A few years ago when I was heading up the development and commercialization of a clean sheet strategic platform at Xerox, I brought in the renowned quality guru Genichi Taguchi to teach the engineering team the use of Taguchi methods for improving the quality and reliability of their designs.
Taguchi methods are used to make designs robust by increasing the desired response while minimizing the unwanted responses in the presence of external influences. During the discussion with the engineers, Dr. Taguchi made the insightful comment “You are the god of your part”. By this he meant that engineers create new parts or products and are therefore responsible for their efficient and proper design. This comment made a lasting impression on not only the engineers, but also the management team. It meant that they too were the gods of their part of the product, whether it was a module, subsystem, process, or service. It meant that they were responsible for not only cost, safety, and reliability, but also for minimizing its impact on the environment. They responded with an award winning, and highly successful, zero-to-landfill design.
As the gods of our parts, process or product, we as creators are responsible for the efficient use of natural resources and protecting the ecosystems and services that nature provides to us. If our part, product, or process contains toxic chemicals, if its destiny is to end up polluting the environment and destroying ecosystems, then that is a cost to future generations whose responsibility we bear.
Let us help your “gods” learn the tools they will need to meet this expanded set of customer requirements, realize greater financial returns, and at the same time minimize the impact on nature.
