This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
By Master Chief Duane R. Bushey, U.S. Navy
The Navy asks a lot from its senior enlisted leadership.
We like it that way. The more challenging the task, the more we produce. That’s the Navy way and that’s what we instill in our juniors. It’s a self-perpetuating philosophy.
Now the Navy is asking us to adopt a new philosophy of leadership called “Total Quality Leadership,” or TQL. Why the change? What was wrong with the old way?
Nothing that a little tweaking can’t fix. A few examples: During an inspection, the inspection team discovers unsafe or cumbersome procedures. The sailors working with the equipment admit that they were aware of the problems and knew a better way that they had used on other
ships. But they didn’t pass their recommendations on because, “On this ship, we just do as we’re told. It has worked this way for years and there is no need to change.”
During an accident investigation, a witness says, “Many of us knew this was going to happen one day, but we were all scared to bring it up the chain of command,” or, “I didn’t want to be the one to be labeled as the non-team player or disloyal shipmate.”
Still another example, while less serious but equally frustrating, is the redundancy in the forms we fill out for various requests or functions. When you ask the clerks why the lengthy forms are necessary, they shrug and say, “I don’t know, Master
Chief, it doesn’t make sense to me.”
Very simply, TQL puts “sense” into the system. In all of these examples, it would make more sense for someone to take action to correct the root problem. We certainly have the desire and energy to make the changes, but our ideas can’t grow if they aren’t planted.
Many of us in the Navy have no difficulty identifying a fault and little hesitation affixing the blame, but do nothing to fix the problem. Why not? Part of the answer may be fear, or the inability of the system to receive and implement changes, or a chain of command unwilling or unable to accept feedback.
Total Quality Leadership eliminates the fear; creates a fluid,
leadership encourages the whole team to contribute to problem solving, rather than relying on the charisma of the commanding officer or the leading chief petty officer to get people to do what they’re told. And it stresses process improvement throughout the organization. The entire Navy must adhere to TQL principles before their full benefit can be realized. No matter how effectively individual officers, chief petty officers, and sailors may lead, their success will be limited if the system is allowed to stymie efforts for long-lasting improvement. You can’t do it by yourself.
TQL and the Chain of Command
Some express concern that TQL might weaken the chain of command or compromise the prerogatives of command in a combat environment. This simply is not the case. TQL is not a variation on the old “participative management” theme. It is not a feel-good approach to leadership. It is a programmatic effort to involve all levels of the command in problem solving, process improvement, and mission accomplishment.
The Third Class Boiler Technician who works on 1A Main Feed Pump may have a better handle on why the pump malfunctions. Nonetheless, he or she will rely on those higher up the chain to: gain support for the process changes needed to fix the problem; prioritize the fix among the ship’s other concerns; remove barriers at higher levels in the system; and provide resource and training support.
In combat, the commanding officer alone will decide when to fire. But improved processes of target identification, communications in the ship and within the battle group, equipment testing and maintenance, and crew training will give commanding officers an even greater degree of confidence in those decisions.
Another benefit of Total Quality Leadership is enhanced quality of life. Streamlined administrative and accounting procedures can free up resources for real- property improvements to our housing units, day-care centers, medical facilities, and work spaces. Fewer bureaucratic requirements will mean more time for our leaders to handle our people’s special needs, and will reduce frustration among both the people trying to deliver services and those trying to use them.
TQL is a fundamental change in much of the way we do business. It cannot be absorbed by osmosis. It will require formal training for every member of the Navy team. Courses in TQL are being developed for all levels of the organization. Its principles will be introduced at officer and enlisted accession points over the next year and a half. The fleet commanders will employ specially trained teams of officers and enlisted personnel to develop TQL implementation procedures by late spring, and mobile training teams will work with selected commands, beginning this summer.
interactive system that adapts easily to change; and produces a flexible chain of command that values input from all links.
Those in leadership positions can put the focus on quality by doing—and encouraging their people to do—the right thing; by asking the right questions and listening patiently; and by giving the right information in a nonargumentative manner.
Good leaders already are doing many of those things.
TQL is not a reinvention of the wheel, but a new and better road design. It is more of an environmental adjustment than a system revamp. In the enhanced TQL environment, good leaders will become better leaders, weak leaders will become stronger, and future leaders will blossom quickly.
TQL is not just another theory with a short running time. It could be the best thing that has happened to enlisted leadership since flogging was outlawed. It creates exactly the kind of working environment that we dreamed about when we were junior petty officers. We knew our ideas had merit, but no one would listen. They still weren’t listening when we made second class; and when we made it to first class, we were too busy fighting fires to think of ways to prevent them.
TQL takes the class system out of quality accountability. Everyone has an equal opportunity and responsibility to ensure that the ship is clean and safe, that the squadron is deployable worldwide, and that the Navy is at maximum personnel readiness. Problem solving is no longer reserved for the chiefs mess or the wardroom.
TQL has the potential to be the reward the enlisted sailor has earned through years of hard work, sweat, and sacrifice. It is the icing on the cake we call “quality of life.” It is the final step in the dramatic leadership evolution that has taken place over the last 25 years. Through it, our senior enlisted can continue to solve problems on the deck plate, avert disasters on the flight deck, and make life more pleasant on the home front. Practicing it, the chain of command can create the kind of Navy that not only meets, but exceeds expectations in an allvolunteer force.
TQL will move us from the past and present tenses into the future tense, from the reactive to the proactive mode, and into an age where the enlightened leadership we already have can flourish and grow stronger. Our ability to accept change will determine our course.
Chiefs, it is our job to manage change. If we fail, then it is we who must be changed.
Master Chief Avionics Technician (AVCM) (Air Warfare) Bushey is the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy.
In the first years of implementation, TQL will increase—not decrease—our work load. Besides the time needed for formal training, we will have to devote energy and effort to defining our goals, learning how our processes work, removing barriers that inhibit change to those processes, developing alternative models for identifying and solving problems, and gathering statistical data to help us pinpoint areas of emphasis.
In the long run, however, TQL has the potential to decrease significantly our reliance on inspections, our accident rates, and the resources we expend in repetitive, but unproductive, approaches to problem solving. As we increase our emphasis on quality, our advancement and promotion systems will reflect the change by rewarding those leaders who build teams and improve their organizations.
A Top-Down Approach
Because successful institutions like the Navy are inherently cautious in embracing new ways of doing business, successful implementation of TQL across the board will require the commitment and energy of our top leaders for generations. We will not get there tomorrow, or even in the next few years. Recognizing that real change in the fleet hinges on real change in the larger system, I have formed and chair an executive steering committee to formulate our goals for the future in this area.
This committee is composed of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the fleet commanders-in-chief, and the systems commanders. It brings together the policymakers, the operators, and those responsible for fleet support; it also enables those closest to the process to participate in deciding what needs to be done. The members are working closely with the Under Secretary of the Navy and his steering group, which has been developing TQL implementation plans for the shore establishment. Both the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, and the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, have formed similar committees that include the type commanders. As we progress on the operational side, these existing groups will provide natural links to fleet and shore support units so we can pull together to implement common goals.
The TQL program is a proven approach to leadership and management that will be increasingly essential as a force multiplier. We will use it to make a great organization even better. I am convinced that TQL is the way of the future. I invite you to join me in shaping that future.
Admiral Kelso is the Chief of Naval Operations and President of the U.S. Naval Institute. His speech “The Navy: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow,” part of the Naval Academy’s Forrestal Lecture series, was published in the February 1991 Naval Institute Proceedings.