I am a chemical engineer by education and training. Therefore, some might expect me to work with numbers, but I don’t. Early in my career, after spending a few years in research and development (R&D) labs, I took a road that has led me to inspect and audit organizations for their continuous or semi-continuous chemical processes.

I am therefore now quite a stranger to mathematics, as are the vast majority of people. Perhaps, if mathematicians would take the trouble to measure the root causes of the failure to transfer their beloved knowledge to common people, then more of us would look at the world through the prism of figures, formulas, and measurement.

Measurement allows us to base our management systems on precise data, and to take action accordingly. That’s the theory, at least. However, no matter how accurate your data are, there will always be somebody who will trash them, because they do not fit his vision. You see, it is my experience that in reality, many management decisions are taken based on assumptions, and poor assumptions at that. These assumptions often increase waste and inefficiency instead of reducing it.

Why is this so? Why are so many bad decisions continually being made—decisions that destroy quality instead of enhancing it? Let me answer that question by asking another: How often do you find the concept of “humility” being taught in management training courses?

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