The Most uncommon Sense- Commonsense

             THE MOST UNCOMMON SENSE – COMMONSENSE

1. We are very sensible people. We think sensibly, we act sensibly and then we expect the results to be sensible also, but then why it is that there are conflicts, and why do we end up getting results which are not expected and sometimes disastrous. We have theories trying to explain human behavior and how to modify or to change them for better performance, but when applied in practice they do not always lead to desired results. These tend to be explained as abstractions or deviations from normal behavior.

2. We are very sensible but what we as humans lack is the commonsense. Commonsense is probably the most uncommon thing in our thought process and hence in our action. We copy and follow the best practice around us and apply them equally with rigor and in all sincerity but what we normally miss out in all this is the thought of commonsense. We fail to ask ourselves:-

(a) Does this makes commonsense?

(b) Will it benefit common people?

© Is the decision or action for a common good?

3. We normally take very narrow view of the action and decisions around us. We tend to look at them in the context of benefit for self, or in a broader perspective that of organization. Inherent in the organization benefit is still the hidden motive of self. What we normally fail to take into account is the test of commonsense that whether it will benefit the common goal or to the people in the organization and society as such. It is true that what will benefit the organization may also translate into benefit into people who form part of the organization. But even though, it is a broader view, but as compared to commonsense a somewhat narrower view. Commonsense is something which is probably uncommon in all the common people.

“Commonsense is the knack of seeing things as they are and doing things as they ought to be done.”
                                                                                                                               John Berger

4. Commonsense is what people in common would agree and which they see sense in common as their common natural understanding. It is the belief and prepositions, which most of the common people in their experience considered to be prudent and of good judgment, without any recourse to any other theory, study or logical reasoning. It is believed to be based upon the knowledge held by common people. Commonsense generally tends to relate to the events within the human experience and sometimes erroneously thought to be against logical thinking.

“Commonsense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.”

                                                                                      Albert Einstein

5. Commonsense can not be taught and neither its use. It is a skill which has to be acquired by constant use, trial and error and reinforcing the right beliefs, which are in consonance with commonsense, and thus turning it into a habit. Because it is a skill, hence it relies heavily on application, feedback, correction and reinforcement of right beliefs. Try to apply the principle of commonsense to every action/ decision one makes even if the decision does not lead to desired results or contrary to it and then treat this experience as an event on the learning curve and try again and again. Practice and experience will bring better and better results and make you more proficient and with more proficiency comes the expertise. It is just a matter of trial, error and correction.

6.  Commonsense management is the implementation of nature’s good judgment to the management process or the effective utilization of resources to achieve the desired goal or results. It is simple but very uncommon. It is based on objectivity and a genuine willingness to implement changes. It can be said that it is the integration of assets, people and their skills to effectively achieve the object of business.

7. Our experiences are based on the patterns formed in our brain by the inputs given by our five senses. When we say we are using commonsense we mean that we are relating to these experiences and events which we have perceived in the past with our senses. The more effectively and faster one can relate to these experiences the more commonsense a person is said to have.

Mental Models- The Basis of Intutive Forecasting

     MENTAL MODELS- THE BASIS OF INTUITIVE FORECASTING

 1.  Intuition is putting the experience and knowledge available with an individual in the subconscious part of the brain into day to day decision making. Forecasting is presenting a picture of the future. While presenting a picture of the future one is normally presented with a number of scenarios and possibilities. Some are more likely than others and some less likely but all are possible. In forecasting there is no certainty. The attachment of probability to an outcome depends upon the facts, models , variables under consideration and the weight age given to these variables in the given situation and then in a major part to  the experience and past knowledge of the variables and their interpretations available with the individual.

2. Intuition is the way in which we translate our experience into judgments and decisions. It is a set of hunches, impulses, insights, gut feelings, anticipation and judgments stemming from previous events in one’s life.

