The following article is excerpted from a lecture by Prem Chopra at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in September 2006. The text of the entire lecture can be found in Masters of the Game: Reaching Beyond the Nexus to Success and Happiness.

What is Purposeful Action?

To explain the framework for purposeful action, we must first define what we mean by “purposeful.” Basically, purposeful is something with a positive intent that contributes to other individuals, entities, or to society. With purposeful action we should add more value and not take away more as a result of that action. This is an ethical issue that cannot be divorced from action. Purpose implies good or ethical behavior. It is giving, not taking. The more value you give, the more you grow and succeed by producing something of value. 

For example, let us compare Sony’s Play-Station with Microsoft’s X Box. Which one gets a larger share of the market? Is it the one with the lowest price? Or, is it the one with the best features, functionality, and reliability?

Let’s take another example of the impact of quality and value in this country. Consider the automobile industry. There’s a book by Halbersham, The Reckoning, that discusses the competition some years ago between Ford and Nissan—both companies manufacture cars and small trucks. The book is written as if Nissan and Ford were individuals. The author shows how and why one company declines as the other flourishes. And, what do you think the main reason was? What do you think the main difference is between General Motors and Toyota? The big difference is commitment to quality and value. Why do you think people buy Toyota cars? Is it because they cost more? Or, is it because they give more?

We will explore the answers to such questions in the context of the Framework for Purposeful Action in today’s discussion. We also will see how this framework can guide you to a more fulfilling personal and professional life.

The Quality Guru from an Iowa Farm

Some of you might have heard about William Edwards Deming—the quality control Guru from an Iowa farm. At first, no one in this country listened to him. General Motors would not give him the time of day. Did they feel that his teaching threatened their business practices and the lavish lifestyles of GM executives? They were busy golfing and socializing in their country clubs. Back in the 50’s and 60’s, some of the most lucrative jobs, for the brightest graduates, were to be found at General Motors. So, they had no use for Deming and his ideas about quality. Do you know what happened to Deming? He went to Japan.

The Japanese listened to him with an open mind, and they learned from him. Deming’s quality is a major force behind the high quality and performance standards we have come to expect from Japanese companies. In 1951, the Japanese Union of Scientists developed the Deming Award for Quality. They honored the man, because they understood the value of what he was teaching—and they applied it!

So what were we doing in the United States? Well, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors continued to build the cars they believed people wanted, and the kind of cars their MBA trained marketing and product management executives told them would maximize sales and profits. As a result, they continued to lose market share to the Japanese and European manufacturers, until one of them had to be bailed out by the U.S. taxpayer. Some 37 years after the Japanese had established the Deming Award for Quality, the U.S. Institute of Standards and Technology introduced the Baldridge Award for Performance Excellence. You might be tempted to say, “Better late than never,” but what happened to the automobile industry in the meantime? Well, you figure it out–Toyota is the largest automobile manufacturer in the world today.

The following article is excerpted from a lecture by Prem Chopra at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in September 2006. The text of the entire lecture can be found in Masters of the Game: Reaching Beyond the Nexus to Success and Happiness.

Three Phases of Purposeful Action

To review what we’ve just talked about, the first of the three parts of purposeful action is to form your purpose and commit to it. This is Phase I. Quality starts here. Deming talks about commitment to quality as well. You must be committed right from the start. In an organization, commitment to quality must come right from the top. If you are acting for yourself, then it is up to you to be the driving force. So, first you must commit to your purpose. Using the metaphor of an archer on a hunt, this phase represents the selecting of the target.

In Phase II you perform the action to which you are committed. The action could be designing a software application or building an airplane, whatever you commit to doing. Each action, by every individual in the organization, must fit into the overall plan for the action. This is when the archer aims and releases the arrow.

As the action proceeds, in Phase III you assess and renew the action and distribute rewards equitably in order to reinforce the quality and results you expect. In this phase, the archer examines where the arrow has landed and distributes the rewards equitably while re-adjusting the aim for the next release of the arrow.

Most people talk about quality in terms of the four parts of: planning, doing, checking and renewing. That is a meaningful way of looking at quality improvement, but it becomes superfluous when you apply the three phases of purposeful action. With these three phases, continuous quality improvement, or Kaizen, becomes automatic. Once you set your purpose to provide the best quality possible, pursue it ethically and measure your progress continuously, assessing and renewing the action to improve it. That is Kaizen. Finally, you must reinforce success with just rewards. Rewards can be positive or negative, but they must be equitable and just. Sometimes managers have difficulty in giving negative rewards, especially to themselves.

The following article is excerpted from a lecture by Prem Chopra at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga in September 2006. The text of the entire lecture can be found in Masters of the Game: Reaching Beyond the Nexus to Success and Happiness.

Phase III of Purposeful Action – Assessment and Renewal

Phase III of Purposeful Action involves assessing, renewing and rewarding the team. In the metaphor of the archer, in this phase, the archer examines where the arrow has landed and distributes the rewards equitably while re-adjusting the aim for the next release of the arrow.

Step 10 is Measurement and Assessment. In order to perform this step effectively, the goals of the action must be clear and measurable. Goals that are not measurable are meaningless.

For example, the goal to go to California is meaningless unless you know on what day and at what time you are going to arrive. Some of you are aware of the chronic delays and cancellation of airline flights. The quality of their performance is measurable because the airlines have published specific schedules for departure and arrival that can be used to measure their actual performance. In order to improve the quality of a product or service, one must constantly raise the bar that represents the quality standards you aspire to. This is also part of Step 10.

The Eleventh Step of Renewal involves readjusting and redirecting the action to improve the outcome. The story earlier about the Fatigue and Fail-Safe Training Program at the Boeing Company is an example of renewal of action to improve the quality and safety of all Boeing airplanes.

Another example of the significance of renewal is provided by the “outcome-based reimbursement system” introduced in the healthcare rehabilitation industry some years ago. Since rewards for the care providers are based on specific health milestones reached by the patient, there is continuous monitoring, assessment and renewal. At our software company, IVS, we designed a comprehensive scheduling and tracking system for rehab facilities. The system matches individual patients with therapists for specific care modalities and facilitates measurement of outcomes so that care plans can be renewed and outcomes improved.