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Jack Case Management System — there's more (03/28/2006)

By D. Ray Smith — An interesting thing is happening with the publication of the Jack Case history series. Many people are contacting me with stories and information about their memories and experiences of Jack Case.

One such experience comes from Ed Bailey, who adds a fourth element to the Jack Case Management System.
Ed Bailey came to Oak Ridge in 1945 as a military member of the Special Engineer Detachment working at K 25. In 1948 he transferred to Y 12, bringing with him the knowledge of statistical quality control that was being introduced here. You may be familiar with Dr. Deming’s approach to statistical quality management; what Bailey brought to Y 12 was a forerunner of that philosophy.

It is interesting to note that Y 12 was practicing statistical quality control well before Deming introduced it to Japan after World War II, leading that country’s ascendancy in quality. Over the years, Y 12 has quietly continued to use statistical quality control as a primary method of maintaining the world’s highest quality machining capability.

In 1950, Bailey became the superintendent of Dimensional Inspection when Jack Case was the superintendent of Mechanical Operations. In 1960, Bailey moved to Development where he was instrumental in developing the air-bearing spindle and other machining advances that kept Y 12 in the forefront of machining. He then went with John Murray to another assignment for several years.

In 1972 Bailey returned to Oak Ridge working for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Operations in Quality Assurance with Joe Lenhard. In 1984 he returned to Y 12 as Special Assistant to Gordon Fee.
Bailey shares his perception of the Jack Case Management System.

The Oak Ridge Observer today talked about the JCMS and listed three elements observed by A. L. Conte. I believe that there is a fourth element that was so very important.

Here is the way he did it:

People involved in a specific project would meet in Jack's office to talk about knotty problems and what we were going to do about them. After good interchange of ideas and as the meeting was drawing to a close, Jack would always end the meeting with the question:

‘OK, now what do you need from me?’

Usually no one asked for anything. With that question, he took away all our excuses for failing. If you did ask for something, Jack would give you the help you needed. But if you did not, you were really motivated to solve the problems. The monkey was on your back.

So, the Jack Case Management System with Ed Bailey’s addition is:

    1. Select well-trained, hard working and objective people who are considerate and concerned about the general well being of their subordinates.
    2. Tell them what you want to accomplish.
    3. Trust them and let them do the job.
    4. When problems arise, let the team identify solutions and ask, “Now, what do you need from me?”

As I continue writing about the history of Jack Case, many people tell me how much they appreciate seeing the articles and almost everyone has a story to tell. Although I cannot always use all the stories for one reason or another, many of them will eventually turn up in this series.

One thing that is becoming clear is that anyone who interacted with Jack Case recalls him fondly and respected his ability to lead people. This is obviously refreshing to recall in today’s world, which is quite different than the times we are recalling. Yet, effective leadership still depends on the simple basic truths of relationship, skills (both technical and people) and the ability to see a vision and clearly communicate that vision to others. Jack Case did those things well.
 

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