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift”

                                                                                                      Albert Einstein

3. We have been taught that these ideas have been reinforced in our minds that more data or information coupled with better analysis based on latest models and tools leads on to better decision making. There is enough evidence to suggest that when people ignore intuition and base their decisions on purely empirical data and models the quality of decision suffers. In a survey about 90% of the CEO’s candidly admitted that their decisions are based on intuition and justified later on by data and facts.

4. Herbert Simon introduced the concept of “bounded rationality” to explain why it is impossible to make any important decision by gathering and analyzing all the facts. There are too many facts and too many combinations of the facts. The more complex the decision and more variables it involves , the faster the complications add up thus making the process of decision making that much complex and cumbersome  and with this goes up the level of uncertainty, thus making the probability of decision going wrong that much possible. Human mind is capable of only a limited amount of data storage, permutation and combinations and processing.
5.  As diversity adds up it becomes increasing difficult to arrive at a decision. It is here that a pattern of situations which one has acquired over the years come to his rescue. It is these patterns, which stem from his experience base help and guide him to come to rational decisions. There is of course a difference between using an informed and uninformed patterns. One needs to ignore and avoid using uninformed patterns by a deliberate process and attempts and use more and more of informed patterns. Informed patterns are those which are formed in the brain by actual experience and have been reinforced by their use whereas uniformed patterns are those which are formed not by personal experience but by experience of others and are untested or are formed from single experience.

6. These patterns are nothing but repeated experiences that are formed subconsciously which are linked together in the form of a pattern in the brain. Therefore it is possible to link to these patterns in the subconscious part of the brain by a deliberate effort to recognize the links that binds these patterns. When one is faced with a situation and a decision is required, it is these links and patterns that are activated and thus provide one to recognize a past pattern in the subconscious brain and thus the brain throws up a solution to the situation based on these past experiences in the form of gut feeling, hunches, insights and impulses. What is required by an individual is to recognize these hunches, insights thrown up by these patterns and deliberately use them to arrive at a reliable and prudent decision. By repeating these efforts over and over again one develops a skill to use to acquire and use them and thus make it a habit of using them in the decision making process. The more skill you develop, that much shorter will be the time taken to arrive at a decision.

7. As one gains more experience and skill one also develops the skill to develop more and more new form as well as modified and improved form of these patterns and sets in motion a form of chain reaction. This leads to an increase in the information data base and the decisions tend to be more and more realistic. When one encounters a new situation then the brain throws up a number of similar situations and it is here the experience of the person in using these patterns comes into play and allows him to either to create a solution or to present him with a decision based on a number of patterns, thus allows a person to improvise a solution.  This also allows either the information base to increase or allows one to modify the old patterns to suit the new situation.

8. We form these patterns and links about everything and whatever can be perceived by our five senses. We make mental patterns or models about market, competition, persons, behavior, relationships and even physical things. Some of these are static model while others are dynamic model, like, markets, preferences, customers, atmosphere, etc. When we make a dynamic model we generally tend to reduce the scale to a small manageable, easily comprehensible and understandable. This reduced scale patterns are neither wholly accurate not do they correspond completely to the reality. This is dependent upon our ability to comprehend the main variables and their relationship with other less important variables. Generally a person uses main variables and tends to discard or even eliminate smaller variables. One tends to use simplicity in order to sacrifice some finer details.

9. These simplified patterns are essential since they simplify a large and complicated world into a simple basic form for us to understand. It stems from the fact that our brain can comprehend, see and make patterns and store a limited amount of information.

Myth Of Continuity

                                        MYTH OF CONTINUITY

1. Models are evident everywhere, whether they are in forecasting, operations, decision making or financial decisions. Besides these theoretical or physical models, there are other model which we use everyday in different situations without realizing that we are using them and are used as a matter of habit. These mental models can be described as the standard operating procedures of the brain and are part of our mental reasoning process. Mangers use these models every day to make routine decisions on a  day to day basis without realizing that they are using these mental models and actually it has become a habit with them.

