Damages and benefits in the application of quality policies
Foreword
By mere ignorance I prejudged the capacity of quality as a discipline. Without any knowledge of the subject I thought I was in a position to sentence on the basis of my ignorance.
I mistakenly believed that ISO 9000 was making the job of automating jobs easier. Simplify the work of creating a machine for engineers. That is, if one manages to know what is the optimal way to do a job, then write the corresponding procedure, and to reduce "human error" creates a machine that performs the task "effectively".
This linear thinking has several (human) errors: first, that it is not possible to find the optimal way to perform a job because the improvement in the performance of it must be continuous, and as we well know, it becomes difficult and expensive to tell a machine that learn a new procedure. The machine should be modified or roundly changed by another (investment). The second mistake is that there is no one more indicated than the human being to correct his mistakes and also there are no machines that have the ability to discern and learn the variety of things that a human being can learn. Despite this being a statement that is the daughter of ignorance, no information has come to my ears about the existence of such a versatile machine.
Despite these beliefs, I took the matter very seriously, until I became an ardent defender of quality. Possibly the decision had to do with the amount of arguments that he could find in favor of quality. It is known that we are inclined towards things that require less effort, and if people like Senge, Deming, Porter, Toffler and other authors dedicated themselves to arguing in favor of quality, it is easier to take those arguments and make them their own than to think in discussing them.
This work has a structure that may seem strange at first glance, but it is not. The first part is a synthesis of Senge's work with additions from other authors that ratify or contradict what he has expressed. This first part serves as an argument to the second, which is an essay of synthetic analysis of the reality of quality in our country.
Introduction
It could be assumed that quality is a new and absolutely innovative discipline, but in truth it is not. From the beginning of civilization, the human being looked for the most efficient way to carry out his tasks and from there to here everything has been “continuous improvement”, or evolution. It is also true that the knowledge had not been ordered in the way that Peter Senge ordered and characterized it, and in fact that the organization of Senge is so clear and useful that there is a book that explains how to put into practice all the ideas and the concepts he expresses in his book "The fifth discipline". We will then follow the order in which this book was written, to make a brief analysis, and why not a criticism, of what was conceptually expressed in that book.
First part: The disciplines of quality
In this first part, we will make a brief review of the disciplines studied and ordered by Peter Senge, to which will be added elements from other authors who have also dedicated themselves to quality. It should be noted that an analysis will be made of the disciplines that Senge calls central disciplines, which are the fundamental disciplines to promote the learning capacity of an organization and which are certainly four and not five.
Disciplines are activities that we integrate into our life and therefore become part of our daily reality. Making a personal assessment, I believe that quality is a single discipline and although Senge chooses to divide into five disciplines (and Deming analyzes fourteen important pragmatic points) we consider that a study of quality could be done as an autonomous and unique discipline.
First discipline: Personal domain
Peter Senge calls the discipline of growth and personal learning personal control. Despite this, it should be clarified that individual learning of the parts of the system is not the same, and does not have the same effect, as group learning or team learning, which due to its importance, will be treated in one section. apart. However, this individual learning can be considered as the first stage of learning at the organizational or group level because, as Alexander Pope said:
"All things are but parts of a stupendous whole."
The first thing that we must be clear about with regard to personal control are the things that are important to us, our fundamental ideas, our vision of our reality and of our future, to have a personal vision. Only on that basis can we learn and grow personally. There is a Bernard Show quote quoted by Senge that summarizes the power of having a strong personal vision, and in this case the fact that that vision is also part of a vision shared by the entire organization is invoked:
"This is the true joy of life, to be used for a purpose that you yourself recognize as powerful… to be a force of nature instead of a small, feverish and selfish wad of afflictions and grudges complaining that the world is not. dedicated to making him happy ”
Secondly (but not least) we must have a real critical judgment about reality. In this way we will be able to decide if the path we have taken is correct or wrong for our future and our present; and it gives us the pattern of the current reality that surrounds us. On the other hand, the existence of a critical judgment forces us to have a commitment to the truth first of all for ourselves, that is, for our subconscious and then for others. In order to arrive at the truth, a series of prejudices must be adapted, which we will analyze later in the section dedicated to mental models.
With these two elements, the person generates on himself the vocation to learn and progress, based on his fundamental ideas and his personal vision (or personal ambition), and the judgment to have a clear perception of reality. The result of these two opposing elements generate what Senge calls creative tension, and the desire for learning is what sustains and motivates creative tension.
