By practicing inquiry and observation, company managers learned that they needed to reexamine product quality.Ī bold new way of thinking has taken the medical establishment by storm in the past decade: the idea that decisions in medical care should be based on the latest and best knowledge of what actually works. When managers posed as customers at retailers who carried their computers, store salespeople dissuaded them from purchasing their company’s product-citing the computer’s excessive price, weak features, and clunky appearance. Then senior managers were encouraged to further investigate the problem. Example:Īt one computer manufacturer beleaguered by poor sales, top managers initially blamed the firm’s corporate sales staff-initially dismissing their claims that weak revenues were a result of poor product quality. And provide resources for the continuing professional education of managers. Encourage use of inquiry and observation to gather evidence about causes and potential cures for business problems. When managers constantly expand their knowledge, they acquire increasingly more reliable evidence with which to make decisions. The $60 offer generated more gambling revenue than the $125 offer did-demonstrating that Harrah’s didn’t have to spend nearly as much as it believed was needed to boost revenues. It offered customers in an experimental group just $60 worth of free chips. Gaming giant Harrah’s offered one control group of customers the company’s typical promotional package worth $125 (a free room, two steak dinners, and $30 worth of free gambling chips). Invite managers to conduct small experiments to test the viability of proposed strategies. You ask him: 1) Does the benchmarked company’s success clearly stem from the practice you want us to emulate? 2) Are our strategy, business model, and workforce similar enough to the benchmarked firm to enable us to learn from that company? 3) Precisely how did this practice make a difference? 4) What are the downsides to implementing this practice, and how might we mitigate them?Įncourage experimentation. Example:Ī manager who has benchmarked top-performing companies’ best practices recommends adopting a particular practice. Parse the logic behind evidence presented to you, looking for faulty cause-and-effect reasoning. Formerly teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, DaVita now lays claim to the best patient care quality in the industry.Įxamine logic. Reports and meetings begin with data on patient health as well as operational efficiency-as measured by metrics such as treatments per day and employee retention. Example:Īt DaVita, an operator of kidney dialysis centers, facility administrators use disciplined measures to evaluate patient care quality and operational efficiency-and to make confident claims about DaVita’s performance. Whenever someone makes a seemingly compelling claim, ask for supporting data. To start an evidenced-based management movement in your firm:ĭemand evidence. And you make smart decisions on the most pressing issues facing your company. You expose the dangerous half-truths that mar much conventional business wisdom. Your reward? You and your colleagues face the hard truths about what works and what doesn’t. And insist that managers stay current in their field-and provide continuing professional education opportunities to help them do. Encourage managers to experiment with new ideas-rewarding those who learn from these efforts, even if an experiment itself fails. Clarify the logic behind that evidence-looking for faulty reasoning. To avoid this scenario, start an evidenced-based management movement in your company: Every time someone proposes a change, ask for evidence of its efficacy. Result? Poor-quality decisions that waste time and money (at best) and risk your company’s future (at worst). Some of us fall victim to hype about “miracle” management cures, or we adopt other companies’ “best practices” without asking whether they’ll work just as well for our organizations. The bad? Many of us ignore it-relying instead on outdated information or our own experiences to arrive at decisions. The good news? Evidence abounds to help us make the right choices. Managers have tough jobs: Under intense pressure to make decisions with incomplete information, even the best among us make mistakes.
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