2. These mental are required if the managers are to make rational and reasonable decisions, which conform to the rule, values, traditions, customs, etc. of the organizations. The only problem and sometimes a plus point also is that once used they become self sustaining and self conforming. If these are in synchronization with the present day reality and values, then they allow the manager to make realistic and prudent decisions and if they are not in synchronization with the reality then the manger starts making poor and faulty decisions. It is possible that some models may while others may not in synchronization and then such situation leads to a mix of good and poor decisions.

3. The basic premise in all these models is the concept of continuity or the assumption that all environmental conditions remain the same and they have been in the past based on which the model was formulated or acquired. But environmental conditions never remain the same, but keep changing sometimes very slowly and sometimes at a fast pace. There are situations in which no past model or experience exist and which one encounters for the first time. In such a case there is no past reference and one is forced to improvise or create a solution and to make a new model based on new inputs or modify the old models accordingly. It, therefore, implies that the models are required to change as per changing situations if the decisions are to remain prudent and reasonable. As the pace pf change increases one starts loosing confidence in his ability to make good decisions because these models have not kept pace with the changing circumstances. It is, therefore, essential that a manager develops the ability to perceive these new changes that are being imposed on the environment or past environmental conditions.

4.  The managers will have to develop an intuitive sense in order to anticipate these changes and to incorporate them into these mental models and amend or change them to suit the present day conditions. If we continue with the myth of continuity and assume that things will remain the same, then there is nothing to stop us from making poor decisions. Old model need to be changed or modified or even discarded and newer models created if one has to be a successful decision maker and continue to make reasonable and reliable decisions.

5. When we are looking at a solution or trying to anticipate things, then we generally try to use analogy as a tool. This looking for an analogy in the past is the natural outcome of the state of continuity. But what we forget is that the analogy is to be viewed in the context of conditions which were present at that time. If conditions are the same then the analogy will lead to reliable and prudent decisions but when they are not the same then it may lead to disastrous results. What is required is to view the analogy in its totality rather than just the main points or similarities.

6. For any mental model to be successful, it should change keeping pace with the environment to which it is applicable.  Every mental model has some general shortcomings and it is advisable to keep them in mind while using such models.  These are:-

(a) They are simplified version of reality.

(b) They are most effective in an era of continuity.

© Their effectiveness is very greatly dependent on the accuracy and reliability of the inputs given to them.

(d) The answers provided by these models need to be interpreted by the managers making the decisions and are therefore subject to interpretation errors.

(e) Inappropriate model may be used in a situation.

(f) Wrong perception of reality.

(g) Time frame in which the decisions are required to be made will reflect in the type and authenticity of the outcome.

(h)  Mental stress of the decision maker.

(i) Limitations and pressure exerted by the surroundings.

(j)  Loyalty to old models and a sense of confidence in them and a general reluctance or lethargy in order to modify or change them.

(l) Human bias.

Be Reasonable

                                                 BE REASONABLE

1. "Come on ,be reasonable", are the most commonly used words while discussing, arguing, negotiating  or in meetings  The basic premise being to bring the other person to agree to what one is saying or putting forward. It is used when all logic has failed and one wishes to end the discussion. But what happens when you become reasonable and agree to whatever is being put forward. It simply implies that, you also agree that there is no other way, no other alternative except the one being put forward. It is here, you stop thinking and trying to find a way to do things in a different way. If there is no disagreement, then there can be no progress because progress implies disagreement.

2. More often the term is used  to justify old ways of doing things, the way the things have always been done. If you keep doing things the way they have always been done then you will keep getting the same results. Most of us are very comfortable with continuity and do not wish to change it, as we are scared of getting different results and be reasonable is actually an attempt to go with the continuity. It is this continuity which will lead to complacency and hinder all progress.

3. Why things have become accepted the way they are? Is it because that way they are more effective or is it because the things are easy to do it as they form a habit and this allows a person to do things in a mechanical way rather than think about it and find a new better way to do things. Most of the time it is because we prefer to do things out of habit and in a routine way.