It is more than clear that creative tension is an important reason to seek a good level of personal mastery, but as if this were not enough, a more personal and intimate reason is added: according to B. O'Brien (quoted by Senge) Full personal development can have a great impact on personal happiness. This is a great idea that can revolutionize people's minds. Just thinking that professional achievement brings personal happiness is a remarkably noble idea. Furthermore, this would make what was done more appreciated, from oneself, and would give work a privileged character (as Senge says: work becomes a sacred activity in a sociological sense).
This last idea deserves a separate reflection and, on the other hand, it will be taken up in the second part of this work. There has been repeated talk of the incidence of mood on the effective professional and / or work performance of people, but this is exactly the opposite, it is the incidence of professional achievements in aspects of personal life. These two facts generate a feedback wheel that is more than interesting, because it would signal companies that they should be concerned not only with the technical training of the person but also with their happiness and personal satisfaction.
All these arguments seem to indicate something very positive, but we well know that life is not all "rosy". As in any system, there are inhibitors, mechanisms that balance (and sometimes slow down) the enhancement mechanisms. Senge calls it "emotional tension", and the danger of this emotional tension is that some mediocre people call it "being realistic" and often add "because we are not so bad", but they are not as they want and not even as they deserve.
Finally, we wanted to leave this point for last because we believe that, although all disciplines are interrelated, it is a very particular point of union between personal domain and mental models. If it were placed in one or the other chapter, it would not radically change the meaning of the book.
With the subject "the subconscious", one must be extremely careful because in reality there were no great investigations about the subconscious beyond those made by Freud and Jung.
First of all, it must be clarified that working with the subconscious is a true "double-edged sword", because although it is an enormously powerful tool, it is dangerous. "Almost all spiritual traditions warn that it is not appropriate to adopt techniques to increase mental power without continuing to refine a genuine aspiration. "Senge says it and clearly indicates where the danger of using the wide capacities of the mind lies.
The use of the subconscious as a learning area for complex tasks derives from the ability of people to carry out tasks without raising awareness of their actions. No (normal) person thinks they should move certain muscles to smile (which could be considered a complex task), they simply do it, and citing an example given by Senge, a dancer performs extremely complex steps and figures for someone not prepared, with total naturalness and grace.
Of course, this is a skill that is achieved through years of training and education, but we well know that without training there is no quality, and quality may not be anything other than endless training over the years.
However, there is a point that is paradoxical, or at least striking. The subconscious (also called the unconscious or automatic mind) is a way of thinking without using the conscious mind, that is, without conscious effort, without using what we call reason; On the contrary, the disciplines that tend to quality point to a rational use of efforts, that is, to rationalize (use reason). This apparent contradiction is explained by understanding that these two ways of doing things (rationally and irrationally) are applied to different subjects of quality; people must perform their tasks subconsciously (even avoiding mental exhaustion), and the system must consciously and rationally manage its resources.
Second discipline: mental models
People do not think for their own sake, nor do they think about anything or in any way, they think and generate ideas and theories in a certain way, restricting their ideas to their mental models. Senge says that: “In our minds we carry images, assumptions and stories. ”And sometimes they are exaggerated images, unfounded assumptions, and fictional stories. This does not make our mental models bad, but it does cause them to inexplicably oppose very good and innovative ideas. We have already anticipated this topic in the previous title, because the elements that exist in our minds distort our vision of reality and, therefore, affect the decisions of our critical judgment of reality.
While mental models can oppose advancement and learning, they can also encourage and accelerate it. So there must be a real concern to distinguish the mental models, modify them and adapt them to the different situations that we usually face. An excellent example is the one Senge gives referring to the scenario planning technique adopted by Shell towards its managers. This consisted of simulating different scenarios in which vicissitudes occur that encourage managers to identify their mental models, modify them and adapt them to problems, so that in the future it does not take them by surprise to face problems that, for previous assumptions were unimaginable.
Identifying the very assumptions that constitute our mental models requires a certain domain of the "personal domain" because the mental models are exposed when we have a commitment to speak the truth. In response to the identification of mental models, Senge expresses some conclusions: “Most managers declare that for the first time in life they understand that they will only have assumptions, never truths, that we always see the world through mental models and that mental models are always incomplete and, especially in western culture, chronically astemic. ”
Identifying the models is a transcendental first step, then we must tackle the task of modifying them to adapt them to different situations, and obtain different points of view of the same problem.
