https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2023/02/06/ford-ceo-jim-farley-automaker-advice/69878509007/
12 replies (most recent on top)
Start by trimming the leadership team. Everything else that they are doing is playing into a nightmare feedback loop scenario where upper leadership and middle management keep mismanaging the company and the results show that. Clearly.
It is clear the employee reductions last year were not sufficient enough to get Ford back on track as a mobility company. JF is just saying what needs to be said, with no fluff.
You may not like it, but we need to trim down to become competitive and produce competitive products and services.
Who cares what that looser is doing
Ding ding ding! And those left at Ford that even try to discuss change are ignored completely or asked to justify the change constantly. It’s like the executive team is crying out publicly for us to bring ideas and implement, but for some reason either they’re telling their middle management to act this way towards the front end, or (likely) middle management is so scared right now of the shifting landscape they are trying to cling to whatever process, people, etc. justify their existence. This company, despite the very public overtures from the exec team to the front lines to bring ideas forward, will continue to circle the drain until they can clean house in middle management and have the tough, radical candor talks throughout the company. Many, many people are fed up and leaving over the stupid behavior of middle management, the politicking, etc., or are so beat down they are waiting to hopefully move around or get that lovely severance.
Anyone else notice the common thread through all of Farley's comments are the workers are to blame? And specifically the frontline workers...all the way down to the factory floor. That is a miserable example of leadership. No company turnaround ever started by blaming the people who do the work...the frontline workers are just executing what you have directed them to do! This company has a lot of smart people, and I guarantee there are plenty of employees who know what the problems are with quality as well as how to fix them. The problem is they're not being listened to.
@pxi+1l4HEcpM yeah i was puzzled by that as well. it seems like it was "all MBA, all the time" for the last many years. tech people were like 2nd or 3rd class citizens, nomatter GSR or LL. if you didnt manage a large budget, you were a nobody.
This guy now appears to be more and more like a spy from Toyota.
@xyh+1l4HEcpM right you are. Work gets done in spite of management and only because a few good GSR stick their necks out and do things against their managers wishes. Things like help other teams and do the right thing for Ford. Where managers wishes are to sabotage other teams so they look better in comparison.
Everything he said is complete gibberish, and I still don't understand even the outline of a plan to fix the myriad issues facing the company. He doesn't understand the relative quality vs competitors?? There are only about a billion metrics that measure that. He is as bad as Hackett.
The problem at Ford is the management. We got more done in cross dept meetings in IT when management didn't attend.
GM has basically the same talent pool and they are successful. The difference is clearly the management of resources and high-level planning. He seeks to blame others for management team errors.
He is full of it - his words contradict his repeated actions.
He repeatedly cans the technical experts in favor of saving generalists and slackers and he wants you to believe him when he says “ And the culture is really about deeper technical experts instead of generalists” and “ It will be based on meritocracy, on the kind of behaviors we think are important like collaboration, excellence and problem solving”
What a crock