Support for the Journey to Continuous Improvement

About

The intent of this site is to raise awareness on better methods for improving quality by reducing variation from the ideal in order to achieve a more perfect outcome. Reducing variation is the key to success in any aspect of life.  And the good news is that any individual or group that has made a successful change has reduced variation that is described using different terms.  An outline for Your Story.

Given the significant challenges facing America, better strategies are needed now more than ever to help address our political, cultural, and economic challenges. In addition to the internal challenges, we also must be competitive globally in a variety of areas: politically, militarily, and economically.

The internal conflict within America was recently reinforced by the debate between the 1776 Commissions Report as opposed to the perspective introduced by the 1619 Project.  The divide is further exacerbated by changing definitions and understanding of terms referenced by the political left and right that is illustrated in The AllSides Red Blue Dictionary.™

The United States system of government is unique in that it was designed to enable “We the People” to work together to reduce variation from the ideal of “a more perfect Union.” Early in our history, political parties emerged to help manage variation but have resulted in producing suboptimal results to the level that some have described as putting us at the brink of a second civil war. (See The Changing World Order, By Ray Dalio)

Positive change, renewal, revitalization, transformation can be supported through leadership that reinforces a shared vision, a common language, and a better method for determining when a change results in improvement:

  • Shared vision: Reducing variation from the ideal results in outcomes where everyone benefits or at least, are not any worse off in the long-term. The effect is that more needs are continually being met which reduces the harm on people when needs are not being met. 
  • Common language: Anyone that has made a successful change has applied the variation principle. using different terms. Knowledge of common and special causes of variation, stable (predictable) and unstable systems and processes can lead to more success. Common references to “systems and processes” are routines and habits. A common description of a predictable
    system is captured by the phrase: “If you always do what you always did, on average you will usually get what you always got.”
  • Common Method: Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Improvement Cycle. The PDSA cycle aligned with the four common components of any type of successful change: 
    • Motivation – Plan
    • Action – Do
    • Feedback – Study the effect of the change. 
    • Learning – Act. 

Introduction and Background

My name is Timothy (Tim) J. Clark.  I am semi-retired and volunteer my time in support of community development and economic sustainability. I also work to improve the quality of local government services. I retired from the Department of Defense with over 35 years of civil service. I served an enlistment in the U.S. Army, attended college on the GI Bill, received a direct commission into the National Guard, and retired from the Reserves after 30 years of service. I have a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s in public administration, and a master’s in strategic studies.  I served over three years on active duty after 911.  

I am an administrator on the Facebook Group – Brown County Matters. I also maintain a website – Independent Voters of Brown County IN that I use to collect and share information primarily on county issues and challenges.

My career specialty and passion was and is in the area of quality management. In 1988, I had the opportunity to attend a 4-day seminar conducted by W. Edwards Deming. Deming was a student and colleague of Dr. Walther Shewhart. In 1924, Shewhart developed a new concept and techniques for managing variation. The methods were classified during WWII and declassified after the war. They were first taught to the Japanese by Americans that included Homer Sarasohn as well as  Deming. The methods were later expanded and adopted worldwide. Unfortunately, after the war, the methods were neglected by American manufactures but rediscovered in the late 1970s.  

Deming was among the first to recognize the significance of Shewhart’s paradigm. He provided application examples in his books – Out of the Crisis and The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education. Deming’s contributions were recognized in U.S. News and World Report as one of the nine hidden turning points in world history and in FORTUNE Magazine as among the greatest contributions in business history.  

“If I had to reduce my message for management to just a few words,
I’d say it all has to do with reducing variation”  – W. Edwards Deming