This four-part article explores the nature of truth through the prism of quality, mass media, culture, and art. In part one, we posed the question of why truth matters, and considered how the quality professional’s toolkit can help mine mountains of data to uncover hidden nuggets of meaningful information. Here, in part two, we delve into how media helps and hurts in the quest for truth. Continue reading
Life is like that. We are all dealt a collection of genes that is a random mixture of the genes of our parents. Each individual collection of genes gives its owner a set of advantages and disadvantages.
When innovation is truly adopted as a value everyone in the organization will be encouraged to take ownership and an active interest in its evolution.
At Bechtel, innovation is clearly captured in in our Vision, Values, and Covenants, and like safety, quality, integrity, diversity, and inclusivity, it is widely regarded within our organization as everyone’s responsibility. Continue reading
The reliable performance of a system is important. It is important to the customer, to our business and to us.
Very few argue that we should ignore the reliability characteristics of a product. We also deem cost, time to market or feature set as important also. The trouble is we can measure the latter directly every day, where the reliability performance is often difficult to measure. Continue reading
The quest for truth is as old as our species, and likely far older. Organisms have always used misdirection, misrepresentation, and outright deception to get what they want and need, whether it be food, shelter, or mates. Modern humans, however, show a particular affinity for fabrication. For some, lying is a pastime, an entertainment; for others, it’s a sign of emotional illness, a compulsion. Continue reading