Just an aside not related to this thread is that Tuuka posted on the Lila Squad list, that Bodvar Skutvik has passed away.(yesterday)
May he rest in peace. Adrie 2017-09-11 5:44 GMT+02:00 WES STEWART <wes...@shaw.ca>: > > Hello Dan, Andrew and X-Acto; > I have responded to your question towards the end X-Acto. > Thanks for the response Ardie; > > Yes these are old ideas, concepts that are approaching 90 years, yet they > still work for quality. > > I will build a story, that gives you an idea of Deming, and how his > philosophy enhances Pirsig, and how Pirsig's philosophy enhances Deming. > This is a simple story. > > The story begins with let us say; I am a new quality /safety manager for a > company with 500 employees that work outdoors. > A senior manager comes to me and tells me the workers injury compensation > payments are too high. He tells me to do something about lowering injuries. > He also adds its costing him on around $3000 dollars per injury, because an > employee sits on average 4 days before recovering from their injury. > > I have some statistical data of injuries from the previous 36 months. It > appears that ankle injuries are the most frequently occurring injuries. I > add up the ankle injuries for the 36 months, I then divide by 36 and come > up with a number of 41. So on average this organization has 41 ankle sprain > or fractures that occur every month. > > I want to do something because it is a moral thing; lowering that average > will also reduce the number of people who suffer pain and injury each > month. Would someone say my moral thinking is subjective? A psychopath > might. > > At this point I calculate standard deviation of 1, and come up with an > upper limit of 47 ankle injuries and a lower limit of 35, I calculate > standard deviation of 2 upper limit 53, lower limit of 29. I calculate > standard deviation of 3 upper limit of 59 and a lower limit 23. > > Next month I can forecast the ankle injury rate with 99% certainty will > fall between 59 and 23. I can also say that 68% of the time it will fall > between a standard deviation of 1, from 47 to 35. > > Pirsig would call this a static pattern, Deming would say it is in a state > of statistical process control. Pirsig would say it's a system that will > not change unless there is "dynamic quality" added to it. Deming would say > there has to be some "special cause" variation in order for change to > happen, the static pattern he see's is "common cause" variation, it's a > normal distribution curve, it is a normal pattern that occurs in nature. > > Let's say I do some research and visit 50 employees out in the field, and > startled to find that 48 of them wear low cut running shoes, only two of > them were wearing something with good solid ankle support > > I go to several work boot suppliers, ask them for advice and I am > impressed with one of them having so much knowledge on what good ankle > support is in a workboot. What's average better and best, in both comfort > and support, then he shows me the longest lasting, high quality boot with > those attributes. > > At a company meeting, I explain my rational and ask upper management to > reimburse every employee for boot purchase from that one supplier. I add in > that boots are personal protective equipment, and OHS regulations require > us to reimburse our employees for this. Maybe there is a large debate, > maybe the accountant says, "the guys out in the field are all idiots, they > just have to be more careful." Maybe at the end of the meeting the CEO > steps in and says "We have not been able to lower that rate in 3 years, in > spite of threats of termination and terminations, we have lost lots of our > most productive employees." He then agrees to go with my recommendations. > > > I have done something to change the system, we wanted to see that average > of 41 ankle injuries per month drop, and if we make the next month > measurement and find, that it is below 23 (standard deviation of 3) , it > may mean something. It may mean that the process of how ankle injuries > occurr is no longer a stable process, something has changed in the system. > As more people purchase boots we see, it drops to 20 then the following > month it goes to 15, thats a trend, because in the past 3 years it never > went below 23. Thats improvement in the quality of the working environment > for employees out in the field, thats something that is measureable. > > I measure the ankle injury rate for another 36 months, after the changes, > and see that the average is now 13 with the Upper control limit is 21 and > the lower control limit is now 0, thats real, we can see those numbers. Now > that is an improvement in the quality of the working environment of 68%, > specific to ankle injuries. > > Maybe the CEO talks with me about those 0 ankle injury months, and tells > me upper management has decided that they want them all to be 0 ankle > injury months. I try to explain to him about human beings and variation. > "Common cause variation in rain, wind, heat, terrain, stress, fatigue, > having a baby, and worried about keeping your job all fix those static > patterns of quality, from 0 