Where are you in your cycle?

I have a client, I call him the quality guy. Not because of who he is but because he works in the Quality department of a large industrial company. And I help him with his business English. Cause I am all business.

Anyway, we met this week and had an interesting quality conversation. And I learned all about The Deming Cycle. Has anyone heard of this?

The Deming cycle or PDSA cycle:

PLAN: plan ahead for change. Analyze and predict the results.

DO: execute the plan, taking small steps in controlled circumstances.

STUDY: (CHECK) , study the results.

ACT: take action to standardize or improve the process.

I must be honest. In my pre-new-me days, I would've been all over this thing. In those days when the clamouring was just a murmur and chaos was not my constant companion.

So what's my new cycle? Find freedom in structure. Find order in change. Find discipline in discovery. Find structure in freedom. Find change in order. Find discovery in discipline.

Wish me luck.

On never saying never

I was one of those people before. You know the kind, the kind with strong opinions and decisive answers and categorical statements. We'll chalk it up to too many years of graduate school. There may be a few of you out there who would claim that those tendencies pre-dated graduate school but you'd be totally wrong, of course.

But from here on out, you have my word, my vehement, know-it-all and must-have-the-last word, I'm done. As of late, I've had to eat too many of those last words, regret too many strong opinions, contradict too many decisive answers and hugely qualify too many categorical statements.

You'll see. I'm going to be positively wishy-washy. All flexible and tolerant and reserved and contemplative.

I swear.