People who can’t see above their steering wheels are like those people who have the fastest cutting edge PC then use it for sending emails and word processing. I’m still making use of my 2.53 Ghz machine and have only recently upgraded to a TFT monitor after years of staring enviously at the have’s. I was driving home crammed in Sharons little tiny 106 when I saw the biggest, almost tardis like, car you could imagine with a head poking just above the steering wheel ramping it up down the middle of the road - and it was me that had to pull almost onto the kerb to let them by.

Life is a strange beast at the best of times and often throws you a curve-ball or two, and sometimes a number of them at the same time. Fire-fighting through the daily grind aiming to attempt to make a difference when those around you have allotted you the slot of ‘IT guru’ and assume you have little else to say about anything equates, for me at least, to said curve-balls. I’ve lost count of the times when I’ve made what I believe to be a reasonably sound business suggestion only to be shot down in flames for daring to see out of the box (or look above the parapit as its been put). This wouldn’t be too bad if it wasn’t rubbed in your face by the company employing consultants to tell them exactly the same thing but this time their suggestions are met by those on high as golden nuggets of wisdom raining down from heaven.

Businesses seem to like collecting information. Sup that data up. Wring it through Excel and squeeze it into charts and such for later presentation in Powerpoint and colour print-outs adorning reports and walls to tell everyone that ‘hey - there’s this problem going on and we’re going to collect all the information we can about it’. They stop short of actually resolving the issue and instead have meetings to discuss better ways of collecting the information.

Me, I say sort the problem out when it occurs. You don’t need endless reams of paper trending the problem - get it sorted. Stop logging it in Excel and Charting it daily. Get out there and ask the people first hand what the hell is going on. These people often can tell you clearly and succintly that the waste was caused by this problem or that problem. If product isn’t of good enough quality then don’t put it into boxes and don’t store it on shelves. Find out what the problem is and fix it. There and then. Don’t say “Well we’ll have a meeting tomorrow to discuss our strategy going forward” - cancel your meetings today and get people down on the shop floor - let them see the problem and say “People - what are we going to do about this product problem?” then do it. I often refer to the need for Production Police - reporting directly to the Sales or Marketing Director. Some people refer to these as QA or QC. In our company we’re told that ‘Quality should be inherent in everything that everyone does’. Nice words. Doesn’t solve the problem though does it? If people were walking around Production sticking their face into boxes or checking print alignment or clarity and stopping machines to prevent rubbish getting into the process then isn’t that valuable. Can’t you now say “Quality is inherent in everything we do - and if it isn’t Quality then WE DONT DO IT”.