to 21. Even the support of an employees direct > manager affect those numbers along with cooperation and teamwork from > fellow employees. Threats of firings or lay-off's do not help, after all, > who can think clearly when they are agitated, because distractions cause > those ankle sprain injuries." > > I tell him to expect the average to remain the same around 13. I tell him > the 0-21 variation from month to month is a normal distribution pattern > that is seen in nature. I state to him matter of factly, that business men > cannot really make demands on nature or science to change. Both safety and > quality will always see these normal distribution patterns, and for that > reason it will never reach 0 every month. I say to him that I will try to > come up with some other ways to improve the quality of the working > environment for our employees, but expect it not to move until I come up > with some ideas and we implement those changes. > > Maybe the accountant meets me in the hallway moments later and says, " We > can have a 0 ankle injury month, and if you cannot do it every month maybe > we should hire a quality/ safety manager that can." > > Hello X-Acto, I will keep to Pirsigs or Demings description of a SYSTEM, > because both of them talk about corruption, you can review Pirsigs full > description in Chapter 8. > Pirsig is extremely artful in his description because he has a Doctorate > in Creative Writing; Deming a physicist, mathematician, and statistician, > sometimes outwardly states they are corrupted by their greed. I think that > the systems theorists description that you sent me was well thought out of > what it should be; but naive as to what happens in real life, a SYSTEM can > create the Iraq war and unknowingly produce an ISIS, but was it really an > intelligent move? > > Here is some of what Pirsig states in Chapter 8; > > "But to tear down a factory or revolt against a government....because it > is a system is to attack effects rather than causes, and as long as the > attack is against effects, no change is possible. The true system, the real > system is the construction of systemic thought itself, rationality of > thought, and if a factory is torn down but the rationality of thought which > produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce > another factory." > > "If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the same systematic > patterns of thought are left intact, > then those same patterns will repeat themselves in succeeding > governments." From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert > Pirsig > > In this imaginary story "the real system is the construction of systemic > thought itself, rationality of thought" of the capitalist system > which is based wholly on greed and self interest, which is a part of > government just as much as it is part of business. The rationality of the > CEO and the accountant in this made up story is the real system, "the > construction of systemic thought itself, rationality of thought",is not > science its disturbed and biased and will always make poor decisions > concerning quality because of self interest, self importance and greed. > > From: "X Acto" <xa...@rocketmail.com> > To: "moq discuss" <moq_disc...@moqtalk.org> > Sent: Saturday, September 9, 2017 11:23:21 AM > Subject: Re: [MD] The need for quality > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Sep 7, 2017, at 11:35 AM, Andrew Chu <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > From: "WES STEWART" <wes...@shaw.ca> > > To: "moq discuss" <moq_disc...@moqtalk.org> > > Sent: Wednesday, September 6, 2017 10:15:27 PM > > Subject: Re: [MD] The need for quality > > > > Hell Dan and All; > > > > I get a lot of my philosophy of quality, not from Pirsig but from > William Edwards Deming. It was back in the twenties when Walter Shewhart > and Deming were searching for ways to improve the Quality of transmission > lines at Bell Labs. They had defined Quality as a SYSTEM that is in a state > of continuous improvement. Shewhart and Deming looked at all SYSTEMs then > used their intellect or reason to search for ways to improve the SYSTEM. > > > > Martin Luther King also used his intellect for ways to improve the > SYSTEM, in which he paid the ultimate price that was delivered from > Biologically dominated human beings. > > > Ron interjects: > Hello Wes,Dan, All, > I've been following the thread off and on and I was curious about how Wes > defined the term "SYSTEM". > In system theory it is defined as > an entity with interrelated and interdependent parts; it is defined by its > boundaries and it is more than the sum of its parts (subsystem). > Positive growth and adaptation of a system depend upon how well the system > is adjusted with its environment, and systems often exist to accomplish a > common purpose (a work function) that also aids in the maintenance of the > system or the operations may result in system failure. > With the goal being isotelesis. > the intelligent direction of effort toward the achievement of an end. > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > -- parser Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