Training
Training is a topic of endless debate and on the other hand it is a common point in all disciplines. However, it is particularly present in the two disciplines previously discussed.
There is a dire trend towards technical training only, however it is clear from the two previous disciplines that training in non-technical methods is essential to the task of learning in an organization.
To structure a training plan, you must have a clear shared vision to focus the training tasks, adequate advice from all sectors of the organization and a real commitment from all members of the organization. Rummier and Brache say: "… most company directors simply do not know or understand what are the variables that influence the activity and performance of company workers…", and it can be added that on some occasions they are the same employees who can and should collaborate with the instrumentation and organization of the training plans, Toffler affirms that "… only they know what they need to know to be able to do their homework…" referring to the operators. However, something more emerges from the statement of Rummier and Brache,and it is not always known where to aim or where to "leverage" to obtain the best results. In this regard, Senge says that: “the point must be found where acts and modifications in structures can lead to significant and lasting improvements. ”And it is our opinion that for quality there is no more significant act than training.
Regarding the contents, certain fundamental themes for the development and maturation of the disciplines proposed by Senge should not be neglected. To give examples, when developing personal mastery, one cannot avoid talking about Maslow's theories, much less Freud's studies of the subconscious (both were mentioned in due course). And in relation to mental models, one could not avoid analyzing (or briefly reporting) about the reflections of ancient and contemporary philosophers, and the modern sociological theories that usually give a framework to human behaviors.
Third discipline: Shared Vision
Possibly this is the most important discipline within the five listed. I think so because the rest of the disciplines can be learned with more or less work time but it is very difficult to learn to create or interpret, and share a group vision.
Senge refers to shared vision as a "lofty goal", visions "create the spark and excitement that elevates an organization above the mundane. ”And we fully share that expression. The shared vision is what generates that potential difference necessary to generate a current (if the physical analogy is allowed). But as in physics, if one does not have a good battery and a good circuit, the current does not circulate, and if a company does not have a good leader and a good production system, the vision "is not clear", and the potential is wasted.
The figure of the leader in this discipline is of utmost importance, and Deming has placed great emphasis on this aspect. He refers to the topic of leadership in three of the fourteen points listed in his book "Quality, productivity and competitiveness. The exit of the crisis". We refer specifically to points 2, 7 and 11 that we will briefly analyze.
Point two is entitled by Deming as "Adopt the new philosophy" and the other clear that whoever must adopt and commit to the new philosophy must first be the leader.
Point seven is directly an "intimation" to "Adopt and implement leadership", and refers specifically to leadership. It says: "… management must work on sources of improvement, the idea of product and service quality, and the translation from idea to design and actual product…", defining the functions of a leader in a similar way as defined by Rummier and Brache "… the principal job of the director is to manage the contact points…" referring to the contact points between the different areas of the company responsible for each function.
Deming adds: "… abolish focus on production and put leadership in its place…".
Finally, in point eleven, Deming refers to the elimination of some of the most disastrous practices of production, such as numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical objectives for managers. In this regard I am left with two sentences that I think summarize the ideas:
- The quota is a strength that prevents the improvement of quality and productivity. (Deming, in reference to the quotas for the operators)
- To lead, you have to be a leader. To be a leader, you have to understand the work that you and your staff are responsible for. (Deming, with reference to managers)
The instant question, after talking so much about it, is: what is leadership? After thinking it over and meditating on it, we believe that leadership is a quality characteristic of people, a characteristic of their formation, possibly a person with a flexible and open mental model. This is why we believe that shared vision is the most complicated discipline, it is truly difficult to learn to be a leader but it is certainly necessary, said Mackenzie King: “Work can do nothing without capital, capital can do nothing without capital. Labor, and labor and capital, can do nothing without the guiding genius of management. ”
As I said earlier, not only is the leader the generator of the "spark", but each employee must assume their responsibility in creating the vision, and that is a commitment of each person. In his book, Senge transcribes from Ed Simon: “When we are immersed in a vision we know what to do. But often we don't know how to do it… ”, the person must be clear about where he is going. You may not know the way, but you have to know the goal, because that is the compass that guides you. In this regard there is an anecdote that may result:
"… they tell of Alexander the Great who once entered a tumultuous river, full of mud, from India, following the army that fought against him, and when he was in the middle the horses lost their feet, those waters were frozen, and he turned to his companions and he said: -You realize what I have to do so that you have respect for me… ”
It may seem whimsical but it is not. Despite having been Alejandro one of the most recognized military leaders in history, we could be picky and affirm that he was not a true leader, but neither more nor less than a great charismatic and a man with guts and reckless, but we well know that That is not enough to be a true leader.
