Appraisal or Prevention! What's better?

In-process inspection inside a company is typically a 'cost of appraisal' for the company. 

Is the same true for a supplier, for her 'visit to customer for in-process inspection while installing the supplies' at customer's end as a part of the supplier's process!?

It's True, the said installation being a part of the process of the supplier company. 

It's, however, a 'cost of external failure' for the supplier if installation is customer's responsibility and she finds a defect/error in supplies while doing so. Otherwise, it's the 'cost of prevention' for the customer. 

In either of the cases, be it appraisal or prevention, it is a COGQ (cost of good quality) anyway as a part of the COQ (cost of quality)!

One may have to strike a balance though, while deciding upon spending on the latter, meaning on the visit to customer as a part of the process itself, especially in case of high-impact high-value industrial products. 

In any case, the COGQ in general and the other 'costs of prevention' in-house, in particular, may prove to be most beneficial and highly profitable at that.

Why not try validating this statement by calculating the components of Cost of  Quality, for a failed item that reached your customers in past!

Calculating the Cost of Quality (both the COPQ & COGQ), classifying the corresponding components as Tangible (Visible) Costs & Hidden Costs, and comparing them might help.

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Do You Force Customers To Quit
In-a-problem ? No-problem! Dwell-a-while!
Customer or Custo-Mer ?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Do you keep curing your brand ?  
A customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality!  
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value ?  
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?  
The Business Of Businesses 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily 
Does recognition really matter 
That's How Morons Work
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity

India won! But Indians lost!

Time to celebrate for Indian cricket team!

The team had completed a mission!!

India had won the 20:20 international series 2-1 against England!!!

The team had completed their tasks over-over-the-over, over-on-over I mean!

Forgetting their own assigned duties and tasks over-on-over, the restaurant staff however in a star hotel seemed to have got distracted by the over-on-over excellent performance of the Indian cricket team.

Most of them gathered around the TV watching the prize ceremony instead of being around customers, except a trainee female staff alone catering to a couple of tables.

Indifference of the manager and staff was strikingly noticeable especially when it was an a-la-carte day instead of a buffet dinner.

Couldn't they've been a little proactive each by a smiling eye-contact with customers! Hardly a  couple of tables were occupied though!

Looking at the TV screen following in the footsteps of her leader seniors, even the trainee staff was found to be filling water in the glass or picking up yet-to-be-finished plate without the consent of the customer! A Waste!!

Can you imagine the Cost-Of-Poor-Quality (COPQ) or rather the Cost-Of-Poor-Service (COPS) of such behaviour in the industry such as Hospitality where the behaviour itself is more important along with the hard quality of course!

Staff busy watching match

Customer fetching her own batch

No one around to catch

That's my Haiku poem dedicated to such Lose-Win behaviour where Indians lost while India won!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Do You Force Customers To Quit
In-a-problem ? No-problem! Dwell-a-while!
Customer or Custo-Mer ?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Do you keep curing your brand ?  
A customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality!  
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value ?  
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?  
The Business Of Businesses 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily 
Does recognition really matter 
That's How Morons Work
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity

Mission Zero-Plastic!

Are dustbin bags, sticky bags, half liter water bottle, etc. banned?

Political posters in flex material are not penalised! So does it mean flex material is exempt selectively? Or is political fraternity exempt from discipline?

Do you mean to say citizens should carry steel vessels to buy milk, meat, fish, etc. all the way to their workplaces so that they can shop on their way back home after a long day?

Don't you think exempting branded packaged goods and foods in plastic is discriminatory to small businesses?

Such and many other doubts began circulating on WhatsApp as the plastic ban was announced by the State of Maharashtra.

If such confusion was expected by design as a strategy then it's a good move by the administrators.

Good because such confusion forces people to think intentionally as it has happened already. As a result, people have at least begun thinking of alternatives out of fear of punishment though.

But targeting to achieve any (Zero-Plastic kind of) result measures without enabling the corresponding processes in place always have had serious implications with associated costs. Time and again this has got proven by itself.

In Nagpur, for instance, out of fear some people got rid of banned plastic bags by dumping them in rivulets.

