Criticism

[Miller Charles L SSSD <MillerCL@supship.navy.mil>]

  Criticism to Crisis:
  Page 15 of, "Out of the Crisis," second paragraph under, "Measures of
productivity do not lead to improvement in productivity."
  "It is unfortunately to be feared that quality assurance means in many
places a deluge of figures that tell how many defective items of this type
and that type were produced last month, with comparisons month to month and
year to year.  Figures like this tell the management how things have been
going, but they do not point the way to improvement."

  Is this Criticism?

  Page 19 of, "Out of the Crisis," third paragraph under, "Theory of
management now exists.
    Management that faces seriously the following questions will perceive
the need of an overall integrated plan.
		1. Where do you hope to be five years from now?
		2. How may you reach this goal?  By what methods?
  What is needed is sustained involvement and participation (William A.
Golomiski again).
  Hopes without a method to achieve them will remain mere hopes (Lloyd S.
Nelson, next section).  The 14 points of this chapter, and removal of the
deadly diseases and obstacles explained in the next chapter, furnish a
method."

   Guidance from questions and pronouncements of Lloyd S. Nelson.  (Dr.
Nelson is a Director of Statistical Methods for Nashua Corporation.)
	1.  The central problem of management in all its aspects, including
planning, procurement, manufacturing, research, sales, personnel,
accounting, and law, is to understand better the meaning of variation, and
to extract the information contained in variation.
	2.  If you can improve productivity, or sales, or quality, or
anything else, by (e.g.) 5 per cent next year without a rational plan for
improvement, then why were you not doing it last year?
	3.  The most important figures needed for management of any
organization are unknown and unknowable (see Ch.3).
	4.  In the state of statistical control, action initiated on
appearance of a defect will be ineffective and will cause more trouble.
What is needed is improvement of the process, by reduction of variation, or
by change of level, or both.  Study of the sources of product, upstream,
gives powerful leverage on improvement (p.355).
  The reader of this book will find on nearly every page application of Dr.
Nelson's pronouncements."

	I have a theory: If I want to improve, I need input from others.
That being a given,  I need to have an operational definition of morality
and one of cooperation.  My attitude about myself is very important.  My
attitude towards others is very important.  Dr. Deming's 14 points
(obligations of management) provides the best environment for me to improve,
because I will focus on education and method (process) improvement, better
known as continual improvement.

  Respectfully,
  Charlie
  millercl@supship.navy.mil