potential. They motivate and support their leadership teams, are positive thinkers, create inspirational vision that drives motivation into their teams. The opposite, Industrial Leaders (transactional), are all about position, policy, and micro-management—the death of great employees.
Leaders should recognize the value in skilled craftspeople, and make sure they understand the connection between hands-on experience, matched with strong leadership, and the value great reliability brings to a business. I fully agree with many of Nathan’s positions and see a huge value for leaders and business managers to invest in this book.
Steve Holmes
Chief Operating Officer
KGHM International, a subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedz
Are we facing the death of real reliability? The simple definition of death in Webster’s Dictionary is “the permanent end of something that is not alive: the ruin or destruction of something.” The sad truth is that this is exactly where we are headed with respect to reliability. The reason I believe this is true is the loss of real reliability leadership. Without qualified leadership, there can be no real reliability and as such companies are losing out on the one true competitive advantage available to them today. I have repeatedly heard that the loss of skilled craftsmen stems from kids today not wanting to work hard. I believe that this is a small portion of the issue. There is a lot more behind the views of kids today than meets the eye. The erosion of individuals seeking skilled trades as a career starts at home. Parents fill their children’s heads with the belief that everyone should go to college. This cannot be further from the truth. The same message, that college is the only answer, is reinforced by teachers and counselors. The problem with these teachers and counselors is that they have never worked in a skilled trade and the majority hold non-technical degrees and know nothing of the trades industry. This anti-skilled trade attitude is prominent throughout our government. The ill-conceived “No Child Left Behind” program further damaged the noble professions in favor of non-technical educations that provide few options for the holders. When compared to the income of a college graduate, especially a non-technical graduate, a skilled tradesperson can make two or more times their salary. This fact has been presented to the last three presidents by Mike Rowe, a television personality best known for his show Dirty Jobs. Like me, he has gathered facts supporting this position. While we have different approaches to this message, we stand together in our efforts to open the eyes of anyone who will listen.
This gave me pause and made me want to write this book. After reviewing my background and experience, you will understand the context from which I draw in the book that follows. Unlike most of the books written on this topic, this book is not the ravings of an engineer or consultant who is espousing theory and other information based on no hands-on, real-world experience. I have read many of these volumes and found no hands-on facts, but a lot of supposition about the what and the why but nothing on the how. Please do not take my statements here and in this book about the lack of qualifications by the majority of maintenance and reliability leaders as condemnation of the individuals. It is not a condemnation of the individuals but of the wave of poor decision making by senior leaders worldwide to shortcut the hard work required to develop a true reliability leader.
Another big driver of this issue is the lack of leadership at all levels of organizations that understands the competitive advantage of reliability or reliability itself. Instead, they pat themselves on the back for attempting to shortcut what it takes to achieve reliability. They “fudge” the numbers to make it appear that they are progressing in the right direction, but what they cannot do is cover up the unreliability that causes them to lose ground and increase costs. My father always told me “figures never lie, but liars can figure” and that is the “new” leadership style for those posing as reliability leaders today. Just thirty years ago, an organization invested time and money in their employees to develop craftspeople. It is the loss of these efforts that is driving the decline of craftspeople. The misguided shortcuts being employed by organizations to attempt to circumvent hard work and effort are eroding craft skills and many other one-time strengths of the United States. The belief that abbreviated training can replace apprenticeships and produce skilled craftspeople is completely wrong. This belief is driven by the loss of leadership in the senior positions in organizations. Specifically, the loss of real reliability professionals in key senior positions is decimating the skilled craftspeople ranks. Before you blame the kids of today for this loss, you need to look at the leaders of today: parents, teachers, government, plant managers, C-suite officers, and board members.
WHERE WE WERE
On December 7, 1941, we suffered a surprise attack on our Navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This crippled our naval forces, and it was the industrial might of the U.S. that bailed us out of what could have been our defeat. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Imperial Navy, upon being told of the success of their attack on Pearl Harbor, stated, “I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.” His statement was the result of his experience of traveling in the U.S. and seeing the industrial might we possessed. This industrial might was rooted in the strength of our skilled tradespeople. He knew we could easily shift from making cars to tanks and planes. We could shift from making tractors, plows, and manufacturing equipment to weapons that would be superior to the Axis forces. With the current state of skilled trades in our nation today, we would not be as successful and I would say we might not even prevail if today’s attacks were focused on military targets, not helpless civilians. The purpose of this publication is to bring attention to the crisis facing skilled trades and craftspeople. It identifies the root cause of the impending death of reliability if we do nothing. Edmund Burke said that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” It is my hope that I can reach enough people to incite thought and debate about this infection and the immediate need to begin CPR. Ultimately, with a lot of hard work and effort (rehabilitation), we can return the reliability industry back to good health, with good people doing something. The answer to the “what’s in it for us” question is a competitive advantage.
When I say, “I” it is my hope that you realize that what I am conveying is what I have experienced. It is not meant to preach or tell you my approach is better. When I use “we,” it is my intention to let you know that I am with you in spirit and it is meant to convey a shared experience.
After spending 35 years in the workforce, I know that the goal of all organizations is the pursuit of a competitive advantage. Webster’s Dictionary defines a competitive advantage as “superiority gained by an organization when it can provide the same value as its competitors but at a lower price, or can charge higher prices by providing greater value through differentiation.” Competitive advantage results from matching core competencies to the opportunities. The irony of this pursuit is that organizations are seeking to achieve this by working towards “best practices.” There is no greater illustration of a herd mindset than that of best practices. I have always held that a so-called best practice ends the minute it is labeled as such. Best practices defend the status quo and restrict innovation by ensuring people/processes follow the same tactics. You cannot distinguish yourself by embracing sameness. The idea of best practices is basically the unification to the norm at your own peril. Smart leaders innovate past best practices and are always in search of next practices. If your decision to do something is driven by others doing it the same way, you are doing little more than yielding advantage and opportunity to those opponents more creative than you. Don’t
