You read a lot in these pages about transformation of thinking. After this transformation takes place you begin to notice everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, instances where this type of thinking has been applied or at least needs to be applied. This past week was Martin Luther King day so my wife and I enjoyed, for once, a no rush, relaxing day.
The first half follows.
Arise 5:30 am.
Dress for exercise and arrive YMCA at 5:55 am.
She enters aerobics class, I treadmill 1.3 miles, light weight-lifting, and leg machines.
Quick trip to 24 hour Wal-Mart and arrive home 7:25 am.
Have coffee and light breakfast.
Shower, dress, and leave home in time to make 9:30 am showing of “We Bought a Zoo.” Exit theater and drive Carolyn to meet her two girlfriends for lunch.
Trust me that the remainder of the day was just as unhurried and relaxing. Since we arrived 10 minutes early for the film I went to the mens room where I snapped these photos. Here is where the real story begins.
My readers will know that they are looking at some examples of things that have changed for the better. I can’t really say if the switch to double roll tissue holders was the result of a PDSA Cycle or the brainchild of a really lazy janitor, but I feel certain that there has been on not a few occasions, a sigh of relief that there has been product available to “do the paper work”. What really caught my attention was the clothes hook, I have shown you two photos. This hook was for many years located within 2 inches of the top of the door. I guess it helped to keep really long pants from hitting the floor. Who knows. So we think the primary use of this hook was for changing in the stall, an almost impossible task. So convenient was this hook that travelers in airports started hanging their brief cases, back packs, and computer bags on them while using the facilities. Then we started hearing about the loss of these same items when thieves waited for you to enter the stall then simply reached over the door and took what was hanging there, and made a clean get-a-way while you were still trying to “do the paper work”. This was all just too easy. You never saw anything but an arm, it was over in an instant, and the chance of recovery was next to zero. So what happened? I would like to believe there was, in the maintenance department of some airport, a thinker, a systems thinker, a follower of Deming’s Philosophy. Look at that last photo. That hook is a full 14” down from the top of the door. It is NOT possible to reach it from the other side by reaching over the top. I tried it. Now while no one may notice this change or if they do, may not know the reason behind it, I would like to think it is the new standard. It represents an improvement to the system, an improvement that I believe has allowed hundreds more laptops, back packs and brief cases to reach their intended destinations. And at what cost? None. In this case the thieves were simply taking advantage of a weakness in the airport bathroom system in the same way they take advantage of a weakness in the banking, medical, and insurance systems. Is there any reason, any reason at all, that we can’t make improvements to those systems that will stop those thieves as well?
Deming Philosophy not the same as efficiency
My examples may strike some as nothing more than efficiency. We have to make a distinction. The double roll tissue holder might be efficient, but it may also be part of a much larger system that has been improved or made better because of it’s expanded capacity. Then you start to get the picture. I want to talk some more about this because it is a sticking point with me. Often after a speech an audience member will remark, “Isn’t this just all about being efficient?” Certainly it is not. You can, after all, do the wrong things efficiently. It is to do a disservice to Dr. Deming to let what he taught be reckoned as nothing more than saving time. What we are after is to grasp the significance of systems in our world and to appropriate an approach for improving them for the betterment of life for everyone. Now we arrive at Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge. A four part canon that embraces
- Appreciation for a system
- Knowledge about variation
- Theory of knowledge
- Psychology
I trust you will come back to read and gain understanding of a System of Profound Knowledge, this most important of Dr. Deming’s work. Deming’s Philosophy encourages all enterprises to be about continual improvement of product and service. I saw some examples in a bathroom on a very relaxing day.
A Very Relaxing Day
You read a lot in these pages about transformation of thinking. After this transformation takes place you begin to notice everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, instances where this type of thinking has been applied or at least needs to be applied. This past week was Martin Luther King day so my wife and I enjoyed, for once, a no rush, relaxing day.
The first half follows.
Arise 5:30 am.
Dress for exercise and arrive YMCA at 5:55 am.
She enters aerobics class, I treadmill 1.3 miles, light weight-lifting, and leg machines.
Quick trip to 24 hour Wal-Mart and arrive home 7:25 am.
Have coffee and light breakfast.
Shower, dress, and leave home in time to make 9:30 am showing of “We Bought a Zoo.” Exit theater and drive Carolyn to meet her two girlfriends for lunch.
Trust me that the remainder of the day was just as unhurried and relaxing. Since we arrived 10 minutes early for the film I went to the mens room where I snapped these photos. Here is where the real story begins.
My readers will know that they are looking at some examples of things that have changed for the better. I can’t really say if the switch to double roll tissue holders was the result of a PDSA Cycle or the brainchild of a really lazy janitor, but I feel certain that there has been on not a few occasions, a sigh of relief that there has been product available to “do the paper work”. What really caught my attention was the clothes hook, I have shown you two photos. This hook was for many years located within 2 inches of the top of the door. I guess it helped to keep really long pants from hitting the floor. Who knows. So we think the primary use of this hook was for changing in the stall, an almost impossible task. So convenient was this hook that travelers in airports started hanging their brief cases, back packs, and computer bags on them while using the facilities. Then we started hearing about the loss of these same items when thieves waited for you to enter the stall then simply reached over the door and took what was hanging there, and made a clean get-a-way while you were still trying to “do the paper work”. This was all just too easy. You never saw anything but an arm, it was over in an instant, and the chance of recovery was next to zero. So what happened? I would like to believe there was, in the maintenance department of some airport, a thinker, a systems thinker, a follower of Deming’s Philosophy. Look at that last photo. That hook is a full 14” down from the top of the door. It is NOT possible to reach it from the other side by reaching over the top. I tried it. Now while no one may notice this change or if they do, may not know the reason behind it, I would like to think it is the new standard. It represents an improvement to the system, an improvement that I believe has allowed hundreds more laptops, back packs and brief cases to reach their intended destinations. And at what cost? None. In this case the thieves were simply taking advantage of a weakness in the airport bathroom system in the same way they take advantage of a weakness in the banking, medical, and insurance systems. Is there any reason, any reason at all, that we can’t make improvements to those systems that will stop those thieves as well?
Deming Philosophy not the same as efficiency
My examples may strike some as nothing more than efficiency. We have to make a distinction. The double roll tissue holder might be efficient, but it may also be part of a much larger system that has been improved or made better because of it’s expanded capacity. Then you start to get the picture. I want to talk some more about this because it is a sticking point with me. Often after a speech an audience member will remark, “Isn’t this just all about being efficient?” Certainly it is not. You can, after all, do the wrong things efficiently. It is to do a disservice to Dr. Deming to let what he taught be reckoned as nothing more than saving time. What we are after is to grasp the significance of systems in our world and to appropriate an approach for improving them for the betterment of life for everyone. Now we arrive at Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge. A four part canon that embraces
I trust you will come back to read and gain understanding of a System of Profound Knowledge, this most important of Dr. Deming’s work. Deming’s Philosophy encourages all enterprises to be about continual improvement of product and service. I saw some examples in a bathroom on a very relaxing day.