Despite this, some characteristics that may be relevant should be highlighted, such as the respect that his army gave him, which possibly has been achieved as a result of Alexander always being in command of his armies. This attitude shows a clear commitment to ideas and that can be an important characteristic or feat for a leader. No less important is the fact that Alexander took the risk before his subordinates did, this gives him a significant degree of authority and surely earned him the admiration of his people. But the most important thing is that Alejandro always tried to convey with his example, his commitment.
It is now necessary to make a difference between "sharing" and "transmitting" since in some circumstances they can be confused. The vision must be shared, that is, it must be an integral part of each and every one of the people who make up the organization. On the contrary, if the vision is transmitted, people only adhere to it, but it is not part of their personality and there is no real commitment to goals.
In this regard, Senge has cataloged the different attitudes of people towards a vision:
| Commitment: | It seeks to materialize the vision and the necessary structures are created to fulfill it. |
| Enlistment: | The vision is accepted and what is expected of the person and more are done well. |
| Genuine compliance: | Some benefits of vision are seen. What is expected of the person within the structure is done. |
| Formal compliance: | The benefits are seen. It does what is expected and nothing else. |
| Reluctant compliance: | You don't see the benefits of vision, but you don't want to lose your job. |
| Disobedience: | The benefits are not seen and what is expected of the person is not done. |
| Apathy: | It is neither for nor against. There is neither interest nor energy. |
And it is advisable to have most people at a level of commitment or enlistment.
Fourth discipline: Team learning and group work
“Team learning is the process of aligning and developing the ability of a team to create the results that its members really want. It is built on the discipline of developing a shared vision. It is also built on personal domain, as talented teams are made up of talented individuals. ”Senge defines learning and group work, adding that they must also and fundamentally harmonize.
This harmony must be achieved between the two components of group learning: dialogue and discussion. It is convenient, in our vision, that they happen in that order.
Dialogue is the creative stage, where the members of the group should feel free to present their ideas and their points of view about the topics discussed. And the discussion is the stage of the debate where the ideas are exposed and they are put to a trial trying to arrive at an idea agreed by all the members.
It is important to differentiate between consensus and acceptance, because consensus is the generation of an idea based on the different positions expressed during dialogue and discussion, complemented by each other. And acceptance is a submission to an idea expressed by a member of the group, without discussion or dialogue.
There are some requirements so that the members of a group can work in a group. First, teams must learn to use the capacity of their members for group thinking. Second, each member must find a way to be complementary to their group partners. And third, they must seek their position in other groups.
It is important to mention that to reach team learning, the disciplines explained above must be incorporated. Because team learning presupposes the existence of individual learning (personal domain), a predisposition to listen to new ideas (mental models), and a goal that unifies the goals of the group (shared vision). Although a series of recommendations and techniques for group work could be listed, we will limit ourselves to only mentioning these questions of a more theoretical nature and not a decalogue of practical orientations.
The potential of group work is reflected in the physicist Heisenberg's statement quoted by Senge: “Science is rooted in conversations. The cooperation of various people can culminate in extremely important scientific results ”, this happens, logically, if there is an aptitude of the members for the generation of ideas through reflection, dialogue and discussion.
Second part: Quality in Argentina
In this second part we will try a critique of some policies followed in our country, based on the concepts expressed by Senge.
Undoubtedly, the topics covered in this second part are thorny, and we may not have all the necessary data to judge objectively, for this reason, this section has a high degree of subjectivity based on the authors who will be mentioned.
It is important to mention that we exclude from the discussion all the factors related to national politics, so as not to make the treatment of the issues even more thorny.
