Page 17 - MetalForming May 2011

individuals go unfilled for months on end?
In my opinion, we all collectively bowed to political correctness, and lowered the bar. We did so with such stunning efficiency that the caliber of the average individual fails to meet the minimum requirements to get the job done. We let entitlement win over hard knocks; we adopted “good enough” as the new “best in class;” we started grad- ing performance on a sliding scale instead of valuing lessons learned. And now we, the manufacturing commu- nity, having stood by to watch this unfold, must suffer the consequences of our inaction. By allowing routine business distractions to grow into a complete lack of involvement, we have empowered others not sharing our pas- sion or experience to speak on our behalf and decide for us. By doing so, we’re being driven into the ground.
We need to move quickly to fix this situation, and begin to make some dif- ficult choices. Here are a few sugges- tions to get the ball rolling:
• Get back to rewarding actual per- formance, where the scale isn’t recali- brated to accommodate each partici- pant’s uniqueness.
• Unions and management need to quit the gamesmanship and smooth out the kinks. The good-old-boy for- mula needs to die. Don’t dig in to hold onto outdated positions—figure out how we can work together to dig out. If we can’t get this accomplished, then we will continue to see jobs ship out and businesses restructure, or fail.
• Get government out, period. Until our representatives learn to balance trade and the nation’s checkbook, and to create a stable business climate for manufacturing, I submit that our leg- islators respectfully remain in Wash- ington. Once they clean up an over- grown government, then and only then will they have earned the right to voice an opinion about how businesses should operate.
• Bring back private-sector intern- ships and apprenticeships. Sure, we all talk about and want to benefit from the value of these programs, but busi-
ness needs to fund these through adop- tion and real financial commitment. For such programs to be effective, we need the private sector to step up and make it happen. To this point, next month I’ll discuss opportunities for businesses in this arena.
If we are to reinvigorate our manu- facturing heritage, we must adopt more conservative definitions of “perfor- mance” and “success.” We must teach
future generations to embrace hard knocks as opportunities to learn and grow, to strive for self-improvement and persist in pursuit of perfection. Lowering the bar to make exceptions, under the guise of empathy, only creates false self-actualization and collective weakening of our society. Overcoming obstacles brings out our best qualities, and leads to some of our greatest achievements. MF
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