A Decision is a Commitment of Resource
Like many, I have been reading about the recent VW diesel engine emissions cheating scandal occupying
much of the automotive news space of late. I am trying to gain an understanding of the facts of the case and
more interesting to me personally, the true causation of the problem. Apparently emissions and software
engineers created programs capable of discerning if a vehicle was being emissions tested or not, and if so, run very clean and comply with the standards for emissions output, and if not being tested, maximize engine performance, regardless as to the tailpipe emissions created. Obviously these same engineers had not been able to create a code that would do both concurrently, so they opted to switch from one mode of operation to the other, unbeknownst to the regulatory agencies of concern. Personally I find it very perplexing and I have a difficult time envisioning well intending engineers taking such liberties with the laws and regulations regarding vehicle emission compliance. With the engineers that I have had the pleasure of serving with in the course of my career it would seem inconceivable that any of them would purposely devise a scheme to cheat the
requirements of the law in such a fashion.
One plausible scenario came to my attention in the automotive news circuit recently that could shed a little light
on the root cause of this crisis. According to this article, in an interview with Bob Lutz, he speculates that the
blame might well be placed squarely on the shoulders of the senior leader of the company, ex-Chairman
Ferdinand Peich. Now to be clear and to be fair, I do not know if the story told by Bob Lutz is true or accurate.
I do know Bob and know him to be chock full of interesting stories and antidotes. I do not know Ferdinand
Piech and I do not know if this interview with Bob Lutz is a true reflection of him or his leadership style. I do
want to share the story with you however as I believe that it at least serves as a good reminder of the
importance and far reaching impact of leadership, and the leadership truth that one cannot “expect something
from nothing”. Said another way, “Some things cannot just be commanded to be so.” The article is copied
below:
Lutz places blame for VW scandal squarely on Piech
Bob Lutz figures he knows what's behind the diesel test-rigging scandal at Volkswagen. He says it's the
cutthroat culture at VW created by ex-Chairman Ferdinand Piech.
In Lutz's column in Road & Track last week, the former General Motors product czar wrote that Piech "is more
than likely the root cause."
"Whether he specifically asked for, tacitly approved, or was even aware of the company's use of software to
deliberately fudge EPA emissions testing is immaterial."
Lutz made similar comments about Piech during a live interview last week on CNBC.
Lutz and Piech go way back -- as competitors. They went head-to-head in Europe while Lutz was at Opel,
BMW and Ford of Europe in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. When Lutz was a top exec at Chrysler in the 1990s,
he sat next to Piech at an industry dinner. The fourth-generation Golf had just debuted.
"I told him, 'I'd like to congratulate you on the new Golf. First of all, it's a nice-looking car, but God, those body
fits!'"
"Ah, you like those?"
"Yeah. I wish we could get close to that at Chrysler."
"I'll give you the recipe. I called all the body engineers, stamping people, manufacturing, and executives into my
conference room. And I said, 'I am tired of all these lousy body fits. You have six weeks to achieve world-class
body fits. I have all your names. If we do not have good body fits in six weeks, I will replace all of you. Thank
you for your time today.'"
"That's how you did it?"
"Yes. And it worked."
Lutz writes: "That's the way he ran everything. It's what I call a reign of terror and a culture where performance
was driven by fear and intimidation. He just says, 'You will sell diesels in the U.S., and you will not fail. Do it, or
I'll find somebody who will.' The guy was absolutely brutal."
Lutz reckoned that VW engineers at one point said to Piech, "We don't know how to pass the emissions test
with the hardware we have," and were told "You will pass! I demand it!"
"In these situations, your choice was immediate dismissal or find a way to pass the test and pay the
consequences later," Lutz wrote. "Human nature being what it is -- if it's lose your job today for sure or lose
your job maybe a year from now, we always pick maybe a year from now."
IF this scenario is true, it would serve as a great example to illustrate another underlying leadership fact
that every decision is a commitment of resource. When you make a decision, you are in essence
committing the energy, time, money, manpower etc. necessary to achieve the objectives spelled out in
that decision. The sometimes overlooked truth is however, that you cannot commit the same resources
to different missions concurrently, nor can you simply insist on something to be achieved with less
resource than is actually required to accomplish it.
This truth is spelled out in some detail in chapter 5 in my book, “The Energy to Lead” (page 56). Much
like the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can
also be summed up as, “you can’t get something from nothing”. The parallel leadership law is that
leaders cannot rightly expect their teams to accomplish something (carry out a decision) without the
resources necessary to perform that work. Worse yet, some leaders actually “command something to
be” yet, purposefully do not allocate the appropriate resources to carry out their commands. They see
this as “Bold Leadership”. The First Law says that not only is this not bold leadership, left unabated for
long it becomes pure foolishness. If these engineers were directed to accomplish a task without the
necessary resource to get it done, would it be any wonder that they found a way to cheat the system
and deliver results with the resources that they did have?
This style of leadership does not serve those we lead, it eventually hurts and frustrates them. Our
decisions are intended to lead the team to success. Our decisions are a commitment of resources. If
you do one without the other, for whatever noble purposes, you will fail. It will lead to the failure of the
decision, the failure of the leadership, and worst of all, the failure of the men and women who are
dedicated to accomplishing the goals set before them. As highlighted in the chapter mentioned, “If you
cannot, or will not, commit the resources necessary to complete the tasks you have assigned both your
decision and your leadership style is illegitimate”.
The full story as to the origin of the VW problem is not yet fully told and perhaps all of the intricacies
may never be fully divulged. Either way, as leaders let us use this scenario as a vivid reminder that the
way we lead has far reaching and long lasting implications. Let us continue to dedicate ourselves to be
the best leaders we can be as we serve those who look to us for the vision, the inspiration and the
resources to accomplish the mission set before us.