The problems
There are an endless number of socio-labor problems in our country, but to simplify our analysis we will refer to two that are encompassing many others:
- Unemployment
- The competitiveness
Unemployment
Regarding the first problem, we will consider two extremely important factors in this regard. The first is small and medium-sized companies, which in order to measure the impact it has on the economy, it is enough to inform yourself with the following data: “… in 1994 3.5 million new jobs were created, the vast majority of them in companies that had less than four employees… ”, the data is given by Alvin Toffler, speaking of the United States. In our country, SMEs close their doors due to the loss of productivity and competitiveness, and on the other hand, they do nothing to remedy their situation.
In some responses that are often heard from the mouths of small and medium entrepreneurs are basically the same:
- "The only way to reduce costs is by laying off personnel"
- "It is difficult to certify because there are many demands and in the end they do not work"
- "It is very difficult to certify in a small company because it has no capital"
Beneath these responses are certain ideas:
1) There is a great fear of change, because there is no one to guarantee a good result.
2) Many people prefer to close the doors before reorganizing their companies.
3) In many occasions they fire personnel believing that it is to reengineer or worse still they do reengineering wrongly.
Some conclusions follow from this:
1) Many of the entrepreneurs are reluctant to change because they have become accustomed to archaic mental models, in which power is centralized in one boss and the rest follow orders.
2) SME entrepreneurs lack information, and this is aggravated because they do not seek it.
3) People who run SME companies are not trained to do it, sometimes they turn to consultants, they do not solve their underlying problems, and they begin to depend on consultants.
With respect to the first point, Tagliavini defines the entrepreneur based on his functions as follows: “… the entrepreneur's role is eminently creative, so that not even the entrepreneurs themselves know what kind of creation will be the result of their actions. And, precisely, that ignorance is what gives meaning to the business function, because it has a valid meaning of the gathering of information that allows us to get closer to perfection. Consequently, it is precisely what is not known (and, consequently, cannot be planned) that is worth, the legitimacy, of the entrepreneur's activity. ”, We share this definition, we agree that the entrepreneur must be a reckless person who risks with the guarantee of his vision, but obviously the entrepreneurs do not understand it that way.If there is no change, there is no adaptation, but it is clear that many people refuse to change, and do not even want to see it, and unfortunately the time that does not change passes over it.
Regarding the second and third point, the consultant Jorge Macazaga says that “One of the criticisms of the concept of reengineering in the past is that it analyzed what added value, and then computerized it appropriately. But the organization, structurally, did not accompany the change. ", Then it gives the impression that technology replaces people when in reality it is not so, but that technology is a tool at the service of people. (Later we will refer to the fact of accompanying change.)
In the same field, the organization of work in a vertical structure is usually insisted, without having a global vision of the process or the organization. An example given by Macazaga is the following: “A situation that is frequently seen in a private company is the process of receiving orders, invoicing, delivering and collecting, which crosses different areas. When a photo of it is obtained, inconsistencies are frequently seen, despite having the best software installed: people receiving saturated orders and others within the process without workload, information errors that are discovered downstream in the process, great times between reception and collection. Where one of the fundamental causes of these follies is that the process is horizontal and the organization is vertical; each department behaves in a feudal way,optimizing its performance, but without a general conception of the company. ” It can be seen in this example, the lack of basic concepts regarding quality by the people who administer the procedures. Whoever leads in this way is not fully capable of managing a change towards an intelligent organization. So, showing off his lack of intelligence, he fires personnel in the areas where “he is left over” and tries to speed up the process where there is a lack of personnel, causing an enormous number of errors in the employees, which he will also dismiss for having a large number of errors.Whoever leads in this way is not fully capable of managing a change towards an intelligent organization. So, showing off his lack of intelligence, he fires personnel in the areas where “he is left over” and tries to speed up the process where there is a lack of personnel, causing an enormous number of errors in the employees, which he will also dismiss for having a large number of errors.Whoever leads in this way is not fully capable of managing a change towards an intelligent organization. So, showing off his lack of intelligence, he fires personnel in the areas where “he is left over” and tries to speed up the process where there is a lack of personnel, causing an enormous number of errors in the employees, which he will also dismiss for having a large number of errors.
We mentioned earlier that we were going to analyze two factors in relation to unemployment, the first was SMEs, and the second is immigration from neighboring countries. The problem of our country, like other countries, "is the ability to place human capital in a stable labor context." This fact is not closely related to immigration but it certainly aggravates it, because it is clear that the last movements towards our country have been of people not too qualified to carry out tasks, and certainly people who are trained are needed (on the contrary of the phenomenon that Spain is proposing today). To solve this problem, it is very clear that all people must be trained, and we will deal with this issue more deeply when we refer to competitiveness.