4. One does not have to do things as others are doing it or it is done this way only or it is the way others have taught you to do things. It is the best way for people, who wish to continue with the continuity and do not wish to waste time in thinking and trying to find a better way to do things. To change something, you have to change your actions and to change actions one has to change his thinking and the best way to change the thinking is to stop doing things out of habit in a routine way and this implies a break in continuity. The break can only come, if you disregard the premise of being reasonable.

5. When things are in continuity, being reasonable gets you reasonably good results and normally one is quite satisfied with it. It is when discontinuity exists or appears, then the premise of reasonableness does not get you the desired results. It is then, one starts looking at different ways to overcome the problem. But here also most of the time one tries to see how others have done it or are coping with this discontinuity. Again even in these circumstances one looks at the continuity. Discontinuities, are breaks in the normal accepted ways of doing things. We accept that the best practice even in these circumstances is the best practice that we have practiced in the past or what best practices others are following it. The basic premise being that the conditions are the same for us as they are for others. But unfortunately things do not remain the same. If they were to remain same then there can not be any progress and if the things do not remain the same then the logic of reasonableness does not hold good.

6. One can not change something one does not understand. To understand it you will have to come out of it and look at it from a completely different angle or perspective. Break it down into smaller pieces, the smallest you can make them and forget where they came from. Forget the original and then look at them with different arrangements, different combinations and new relationships. That way it will be easily to find new and better ways of doing things. After all “How do you eat a watermelon?” The best way would be one small bite at a time, bite small enough for one to chew it comfortably, rather than eating the whole in one go.

7. A reasonable model will create only reasonable results and if you want extraordinary results then you will first have to force your thinking to become unreasonable. If one keeps the same way one will get the same results, same answers. To get different results one will have to start thinking differently and to think differently one needs to avoid the trap of reasonableness. Being reasonable prevents and hinders progress. Being reasonable has three aspects, the reason of logic and common sense, the reason of explanation and the reason of fairness.

8.  We accept that the best practices for others are also best practices for us because we tend to believe that environmental or other conditions will remain the same for us as they were for others. But unfortunately this does not happen at all times. When it happens we get the same results and this reinforces our belief on the basis of reasonableness but unfortunately the conditions never remain the same but keep changing and it here the logic of being reasonable fails and we keep wondering as to what went wrong and why we did not get the desired results.

10. To be unreasonable you will have to accept that:-

         (a) There are other ways of doing things.

         (b) Reject the premise of continuity.

         © Break the habit of doing things out of habit.

        (d) Break the process into smaller parts, which you can handle easily and try to find new
             combinations, new arrangements and new beginning.                     

        (f)  Do not agree for the sake of agreeing but agree if it makes sense?
        (g)  Even if you agree, then still try to find another way in order to make the process or result
              better.

Just A Minute

                                         JUST A MINUTE

1. How often we have heard a sentence” Just a minute”? I have heard it so many times that now hearing it has become a habit with me and it hardly registers itself. It is especially true when you have been waiting long or when you are in a hurry. This just a minute is the smallest as well as the longest minute depending upon the situation in which you are in but mostly it just implies that the other person has absolutely no idea how much time he is going to take. At the shortest end it is when you are waiting for the traffic light to turn green and the person behind you starts blowing his horn as soon as the traffic light turns green. At the other end of the spectrum it is the longest one minute when after a long wait you finally have managed to reach the service window and the person goes off by saying that ‘I will be back in a minute” to start a long agonizing wait for him to come back god knows when.

2. You come out of a shop and notice a car blocking your exit and then starts an agonizing wait and search for the missing owner of the car. After an eternity the person appears and without acknowledging you, enters the car to drive away. When you recover from the shock to ask the person about the reasons for blocking the exit his cool reply is always that “I was gone only for a minute”.

3. You wait at the telephone booth to make an urgent call and after an agonizing long wait you finally muster enough courage to tap on the glass door to attract his attention only to find him leaning out of the door to say ”Just a minute” and continues with his talk for another long period . You then start wondering whether to tap again or go in search of another phone booth.

