As you probably know, ever since GM was founded, its execs have either been driven by a chauffeur or provided with carefully prepared and maintained examples of the company’s most expensive vehicles. Of course, there are times when the suits must sign off on the company’s more prosaic products. Since 1953, this intersection between high flyer and mass market occurred at GM’s Mesa, Arizona, Desert Proving Grounds (DPG). The execs would fly into Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport, limo out to the DPG and drive the company’s latest models.
Our agent says that all the vehicles the execs drove were “ringers.” More specifically, the engineers would tweak the test vehicles to remove any hint of imperfection. “They use a rolling radius machine to choose the best tires, fix the headliner, tighten panel and interior gaps, remove shakes and rattles, repair bodywork—everything and anything.”
Did the execs know this? “Nope. And nobody was going to tell them… As far as they knew, the cars were exactly as they would be coming off the line. That’s why Bob Lutz thinks GM’s products are world-class. The ones he’s driven are.”
I asked Agent X if the GM execs would ever drive the cars again. Did he know if Wagoner or Lutz dropped in at a dealership to test drive a random sample off the lot? He found the idea amusing.
Color me completely unshocked.
[Via Kaus, the go-to guy for this kind of stuff]
If this is an accurate description, it reveals a fundamental failure of leadership — one MUST find ways to get “below the camoflage nets” that your subordinate management create.
Making random, unannounced visits to GM dealerships, preferably anonymously (if possible), to test drive vehicles is EXACTLY one way to do that.
Walking the floor at a GM plant and talking to union assembly workers during their lunch is another.
Ditto for GM parts suppliers.
One doesn’t even have to know anything technical, if one can read body language and such.
PS: It is all George W. Bush’s fault.
My brother-in-law worked at GM in Quality Assurance (his area was upholstery) from the late 60’s through the early 80’s, which is probably what led to his heart condition. The stories he’s told about his attempts to make things work right are what soured me on ever becoming a manager, anywhere. I’ve seen examples of everything he saw, at the various companies I’ve worked at since I graduated college in ’84. Since GM at one point had 14 levels of management, it’s not surprising they got away with fooling upper management like this.
This is a disgrace.
This is why the CEO of Zappos takes employees from all levels of the company out drinking semi-regularly. They become friendly and the alcohol lowers their restraint.
Another reason you let bad companies go bankrupt. You think GM is going to find all the bugs? They need to start from zero.
I believe this technique for fooling the boss was old back when Gregori Potemkin built all those villages along the Volga. It works best when the bosses are ignoramuses who want to be fooled.