The competitiveness
This second problem is closely related to the first, in fact we have already mentioned this topic previously.
The competitiveness of companies has become a problem because, as Rummier and Brache diagnose, "there is an increasing demand by consumers for a higher quality of products and services" and "a shortage of some critical resources", for example, trained personnel for some quality tasks.
There are also two topics that we will deal with referring to competitiveness: reorganization and training.
Regarding the first, Michel Hammer in his book Beyond Reengineering proposes that: “… the organization also accompanies the process. Instead of vertical areas, the proposal is to form structural units, each one based on a process and a sectorization of customers and products. An organization where people (from previously different areas) help each other, information flows and, therefore, errors are small and quickly discovered. A true mini-company, facing the customer where customization is possible, thanks to the one-to-one relationship between each mini-company and its group of customers… ”. This is apparently the opposite trend to that seen on the street, where businesses tend to depersonalize customer service.
With this concept of mini-company, Macazaga indicates what is the way to evaluate, assuming that "… people are now entrepreneurs, measured by their results and not by the amount of monotonous transactions made…", which is certainly the best way to evaluate. But there is also a deeper and more interesting concept, related to authority and responsibility: "It is a decentralization of responsibilities, deeper than normal, where true power (and also responsibility) is in each mini-organization", this is endorsed by Toffler, who says: “It used to be thought that in any company the people at the top had the best information and therefore had the broadest picture of what was happening and were the ones who really understood the company. Today the reality is reverse:the problems faced at the lower levels are so complex that the people at the top cannot understand what is happening at the base and therefore must delegate more decision-making power. ”
This is clearly related to group work, which also brings us to the problem of interdepartmental relations to which Toffler refers as follows: “Hierarchical information systems are changing and must be modified to have systems that make it possible that any person in the company can access any other unit, that can skip hierarchy levels and go to work with other departments, so that the structure of the company changes… ", Rummier and Brache add"… the directors of companies (especially those of the highest level) should focus their attention as much, or more, on the flow of products, documents and information, between departments, than on the activity carried out within the different departments… ”, and Macazaga referring to this reorganization,He finds that “this type of reorganization also leads to higher productivity, which means that more things can be done with the same original group of people. ”, Directly related to the topics previously discussed (unemployment). It is clear then that productivity can be increased without reducing the number of employees, that is to say that the product will increase if we use a rational production and organization system. This is to improve the competitiveness of the company.that is to say, the product will increase if we use a rational production and organization system. This is to improve the competitiveness of the company.that is to say, the product will increase if we use a rational production and organization system. This is to improve the competitiveness of the company.
The second point, training, is essential to be able to reorganize. To reorganize, you must have two main elements, a leader and trained personnel to work with quality systems.
Di Comite and De Candia point out that it is of utmost importance "the distribution of university headquarters and higher education centers, this is an advantage that must be taken advantage of…" There is no doubt that universities are the source of human capital par excellence. But there are still some details that we must take into consideration.
Although there is good technical training in universities, there are some shortcomings that we believe can be remedied. The lack of group work is notable, but on the other hand it is logical, because there is no installed vocation or practice of discussion and dialogue, much less of reflection. In our opinion, this is a mania based on the exaggerated attitude for aggressive discussion and the imposition of ideas by force. To this is added a general ignorance about a huge number of subjects, and an unconditional resistance to reading.
Another conflict factor for quality work is the difficulty to communicate, because there are a large number of professionals (and future professionals) who do not express themselves correctly, who cannot read correctly, who do not understand the spoken language correctly and sometimes do not they know how to speak.
Under these conditions, it is very difficult to share a vision, to find a high goal when there is a lack of thought, to visualize leadership conditions when ambitions are lacking, to identify mental models when the models are not mature, and to work in groups when the concerns are individual.
On the other hand, there is no interest from employers in training, no training plans are developed according to the needs of the employees and the company.
Usually it tends to err at the leverage point of training plans. The emphasis is on reduced and technical training, and people are not trained in the basic and fundamental areas of quality. In this way, the growth possibilities of the groups and the company are limited, the possibilities of self-improvement are also limited, and finally the effective development of organizations is limited.
