Variation—it is natural, cannot be eliminated, but it can be controlled We like variation. At the same time, we like consistency. Can you have both? Variation exists in everything. Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old well-known air through innumerable variations. —Ralph Waldo [...]
Finding our mission, our purpose can become daunting. Not just on a personal level, but in our professional lives. But perhaps we make this search too difficult. Maybe we need to begin with the simple at home and at work. Be kind to yourself and others. Let's just start there [...]
How do you celebrate? Do you have a party? Do you give each other a high five? What does it mean to celebrate excellence? The secret of joy in work is contained in one word— excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. Pearl Buck [...]
Value people first . . . If we hope to transform our organization, our department, our team, we need committed and dedicated people. Without them, we will never get there. How we treat each other does matter. Our expectations should always remain clear. A much too common story . [...]
To reach excellence, start looking at the actions in the organization. Quality? Excellence? World Class? Trite expressions or powerful descriptors that differentiate the ordinary from the extraordinary, good from great? You can walk into an organization or talk to someone for a few minutes and recognize the difference immediately. [...]
The Wisdom of W. Edwards Deming I first heard about W. Edwards Deming in 1982 during the broadcast of the NBC White Paper, If Japan Can, Why Can’t We? I was a young mother of three, who had not formally studied quality concepts, but I recognized the wisdom in Deming’s [...]
How do you do something better? Stop for a moment and consider the last time you wanted to do something better than you had before. What did you do? If you play tennis, you might have taken lessons or practiced volleying against a backboard. Both of these activities might [...]
What does it mean to be data-driven? The term “data-driven decision making” has become an overused phrase in business and education. What does it really mean? Does data “drive” decisions? One of the fallacies of being “data-driven” is the assumption that it provides the answers or solutions to our [...]
