Car Guys vs. Bean Counters - Bob Lutz [56]
One VLE came to see me in “one-on-one” time and brought his scorecard. He made sure I understood that he had met or beaten every single target; it was solid green, with no yellows or reds. He deserved, in his opinion, a big juicy chunk of that special VLE compensation fund. “How’s it selling?” I asked. “Well, really not that well; the press on it was lousy, and the public is unenthused. But, I can’t be held accountable for that. I was handed my numerical goals, which were signed off by everybody, and if I make them all, that’s success!”
Once again, the tyranny of process over results! I was speechless and realized that I had to teach the VLEs that they would be held accountable for the success of the vehicle, and I didn’t give a damn if they had some “yellows” and “reds” sprinkled around their report cards.
It went down hard. A few weeks later, I met with one VLE, Dave, to review his clay mock-up in Design. It was nicely shaped but, without any ornamentation, it looked depressingly cheap. “It needs some chrome, Dave, especially around the DLO.” (DLO means daylight openings, or side glass. Expensive cars almost always have the DLO framed in chrome.) Dave said, “I know it needs it, and I’d love to put it on, but I can’t afford the cost or I’ll miss my objective.”
Me: Does the car need it?
Dave: Yes, it does, but—
Me: Would it do better in the market with the chrome?
Dave: Yeah, sure, but who’s going to protect me at report card time? I’ll have a red on cost!
Me: Dave, you’ll get a gigantic red on the whole goddamn program if it doesn’t sell in high numbers. And if it does well, you’re a certified hero, and nobody is going to question a minor cost overrun.
Dave: I sure hope you know what you’re doing, Bobby!
The car was the current Impala, a relatively low investment re-skin of the truly homely predecessor. Although not an exciting car, the Impala, with its tasteful shape and well-applied ornamentation, has been one of America’s secret best sellers since 2004, regularly turning in volumes of between 250,000 and 300,000 per year. It is a frequent winner of the title “America’s best car for corporate fleets,” where it’s a roomy, fuel-efficient, and attractive mainstay. It has delivered extraordinary profitability for a moderately priced full-size sedan. Nobody ever talked about the chrome-induced cost overrun. And Dave retired a few years ago as a respected and successful VLE.
But the VLEs were not the sole defenders of mediocrity. Manufacturing, Engineering, and Purchasing also played their roles. Again, all of them strove earnestly to meet predetermined and process-driven goals; nobody was goofing off or dropping the ball. Everyone worked hard to feed the internal demands of GM, fulfillment of which would lead to praise and compensation.
Take GM’s exterior body paint, which I had criticized from the outset as dull, almost grainy. None of our cars in 2001 had paint that exuded vibrancy or stood out in a parking lot. My complaints drew a sharp reply from Manufacturing: “You’re totally wrong. We have the best paint in the entire industry. In J. D. Power, we have the lowest number of paint defects per car of any company, Toyota included!” Once again, the usual confusion: a restaurant that advertises “the lowest incidence of food poisoning of any restaurant in the state” does not necessarily serve the best food. (In fact, it almost certainly doesn’t.) And “absence of complaints” does not equal excellence.
Throughout my career, I have always been surprised