"I don't give a damn if we get a little bureaucracy as long as we get the results. If it bothers you, yell at it. Kick it. Scream at it. Break it!"
All of the above quote was from when Welch's managers told him of their concerns about the effects that Six Sigma was having on the business.
Welch understood what he was after, and that was results. Execution. He didn't care if some of those results resulted in some bureacracy.
I don't think for a minute that Welch was promoting more bureaucracy, he was always doing things to flatten the organization. What he was telling his managers was that in the end, it's not about getting rid of bureaucracy for the sake of getting rid of bureaucracy. You get rid of it when it hinders the results of a company; which can be most of the time.
The point is that you can't try something without some unknown results coming along with it. Rather than focus on the bureaucracy aspects of it, he was saying to first look at the results. Once they are where they should be, then look at the bureaucracy that emerged and battle against it.
He was dealing with that perfectionism mindset that tried to do everything perfectly. It just can't be done. With Six Sigma, he was convinced of its power. It was up to the managers to look at the results, and from there attack and get rid of whatever bureaucracy that came along with it, without losing the results as well.
The plan had to be implemented and worked out before it could be adjusted and adapted to. Trying to solve every problem at once isn't possible. Welch was telling them to maintain the results while learning how to do it while eliminating the bureaucracy that came with it.
It was another way of saying that Six Sigma was there to stay, you figure out how to streamline it to your satisfaction. He wasn't going to let the results be dropped because of the disatisfaction of the managers. He threw it back into their laps. A smart move.
Other Jack Welch Resources:
How Jack Welch Runs GE
Jack Welch Defends
Jack Welch's advice to MIT Sloan students
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