Criticism

How can you be critical about a person’s work without the other person feeling offended?  It is very difficult but it can be vital to be critical if we really want to be able to produce products with high quality.

One day, I was in Tokyo, Japan leading a study mission with a group of around 20 American managers.  We were in an auditorium with a large group of senior managers from Tokyo Juki Corporation, producers of sewing machines. On stage were members of a Quality Control Circle (QCC), selected for their outstanding results, delivering in detail, what they had accomplished in the last six months.  At the end of the presentation, the entire audience clapped and then one member of the QCC group came forward, looked at the president of their company and asked for feedback.  He rose and said that they had done a very good job.

The QCC group member then said, “I thank you for your compliment but what I really want is some criticism that will make our work better.”  Just imagine you telling your president that you want him/her to be critical of your work.   It rarely happens here.
In Japan, they want to look at criticism as a “jewel.”  It is an opportunity for improvement.  We can do it in America but we have to practice it.  We want to be critical of the work but not the individual who did the work.  We don’t want people to hide their mistakes.  We want people to learn from their mistakes.

So get a group together and start practicing how to be critical and use this as a very effective tool for continuous improvement.