Meeting Commitments - Ready by Monday

Gurvinder Singh
3 days ago
3 min read

In 1986, I was to travel to Leverkusen, Germany, to buy machinery for our growing business from a dealer. I started planning for the trip 2 months in advance.

With usual German precision, the dealer gave me specific directions on how to get there.

"From platform no 6, take the S-Bahn train from Düsseldorf (main station) departing at 08:58 hrs. Get off the train at the station which arrives exactly at 09:13 hrs. That is Leverkusen. I will be on the platform displaying my company brochure for you to identify me."

The contrast between our Indian system and the precise German system was an incredible eye-opener. 60 days in advance, everything was so predictable. How could this be possible?

To me, his directions seemed incredible. At that time, in India, trains never ran on schedule, and we had to wait for the last 5 minutes before departure to know exactly from which platform the train would depart. India at that time could be described as a 'chaotic yet functioning society'.

A seeker always follows the 5W and 1H rule. (What, where, when, why, who and how? Rule) What was it that made Germany run like clockwork and ours like a chaotic bazaar?

So began a 3-year quest to become so reliable that we could be described as a world-class organisation.

Let me take you back to the functioning of our company in 1986.

How did things happen in our company at that time?

Say, we needed to manufacture and deliver some products to a customer. The customer would ask for a date. I would ask my production manager, and he would say "by Monday".

I would forward that commitment to the customer. Then on Monday, I discovered that we had no products to ship. I ask the manager, and he gives me a cock and bull story. Nevertheless, he makes a new promise, "Sir, I will definitely have it ready by next Monday".

I apologise to the sullen customer and promise him delivery by next Monday. Again, we fail to deliver. This nonsense goes on for 3 more Mondays, and then we lose the order and customer, not to mention losing our reputation and a lot of money.

What did this tell me?

My production manager had intuitively pulled a commitment right out of the top of his head. And I?

I merely acted as a messenger forwarding his commitment to the customer. This was unacceptable because it reflected incompetent management, a failure of people and systems. I had acted not as a leader or even a manager.

Blaming and firing people only assuaged my frustration but changed nothing.

The commitment to deliver a product or service depends on several inputs and a series of processes managed by many individuals. Any commitment made without consulting and getting their confirmation will likely lead to failures.

So I stopped accepting commitments at face value. I asked the concerned person to explain to me the steps, who, what, where, when and how, and what was involved.

I asked what problems might come up and what safety margins, if any, had been built into the commitment.

Earlier, the commitments were being made on an ad-hoc basis, but by forcing my team to look at all the known factors involving materials, tools, the process, people, etc., involved, along with the commitments made, we achieved excellent results.

Only I could add the safety margins and make the final commitment to the customer.

We also added 'on-time delivery to customers' to our regular performance review meetings, highlighting the importance of this parameter to the leadership.

By simply focusing attention on and guiding and supporting the team, we went from an on-time delivery performance of 26% to 99.8% within a period of two years.

The commitment and manner adopted to meet our promises by focusing and planning, spilt over to all other aspects of our organisation, enriching even our personal lives. A rewarding experience.

Promptness becomes a culture. Once we gain mastery over anything, we can never go back to being ordinary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNYyn9ozqb0

Written and posted 10th May 2006 - Pune, India.

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