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Building a Minivan
We had a push to reduce the overall number of systems defects. Some call these defects “bugs.”
The official goal was “zero,” but since the only way to achieve “zero” is through a combination of “no testing” and “creative ignorance” (the equivalent of a Mulligan), this was unattainable. The real goal was an artificial, psychological milestone.
To entice the staff, a bounty of $1 per bug found and fixed was alloted to a pool that would fund a company dinner. This was seen as a democratic alternative to creating an underground, black market economy where someone could defect themselves a new kitchen remodel. (See cartoon below) If, by the end of the month, $6 was accumulated, everyone in the company would share a Happy Meal. For $40, sandwiches. For $60, we get real cheese. At $80: condiments. And so on.
With concerted effort, the milestone was reached on the second-to-last day.
During the meal, a manager supplemented the festivities with a speech, then doled out certificates and small, bug-themed rewards. Several people received fly swatters, some were awarded a bag of 1,500 live lady bugs. As the bag with its squirming contents was passed across the room, the folks in the middle had an hilarious “please don’t spill the bag of 1,500 live lady bugs on my lunch” reaction. The same manager awarding these counseled us not to open the bags in his the office.
Darn.
The awards could have been worse:
- A hive of yellowjackets installed in the cubicle of the person deemed most likely to introduce defects. This “award” is intended to discourage them from doing harm that someone else would need to undo and redo. Every time they touch the tools, they get stung. (Yes, I have a problem with this.)
- A sack of pill bugs for tirelessly cleaning up after other people dropping.
- Three mounds of fire ants to the pair who tried to fix someone else’s mistake, but stepped into an even larger problem, and it’s cross-organizational.
- A pair of hissing beetles to the person with the worst communication skills.
Other ideas?
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