4. You are in a meeting with a person on an important topic to both of you and suddenly he picks up his phone to answer it and says it will take a minute only. He may actually take a minute or more than that but that is immaterial because his action has broken up the contact, the flow of discussion and most important your chain of thoughts. He gets back and starts the conversation with “so where were we”.  You wonder as to what you are doing there and if the talk is important to you, you start your thought process and the dialogue all over again.

5. It is after such beautiful experiences with the minute you start wondering that is your knowledge of a minute about being equal to 60 seconds is justifiable true or not. Does it needs modification to be equal to the time taken by another person to finish his talk or work in a totally unconcerned manner to his entire satisfaction without being held accountable for the so called minute.

6.  These are just a few examples of the situation in which you might have heard the sentence and many times you might have used it yourself without realizing it. But whatever may be the situation or circumstances the end result is invariably the same, a feeling of sheer helpless and frustration. Next time remember your feeling when you use this with another person and have some pity on him.

NO Boundaries

                                            NO BOUNDARIES

1. We are very good at setting boundaries, limitations and restrictions not only on ourselves but also on others. We go to the extent of not only setting boundaries in our work place, social circuit but also in our thinking and thinking process. We decide even before we try to find alternatives to the problem we face, as to what is acceptable and what is not, what is right and what is not right and we even go the extent of looking at what others like and what they do not like.

2. We erect boundaries around our establishment by erecting walls, fences and have security. We proudly proclaim that our employees are our strength and totally trustworthy but we subject them to security checks when they come in and when they go out and to frequent checks and audits. We set boundaries and divide the establishment into department and divisions and then take a step further by restricting movement between departments. We even go to the extent of dividing the working areas into workers, supervisors’ and managers. The effect is that they become water tight areas. Not satisfied with this we even set up boundaries around ourselves by erecting partitions to protect our privacy and even demand our private working place.

3. Not satisfied with these physical boundaries we even set boundaries into our interaction with others by choosing with whom, how, where, when and what we wish to communicate. To protect the privacy we hide behind official letters, memos and now even e-mails. Face to face communication is fast becoming outdated to be replaced by e-mails, where you can write anything without betraying you facial expressions, emotions and true intentions. Body language is gradually being phased out.  After setting up these virtual boundaries, we spent a large portion of out time and effort in wondering as to why the communication between people and department takes so much of time and how to improve inter and intra departmental communications.  We isolate ourselves behind the walls and partitions and then after erecting them we worry as to why the communication is poor in our organization and what we can do to improve it. We would prefer to write and exchange a number of memos or e-mails to our colleague and next door neighbor on a simple problem but would feel humiliated in just getting up and going to his place tot talk and sort out the issue. We have hierarchical structure in our organization, reserved parking spaces, special eating tables and go to the extent of having reserved elevators and passages. We tend to create a class within a class and still follow the old feudal system.

4. We impose boundaries in our behavior by imposing how and what to dress and what not to wear. We have traditions, customs, mannerism and accepted ways of doing things and even decision making and rules and regulation to see that these are followed and adhered to. Any deviations are criticized and even punished. We have standards and specification to stop people from going beyond a particular limit and then we spend considerable amount of time wondering as to why there is so little progress and why there are hardly any new ideas coming forward in meeting and the only new ideas being put forward are the same old ones put in a different packaging.

5. We encourage people to use e -mails and hence create virtual boundaries behind which we can hide ourselves, our emotions and true feelings. Of course they are useful for conveying decisions, information to large number of persons located at different locations but rarely within the same building or offices. We thus neglect the most powerful way of communication that is face to face. This face to face communication improves communication, builds trusts and creates a friendly atmosphere and allows persons to develop confidence.

6. We do not seem to realize that the problems are basically due to the boundaries, whether physical or virtual, which we have set for ourselves and for our employees. Most of these problems will get sorted out when we see the rules, restrictions, standards, customs, traditions and accepted ways of doing thing as restrictive boundaries which not only restrict poor movement but also restrict out thinking and the capability to generate new ideas and new ways of doing old things. If you wish to change the organization then it is worth while to just sit down quietly and reexamine, reassess and rewrite these boundaries. The ideal system will be the one that has no boundaries but it is a utopian concept and we can always try to achieve it and in the process become a better person a, a better place to work and a better way to do the things.

