Beethoven’s Fifth and ISO 9001:2015—An Expert’s ViewComments on the current committee draft
Wed, 10/09/2013 - 12:55
First published Oct. 1, 2013, on the CERM Risk Insights blog. © Umberto Tunesi and CERM Risk Insights.
It isn’t Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. I wish it were. It’s the committee draft (CD) of ISO 9001:2015, or model No. 5, if you prefer. No connection… A Simple Exercise to Identify Critical PathsThere are logistical challenges to even the most simple processes
Mon, 09/30/2013 - 15:56
Let’s imagine that, because we move to a different city to keep our job, we want to buy or rent a small flat, and that the landlord is astute enough to put us to a test. If we pass it, the sales price or the rent rate will be discounted by 10… FlowgisticsPredicting the where and when of quality
Mon, 09/09/2013 - 09:26
I’m a fan of logistics, and as many kids do, I love water, too. I’m fascinated by how rivers move, how underwater streams move, how winds move. I’m fascinated by any kind of stream, even intangible, process-based ones.
I do understand the… Asleep at the WheelA circular metaphor about designing standards
Fri, 08/23/2013 - 15:57
Stone Age men, so the story goes, got the wheel inspiration by observing trees rolling downhill. So they sliced trees and fit the rounds they got to their sleds, to move them faster and with less effort. In so doing, they also invented carts while… Effective Audit Reporting and CommunicationEarth speaking to Mars via Venus
Mon, 08/12/2013 - 09:07
In a world where appetizers often are more important than the meals themselves, repeated information and news can become boring. That is, what appears to be new attracts more than what actually is new.
Effective reporting likewise suffers from… A Staircase With Uneven StepsDecision making is not purely rational
Fri, 07/19/2013 - 13:28
There’s no such a thing as a linear decision-making process. Some so-called quality gurus will pretend there is a one-to-one relationship between a decision and the time needed to make it. I mean no criticism to them, although I think they pay… Notus CalorFreedom of expression is a three-word phrase but one of the hardest to communicate
Wed, 05/08/2013 - 11:35
Remember your Latin? In the Aeneid Virgil used the phrase notus calor to describe what Hephaestus felt when he embraced his wife, Aphrodite. Think you know what it is now?
It means “familiar warmth.” Not passion. Not animal lust, as one might… A Tale of Two StandardsOr, why some partners are more equal than others
Mon, 04/22/2013 - 10:01
There’s something not really in tune with the meaning we commonly give to the word “partnership.” That is, the commonly understood definition that partners must be balanced, on the same level, rather than one above or below the other.
Partnership… Spring CleaningTime to take a look at what we’ve swept under the carpet
Thu, 04/11/2013 - 12:29
Spring has sprung, and as I was taught by my mother, it’s the time for major cleaning, preferably before Easter. My home’s floor and windows complain about my carelessness; Easter has passed, and they don't feel tidy. I told them that no resource… D-Day: The Decision-Making DilemmaWithout factual, operational decisions, we’re condemned to a binary world
Thu, 04/04/2013 - 11:27
In a world that every day becomes more and more volatile, uncertain, complex, controversial, and ambiguous, making any decision whatsoever is no light task.
We are told that long before Julius Caesar said, “Alea jacta est,” (“The die is cast”) or…
