GM VP Carl-Peter Forster: “The culture of good enough has pretty much left”

We just finished reading an interesting article from Carl-Peter Forster, GM Group's VP and President of GM Europe on the company’s official blog, concerning the quality issues of the past and the change in mentality that has occurred in the Group. As you can see for yourselves in the extraction below, Forster was surprisingly honest referring to GM’s past culture in terms of quality as being “simply OK”. Forster also dedicated a part of his article to BMW and the way that every single employee at the Bavarian company took particular pride in their work striving to be the best person in the industry at that position. -Continued

«It’s taken some time and it’s still an on-going process, but the culture of “good enough” has pretty much left GM. Quality is not just about good process; it’s a foundation of the culture of the company. When I was at BMW, no matter where you worked – even if you were the second-ranking librarian in the corporate library—you strived to be the very best person in the industry at your position. It wasn’t something you preached, or had to remind people about, it was simply how most all employees viewed themselves. I think that passion bled through to all the products it created.»

«At GM, I’ve found some of the most talented and inspiring people I’ve ever worked with, but the culture in the past always seemed to come up with a “simply OK” mindset. That’s not to say that GM hasn’t done outstanding products in the recent past, but if we’re honest, the sum total of the parts was not always compelling.»

Read the whole article here