7. To change or remove something one needs to act in a different way, to act in a different way one needs to think in a different way and to think differently one needs to see and perceive the present in a different new manner and in order to achieve this one needs to remove the boundaries which one has created around one’s thinking, work place and the accepted way of doing things.

7. The first step in any process of change is to accept the fact that something needs to be changed. This starts with by asking the questions:-

      (a)  Do we require these boundaries?

      (b)  Is it the only way to do things?

      ©    Does it improve communication?

     (d)  Does it make common sense?

     (e)   What is its real purpose and can we achieve the end without it?

     (f)  What all restrictions this imposes?

     (g)   Does it require change?

     (h)   What will be the effect of changing these?

8. Do not change something just for the sake of changing it, change it if it requires change , if it improves your thinking, if it hinders communication, if it will permit more free thinking and improves creativity, if it makes common sense and most important if it makes progress.  Aim for better and better rather than on the best as better allows one to focus on the process rather than on the results. Once you have decided to remove or modify the boundary, but before implementing it ask again:-

          (a)  Does removing it meets the objective we have set out to achieve?

           (b)  Does it offer simplification of the process?

           ©   Does removing it make sense?

           (d)  Is this change a step towards making the process better?

9.  This starts a new cycle of examining new boundaries and again a cycle of new questions and answers. This is what will ultimately start a process of continuous improvements in the organization which will allow you to achieve better and better performance and results.

Controlling Controls

                                                

                                              CONTROLLING CONTROLS

1. Managers always like to be in control of the processes and situations. We set up standards, rules, regulations so as to regulate the processes and systems within predefined limits. Control is what brings orderliness into the system and keeps it on track. As managers we do not like surprises and the main use of controls is to avoid surprises.
2. Control implies continuing with the continuity. It allows one to maintain the status quo by keeping the processes and systems with in the predefined limits of the parameters selected to monitor the process. It essentially implies keeping the car on the road or keeping the train on the track. The better a control system is in the organization the more confident the managers are that the continuity of the system or process will be maintained and unpleasant surprises do not occur.
3. To make a control more effective sub controls are established to monitor and control a particular variable in the process so that it contributes effectively to the establishment of overall control. Sometimes these sub controls can be in conflict with each other. But organizations in blind faith of continuing with the continuity and to avoid the risk of surprises , allow the controls to control their actions and in the end the controls start controlling the thought processes of the organization. If a surprise occurs then the organization bound by its standards and rules refuses to acknowledge them. Sometimes the controls established are not designed to detect these deviations and sometimes these deviations are ignored with the assumptions that "all is well" or ' we are doing very well". At times these surprises are often brushed aside or put under the carpet with the notion that they are exceptions or fluctuations in the process and do not represent the trend. sometimes they are dealt as crisis , where the person who manages the crisis gets rewarded rather than addressing the question as to what led to this crisis, what we missed and why we missed it. This feeling of being comfortable with the present way of doing things constraints the organization to loose the competitive edge and leads it to fade away into non entity over a period of time. The time period is different for different organizations but it the only thing certain is that it will come.
4. These controls besides leading the organization to complacency have a number of side effects:-
(a) Inhibit the organizations ability to explore new areas.
(b) Inability to question the validity and usefulness of these controls.
(c) Curb the risk taking ability of its employees.
(d) Curb creativity and innovation.
(e) Restricts useful information to them thus affecting their ability to take correct and timely decisions.
(f) People tend to play by the controls and standards rather than change them to changing environment and situations.
(g) Blame the standards and controls in case of failure rather than accept the blame.
5. This does not mean that controls are not required or they are bad. They are required and are essential but what is required is to control these standards and controls so that they do not become a burden and an anchor around the neck of the organizations thus suffocating it, by denying the oxygen of creativity and change, to its untimely death. What the organizations need to understand is how much control is required, where these are required and where these are not required , what type of controls are required, who is required to control what and lastly what controls have become outdated and need to be discarded or changed. this is what we understand by the term "controlling the controls".
6. It is a process of questioning the controls and starts with the first premise of " Do we require controls?" By all means have control but keep them to the most essential ones, where they are required as an absolute must and not to all the areas where you can possibly put controls. In examining the standards and controls for their requirement and usefulness, we need to ask ourselves the questions:-
(a) Is it required at all? Can we do without them?
(b) Find out what we need to control and what to measure and not what all we possibly can.
(c) Keep them to the most essential so that people can remember them and applying them becomes a habit rather than a forced procedure.
(d) If a standard or control is more than a year old then reexamine it.
(e) If you have not used a standard for six months then put it in the waste paper basket.
(f) If a control is working very well then it is time to question and reexamine them. It is possible that they were wrongly set or they are too loose.
(g) When you establish controls and standards then also plan as to when you are going to remove them or under what environmental conditions they will become redundant.
7. The major aim is to make the organization flexible enough so that it encourages risk taking, individual initiative and gives a person enough courage to question their usefulness and validity. This will also give the courage to employees to notice and accept and be prepared for surprises as and when they occur and to make timely changes and amendments at their own levels without waiting for a response from higher up. The organization will then change from being a reactive one to a proactive and allow creativity and innovation to flourish.

