Re: Which world are we in?*

[Myron Tribus <mtribus@home.com>]

David Kerrige raised two questions.  I should like to comment
on one of them:
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>This is really concerned with two problems that I wanted
>to discuss, but then I realised how closely they are linked.
>
>The first is survival in a non-Deming world.
>
>Most of us belong to organisations which do not follow
>Deming's principles, and do not understand them. So
>how, and how much, does understanding the Deming
>Philosophy help us to survive? It must help in some ways.
>We can see meaning in things that are baffling to others.
>But can we find any general principles to help us survive
>in the jungle?
>================  end extract ===============
I see two issues here. One is personal survival and the
other is organizational survival. I can address the first
issue by telling a little story.
A dowager was telling her friend about taking a first aid
course.  Her friend asked, "Did it ever do any good?"
"Why yes",  the dowager replied. "Just the other day I
was walking and came to an intersection where there was
a horrible accident.  The driver of one car was hanging
out the car, with blood running everywhere."
"What did you do?", asked the friend.
"Well, I did what they taught me in first aid class.  I
went over and sat down on the curb, put my  head between
my knees and I didn't faint!"
So, regarding the first issue, if you understand what to
expect, you should be able to avoid excessive emotional
entanglement.  Easier said than done, I know.  Been there,
done that. For your own sake you need to become more
analytical about what you see.  Try to predict what will
happen.
With respect to the survival of the enterprise, I have
prepared a paper, "The CEO Doesn't Understand Quality. What
do I do to Save My Company?", posted on the DEN site.  See
http://deming.ces.clemson.edu/pub/den/deming_tribus.htm

Myron Tribus,  350 Britto Terrace,  Fremont, CA 94539
Ph:510 651 3641  Fax: 510 656 9875   e-mail: mtribus@home.com
There is no such thing as an immaculate perception.  What you see 
depends upon what you thought before you looked.
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