Although the conclusions were already expressed in a timely manner, a sentence could be tried as a final conclusion:
To make quality, ideas must be dialogued, problems should be discussed, solutions must be thought and reflected, and consequent action must be taken with conviction and commitment.
Bibliography and Comments
- Senge, Peter, "The fifth discipline", Ediciones Granica, Barcelona, Spain. (1992) Toffler, Alvin, Newspaper article published in "La Nación" on May 21, 2000, entitled: "Another revolution" Deming, "Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness" Di Comite, Luigi and De Candia, Michele, "Occupazione e presenza straniera ”article published by the Università degli Studi di Bari, Cacucci Editore, Bari, 1998. Macazaga, Jorge, Newspaper article published in“ El Cronista ”on March 23, 2000, entitled:“ The new reengineering ”Tagliavini, Alejandro, Newspaper article published in "El Cronista" on February 2, 2000, entitled: "What industrial policy" GARummier and APBrache, "How to improve performance in the company", Ediciones Deusto, Buenos Aires, Argentina. (1993)
Both Tagliavini and GARummier and APBrache were not considered in their entirety, nor conceptually. Despite this, it can be considered that GARummier and APBrache are people with some experience for being partners in the Rummier-Brache Group consultancy, and they can be considered despite the fact that many of their ideas are not to our liking. Undoubtedly, it is convenient to read this book being very clear about what a quality system is, because otherwise it could cause conceptual confusion.
This statement that seems very simple to "get to the truth", in reality it is not, because we could ask ourselves, what is the truth ?, if the truth is nothing other than the personal vision of reality, and going to a new terrain philosophical, if the truth is not the reality seen with the prejudices and preconceptions of humans
This expression "personal ambition" deserves an explanation, because ambition is often understood as an excessive desire that is usually interpreted in a negative sense. We believe that ambitions are deep and positive feelings as long as they are suitably managed by those who feel it.
With respect to this topic, the Maslow pyramid or scale is a very important evaluation and organization instrument. Observing the pyramid, it should be identified that prior to self-realization, or personal achievements, there are previous steps such as identification with a group of belonging and the respect and admiration of peers, which are elements that must be achieved before the development of personal mastery.
In "The Fifth Discipline", an enumeration of some problems that may arise from the unfortunate implementation of the discipline of the personal domain is made, and observing them quickly it can be distinguished that in the given examples the people who are somehow traumatized by the implementation of this discipline, they simply suffer abrupt leaps in the Maslow scale (Ex: a person who is paid a pittance of salary and does not worthily cover his basic physiological needs, cannot be asked to feel fulfilled by the work that does).
We know well from experiences in the field of engineering that powerful tools tend to be risky due to the low use that some ingenious people usually give them. To give a clear example, the Chernobyl tragedy is a clear example of negligence in the use of useful and powerful technology, beyond the coincidence or dissent that one has with the use of nuclear energy.
We could say that this is Platonic philosophy, the truth is not in people's sight simply because it is ideal. Reality is a reflection of that unique ideal universal truth to which we have no access, and we are condemned, as "cavemen", to see the realities that our mental models show us.
It is worth noting that we believe that operators must actively participate in the structuring and development of training plans, mainly in the technical area, but not in areas of higher levels of complexity where knowledge is required that is sometimes not required. the hand of the operators.
This potential difference can be considered an analogy with creative tension, one seen from a personal perspective (creative tension) and the other from an organizational perspective.
Anecdote related by Prof. Antonio Escohotado in the song “Never is the Same” by Andrés Calamaro.
Of course, this statement does not devalue the exploits of Alexander the Great, but on the contrary, it is much more meritorious. On the other hand, this should not be interpreted as an attempt at "historical revision", because I am not really capable of doing it.
Alvin Toffler is the author of the book "The Third Wave".
Alejandro Tagliavini is an Engineer
Jorge Macazaga is the director of Macazaga and associates.
It is important to repeat that this is an analysis fundamentally based on experiences from another country, and that under no point of view do we promote the prohibition of immigration to our country.
Appreciation of Di Comite and De Candia of the University of Bari. (see Bibliography and Comments)
It should be noted that Argentines are well accustomed to the imposition of ideas by force, but we believe that a change in the “mental model” is possible.
In a qualitative survey within the faculty, very few students read about subjects that are not related to technique, and far fewer do they consider philosophy, psychology, sociology, and other areas of study related to behaviors. and human creations, are science.
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