Quality Helix

                                   QUALITY HELIX

1. Quality is not something which can be imposed on the production process; to be successful it has to be something which is inherent in the system itself. So ingrained in the system that from outside it is not evident at all but becomes apparent when you are inside the system. From outside it may appear to you as no logic or at best a fuzzy logic but actually it is so much part of the process that to experience it you have to be inside the production process.

2. TQM or quality circles are something which is imposed from outside and hence require constant efforts to reinforce their beliefs and procedures and after that constant monitoring, audit and checks. By introducing checks and audit you take away the individuality, creativity and the inherent desire of the individual to create things and the passion to make it better and better.  Of course it has its own plus points and own advantages, but I believe that the creativity of innocence, continuous evolution of the organization as a living organism are more important than these rules and audits.

3. A quality circle is a two dimensional figure and if you take any point and start from it you will ultimately end up in the same place after going around it in periphery. You can not add or subtract any thing from it, otherwise the circle will have to be changed or broken and a new one formed in its place. This is a major drawback which inhibits its continuous evolution as a living organism and to readjust itself to the changing environment of production process. It is difficult to change your quality requirement or process of doing it every now and then and put into place a new one. The process itself should have the capability to modify and readjust itself. This is the essence or a very brief basis of what is called a quality helix.

4. The requirements therefore are:-

       (a) The system to be a living organism of the total production process.

       (b) It should be inherent in the system itself, and becomes visible or evident when you are

            part of the process.

       © It should not be imposed from outside or bound by rules and audits.

       (d)  It should continuously evolve itself or upgrade itself as the requirement arises.

       (e)  It should allow people to have a creativity of innocence.

5. Nature has given us five senses that are, touch, smell, taste, hear and see. When we can decide very effectively what is good for us to hear, what is good for us to eat, what is good for us to smell, what is good for us to touch and lastly more important what is good for us to see then I do not why we can utilize these thing effectively to decide what is good enough for us to produce and what not to produce. We are very good consumers , we know what to buy and what not to buy, how much we should pay and what quality is good enough for us. Why can not we take these concepts to the production process itself?

6. Why helix? A helix is a three dimensional figure as compared to two dimension of circle. It has no beginning and no end and therefore we may call it an infinite structure. We can add anything to it or remove anything from it without altering it basic structure and it will still remains a helix in structure. This addition or deletion may create a new entity but its structure will remains the same and with same qualities. In essence it still remains the same living organism capable of evolving improving and capable of absorbing any new information that is fed into it and becoming something new which is better.

