Infinity
- Forever is the last day on God’s calendar
- Infinity is the finite point at the end of God’s outstretched hand
Truth
- Truth is an absolute which endures forever
- Truth is reflected in music, mathematics, and esthetics
- Facts are the notes of a song, the elements of an equation, and the form in sculpture
Fact
- A view of the truth can be gained by assembly of the facts
- Truth is fact, but fact is not truth, it is merely a true fact
- A fact is a form of information, but not all information is factual
- Trust is the belief that a fact is true
- Distrust is formed by the omission or commission of information
- To believe in the facts does not require faith
- The integration of all possible facts reveals the truth
- T = f ( F1, … , FN) where T is the truth and F is a fact
Faith
- Knowledge involves belief, but not all belief is based on knowledge
- In the absence of fact, faith is the basis of belief
- An assumption is merely a potential fact which is dependent upon faith
Questions
- To know the truth is to know all of the facts
- To know the facts requires investigation
- Investigation is driven by questions
- A question (Q) always precedes an answer (A), thus A = f ( Q )
- Questions lead and answers follow
- Without the question an answer is merely information, not an answer
- The same question invariably leads to the same answer
- To change the answer is to change the question
- We won’t change the question without reason to do so
- We can only reason from what we know
- What we know is based on facts
- Every fact is an answer to some question
- Facts are discovered, not created
Measurement
- Measurement has the potential to generate new questions
- Changing the measurement can change the question
- As the question changes, new behaviors will emerge
- Designing a system of behavior can translate to designing a system of measurement
- We only know what we experience
- We can’t assess what we don’t experience
- We don’t question what we don’t assess
- Measurement is the strongest form of assessment
- To change the question is to change measurement
- The absence of measurement is a shield of ambiguity
- As measurement increases ambiguity diminishes
- As ambiguity diminishes, direction becomes clear
- Only when direction is clear can people be united
- Only when people are united can a common action be taken
- Measurement yields data; hence, data are an artifact of measurement
- Data are used to describe, regulate, or improve an object, situation, or phenomenon
- We can’t improve what we don’t measure
Values
- We don’t measure what we don’t value
- We form values around positive or negative consequence
- Consequence is realized only through interaction with the environment
Knowledge
- Knowledge is realized through experience
- We can’t know what we don’t experience
- Experience is obtained by way of interaction with the environment
- The limit of experience is governed by the limits of interaction within an environment
- Interaction within an environment leads to observation
- Not all observations are accurate or precise
- Measurement is the basis for establishing validity of observation
- Observations can be classified by rational grouping
- The rationality of grouping can only be established by assessment
Data
- The outcome of measurement is numerical data
- Data are not information – they must be analytically tortured to confess its meaning
- Interpretation of data is enhanced through numerical analysis
- Numerical analysis is dependent upon mathematics
- Mathematics is a reflection of reality
- Measurement yields data; hence, data are an artifact of measurement
- Data are used to describe, regulate, or improve an object, situation, or phenomenon
Causation
- Y = f ( X ), where Y is the dependent variable and X is the independent variable
- Y is symptomatic of the behavior in X, thus Y is the effect and X is the cause
- The relational function (f) is either linear or nonlinear by nature
- The presence of Y is evidence that one or more X’s must exist
- Y = f (X1, … , XN), where N is the Nth variable in the system of causation
- Every X will have some effect on Y either independently or interactively
- Every X carries a unique weight ( ) relative to Y, by virtue of f
Error
- Observation is verified through replication of interaction within an environment
- No two replicates are ever exactly alike, variations are inevitable
- Variation in replication is referred to as “error,” or for short
- Error in replication ( ) is attributable to change within the system of causation
- Extent of replication error is directly related to the extent of change within the cause system
- As the control of a cause system approaches 1.0, replication error ( ) approaches 0.0
- As the control of a cause system approaches 0.0, replication error ( ) is indeterminate
- The accuracy and precision of replication can only be established with measurements
- No measurement is perfect, some error is inevitable
Change
- The concept of change is not dependent upon improvement
- The idea of improvement (I) is dependent upon the concept of change (C), thus I = f (C)
- Change and improvement are both relative to at least one baseline condition
Experience
- Data is not information until it is interrogated
- Information is a rational basis for decision making
- Decisions lead to interaction with the environment
- Interaction with the environment leads to observation
- Replication of observation leads to validity of experience
- Valid experience is classified as knowledge
Randomness
- Patterns which we can not discerned by human device are said to be random
- The idea of a random event exists only as a human conception
- Nothing in nature happens by random chance
- Everything moves in some form of trend, shift, or cycle over time
- The complex blending of independent events can create complex patterns
- Complex patterns which can not be discerned create the perception of random behavior
Problems
- Repetition of observation leads to expectation
- Any observed departure (O) from a desired expectation (E) constitutes a problem
- The extent to which a problem exists ( ) is given by = O – E
- A full solution is condition in which = 0
Corporation
- Systemization is the foundation of organization
- The purpose of a corporation is to minimize transactional costs
- Management is the judicious use of control toward the attainment of an end
Risk
- If we don’t know, we can not act
- If we can not act, the risk of loss is high
- If we do know and act, the risk can be managed
- If we do know and fail to act, we deserve the loss
Definitions
- Business – exchange of value
- Value – comprised of utility, access and worth
- Value – belief, ideal, or standard which characterizes something
- Entitlement – rightful expectation of something
- Quality – state in which full value entitlement has been realized
- Behavior – way in which something responds
- Process – a series of operations or actions leading to an outcome
- Innovation – change made by the introduction of something new
- Product – an article having an exchange value
- Service – performance of labor for another
- Transaction – performance of business or any piece of business
- Design – to contrive for a purpose
- Defect – presence or absence of something which inhibits a state of quality
- Opportunity – set of circumstances favorable to an end
- Characteristic – distinguishing attribute, trait, or property
- Scale – relative basis for measuring a characteristic
- Standard – criterion state, condition, or model circumstance
- Density – quantity per unit of measure
Philosophy
- We are in business to make money
- We make money by satisfying needs
- We are able to satisfy needs by doing
- Every need/do pair is an interaction
- The aim of customer focus is on improving need/do interactions
- Repetition of the same action constitutes a process
- Improvement our business means improvement of our processes
- Customers need products/services on-time, with zero defects, at the lowest cost
- Suppliers create processes to generate needed products
- As process capability improves, the product quality increases
- As quality increases, costs and cycle-time go down
- The attributes of customer satisfaction must be measured if they are to be improved
- To improve means we must be able to predict and prevent, not detect and react
- Prediction is correlated to certainty
- Maximization of certainty is dependent upon the measurement of process capability
- Process capability is best understood and reported using statistics
- Statistics are dependent upon data
- Data must be collected in the process according to a plan
- Statistical analysis is used to convert raw data into meaningful summary information
- Statistical information is used to report on, improve, and control the process
- The basis of statistics is the mean and standard deviation
- The mean reports on process centering
- The standard deviation reports the extent of variation or “scatter” about the mean
- By combining the mean and standard deviation, the “sigma” of a process can be calculated
- The “sigma” of a process tells us how capable it is
- The process sigma can be used to compare similar or dissimilar processes
- Such comparison of processes is called benchmarking
- Benchmarking is a competitive tool used to uncover what we do well and not so good
- Once basic competencies and deficiencies are know, corrective action can be taken
- Corrective action leads to the reduction of defects, cycle-time, and cost
- The reduction of defects, cycle-time, and cost leads to improved customer satisfaction
- As customer satisfaction improves, the likelihood of doing business increases
- As business increases, we (as individuals) grow and prosper