?”

“Making more money,” I replied. “It isn't about whether you're ISO certified or how many black belts or TOC Jonahs you have on staff. It's about making more money.”

“Now that's the most intelligent thing you've said so far.”