Rick Wagoner: Scapegoating or a Sign of Cultural Change?

I wasn't surprised to read that Rick Wagoner had been canned as part of the deal to get more bailout money from Washington.  Scapegoating is a useful temporary measure for pleasing external critics.  But it is often a symbolic act that is done in lieu of any substantive changes.  As I have written before, and in detail, I believe that a core problem with GM is their broken culture -- see the first post (which has more hits than anything I ever posted) and the follow-ups here and here, plus the comments are very telling.

I wonder, have people at GM changed their behavior in meetings -- are the new top dogs still doing all the talking?  Are they doing anything to actually get in touch with the experience of owning a GM car? Or are they still acting like all that really matters is the GM pecking order, regardless of the quality of the ideas, the cars, and the experience of owning a GM car?   That's the real question.  Clearly, under Wagoner's leadership, there was an inability (certainly on his part) to grasp and implement the need for a cultural change and GM still has too many product lines and far too many choices of options (this both complicates the manufacturing and supply chain, and screws-up the selling and buying experience -- making it longer and so that people are less satisfied because they have too many choices, see The Paradox of Choice).  It seems they are finally trying to do something about it (Anyone want to buy the Hummer brand? GM might give it to you for free!)

I am rooting for the automobile industry, especially for all those people who so desperately need jobs.  But as the old saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, while hoping that something different happens.  This isn't a bad description of how GM has been ran for years.  Time well tell if this change is just window dressing.  Of course, a rebound in the economy will help them -- but it also will mask the core problems they have if they somehow manage to survive.

Comments

[Bill Bennett]

There is a ritual element to this but...

My guess is there are a handful of Wagoner clones waiting in line to inherit his mantle. The chances are, one of them will get the nod.

ALL of them, will now be aware the rules of the game have changed and will therefore need to alter their game considerably.

By making an example of Wagoner, a powerful message has been sent to the others. The smart ones will get it.

Let's hope the replacement is one of the smart ones.

[dblwyo]

Thanks for posting and re-linking. Working 12hr days on an engagement had missed the earlier one and the comments are real gold mines. Bumped into GM/Detroit several times in my professional life. A good friend (an ex-GM sr. corp. exec.) tells me about being there several years ago and them knowing what they had to do but being trapped by healthcare and other commitments and not being willing to break outside the box. Well the box has been broken for them and, as Drucker puts it (paraphrasing) "change the culture or change the culture". This is a sad day but not unexpected and it's been clearly visible for three decades (cf. Halberstam's, "The Reckoning", or Walton's "Car:a Drama of the American Workplace or DeLorean's classic on GM). It's been BROKE and known to be broke for a lon....g time.

[Wally Bock]

What will affect whether there is cultural change or not is who replaced Wagoner. The GM culture is strong and Alan Mulallys are rare. And Mulally had as good situation as you can get. He'd been through serious change at Boeing, another manufacturer and he arrived with the blessing of Bill Ford. Whoever comes after Wagoner will have neither of those advantages.

[Elliot Ross]

I also support the auto industry - but I have thought he needed to go for years.

Alan Mulally at Ford broke up that 'ole boy network' - it needed it too.

Wagoner did not - when Bob Lutz started - he had to jump personally down to very low levels to stop 'bureaucrats' from killing his mandate.

GM needs to be swept clean

[Andrew Pass]

Living in Detroit, I can only write that this is a rather chilly day. While getting rid of Wagoner was likely scape-goating we need some real cultural change.

[Rodney Johnson]

Wagoner's demise did not come without warning, although it seems as if he were surprised. Why is that I ask? One of the biggest potential silent problems inside any organization is its "processes and procedures." And when you're the size of GM, have an elitist culture and can't seem to identify what is really important, You Have a Problem. And its the culture and process and procedure problem that is holding back thousands of really talented designers, engineers, operations personnel... There is no doubt that GM has the talent to make it happen, if the right individuals were allowed to do so. Trying find them and then giving them the keys to make it happen, is the real challenge at hand here.