7.  In order to make the system a living organism all that is required to make sure that certain basic concepts are introduced in the system. These arise from the following considerations, with human body as a living example:-

(a) The human body is a perfect filtration system. We eat things, the body decides what is good and retains it and throws out the unwanted. A normal filtration system works on the same concept. You have successive filters to remove unwanted or bad things and out come pure water.

(b) We take shots in order to immunize ourselves from the diseases. It is done by introducing live germs into the body, the white cells generate antibodies to fight this small amount and hence the body develops an immunity to fight the disease effectively.

© Every person is an excellent customer, so why he can not decide what is good to produce and what is not good to produce, so that he can buy what is good

8. It is when these basic concepts are introduced into the manufacturing process then the process becomes alive and develops an ability to evolve and reinvent itself. The beauty of the concept lies in its simplicity. We are very good at complicating things, adding new rules, new procedures, new equipment, checks and audits but do we ever get down seriously and work in a deliberate manner to simplify thing. Simplification is too easy to talk about but it is also the most difficult part to practice.

9. In practice this process will involve:-

     

           (a)  Each stage of the manufacturing process acts as the inspector of the

                  previous stage with the power to reject the product if it does not meet

                  the required specification as input to that stage.

            (b)  Deliberately introduce a faulty product into the system at random but

                   identifiable intervals so that the efficacy of the system (man and machine

                   both) is checked for optimum efficiency. This will also allow the system to

                   develop its own detection and immunization system.

            ©    Give the operator of that stage of manufacturing process an authority

                    commensurate with the responsibility to function effectively and utilize the

                    system to the best of his ability.  

            (d)   Not only give credit for good performance but reward mistakes, so that the

                    faults of the system are out in the open and persons not only know how to

                    catch mistakes without any fear of punishment but also how to rectify them

                    and improve their own performance.   

             (e)   Have faith in the system and the persons and give them sufficient time to

                     absorb and establish a starting point.           

Intuitutive Quality Control-1

Intuition is not a bolt of lightning out of blue sky, nor it is magic. Research has shown that more experienced one is in any particular field , or more information about a particular field is available to a person in his subconscious brain , the more his judgements are based on intuition. You do not get intuitions about the fields about which you have no knowledge. The quality of intuition depends upon the quantity and quality of the information available in the subconscious brain. Intuition is a natural outgrowth of experience or as Gary Klein defines it " Intuition is the way we translate our experience into judgements and decisions".

All of us get intuitions. Some of us are more skilled at recognizing and using them while others have it to a lesser degree. Intuition works on patterns which are formed in the brain and these patterns are a result of repeated experiences which we have accumulated in our subconscious brain over a period of time. Whenever we get an input , it awakens a pattern in our brain and we get a sense of familiarity . The more observations and experiences we have in a particular Field , more patterns will be formed in our brain, and with more patterns better will be our intuition.

Quality control basically consists of a set of parameters/ measurements which defines the input, output or the process. These parameters have some tolerance limits attached to them within which the input or product must lie so that the output is of desired quality.

It is often seen that newcomers find it difficult to pick up subtle flaws in the product even when they are very conversant with the specifications and techniques. It generally happens that, they place too much reliance on the specifications, procedures and techniques and fail to notice the subtle flaws in the product because they lack the pattern in their brain and even when they have it, they usually ignore these intuitive signals. Experienced persons pick up these signals easily and with the patten matching, it is easier for them to pick up these subtle flaws missed out by the newcomers.

These parameters/specifications can be used to form a pattern in our brain describing as to what the input or output should look like . The patterns can be reinforced by deliberately repeating the experiment of testing the specifications, getting feed backs and modifying the pattern till a reasonable good pattern of a what a product look like is formed and reinforced. The more patterns we have, the more expertise we have and it will be that much easier to do the checks mentally and make a decision whether to accept or reject the product. The key here is that of deliberate experimentation, practise and feed back.

The receipt of a signal about the product , its matching with the patterns in the subconscious brain and arriving at a decision which happens in a very short time span of a few seconds is what "Intuitive Quality Control" is all about.