If such confusion, however, is by chance then there's a bigger worry.

Bigger worry because it might mean, there's a lack of well-designed time-bound plan, also lack of the design to execute the ban itself holistically expecting it to aim Zero-Plastic target! In fact, adequate design learning from others (especially from countries successful in handling the plastic menace) is the first step in any such project. Bigger worry because lack of meticulousness in such initiatives usually leads to sub-optimisation harming the nobility of the purpose itself.

Unless every stakeholder gets mindfully engaged in averting the plastic-pollution-menace and the forthcoming disaster therefrom, the costs of the short term approaches towards it will get out of control. There's a need to take a relook at it in order to scrutinise the blanket-ban, if any, if not done so already.

Better also to be innovative on making the recycling more effective. Not only does the arrest of the plastic need to be at manufacturing level but also at desire-based or want-based consumption level. A pictorial do-don't will go a long way in preventing the confusion among the users and the administrators.

In any case the Zero-Plastic target is an arduous task at least in near future since for some applications cost effective substitute is yet to get invented.

Sustainability of the planet is the priority number-1 but the ban itself needs to be sustainable for that!

Here's my 140 character Tweet plan of action (POA) revolving around the Kaizen technique: *MISER!

Be a MISER stakeholder on Plastic!

MINDFUL of enabling process to evolve Zero-Plastic result!
INNOVATE packaging!
SCRUTINISE blanket-ban!
ELIMINATE production!
REDUCE, REUSE! Collect to RECYCLE!

(*MISER: Minimise. Improvise. Simplify. Eliminate. Reduce.) 

Old-Problems, New-Reasons !

There is a vast difference between the two phrases; 

One; Old-Problems-New-Reasons and, 

Two; Old-Problems-Old-Causes or Old-Problems-New-Causes.

Former reflects upon the attitude towards solving problems. 

The latter pertains to the approach towards solving problems.

Same pothole on same footpath, same time of the day, but on a different day ... a different pedestrian falls and gets injured! 

Same municipal officer gives a different reason for the same (fall in the pothole) problem instead of uprooting its causes! This reflects upon the attitude towards solving problems. 

Take another recurring problem: 

Bottleneck due to garbage thrown around the same spot (Gemba) on road causing traffic jam almost every day. 

'Crying' people, both the affected (customers) as well as the problem-solvers (from supplier-side), react with different excuses in order to 'reason out' the same old problem although it recurs due to same old causes.

Problem-solvers with positive approach, instead, dive deep in order to objectively analyse and quickly act upon the corresponding findings. They don't rest until they find out the causes of the recurrence of old causes or occurrence of new causes, if any. 

They ask 'why' the cause recurred .. 'why' it got repeated. 

They do this why-why until the root causes are unearthed and eliminated. This approach is about taking a corrective action, which is supposed to prevent recurrence of the problem. 

Preventive approach to dive deep into locating additional opportunities elsewhere in order to prevent occurrence itself of similar problems due to similar causes is called as proactivity! Problem-solvers with positive attitude and proactive approach do this!

Presumption in the latter exercise is that the proactivity of previous researchers might have had limitations in adequately predicting occurrence of the problems, the failure modes thereof as well as possible errors.

Both the proactive and preventive approaches warrant the problem solvers: One, to be time bound in executing appropriate actions and two, to review them in order to prevent those causes from recurring by installing error-proof (Pokayoke Kaizen) mechanisms; both with a sense of urgency!

Isn't it good then not to be among the people giving New-Reasons for Old-Problems with Old-Causes: the Foolish Behaviour quadrant!

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Prevention: The Best Cure! ... Is it really so?
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms !
When Safety Becomes Sorry 
Drove To Hell ... Almost !  
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 
Take Habits For A Ride 
How Many Times Do You Wash Hands
In a Problem?: No Problem ! Dwell A While !!
Part-1
In-big-problem? Wear-hats-to-solve-it! Part-2
How To Make A Difference
Big-Be Or Bug-Be !
A Ride To Hell
Make checklists your friends
Nauseous Communication Gaps
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam!
Will It Work Here? 
That's How Morons Work
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable
Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 
Wish To Be Planet-Friendly?: Save! 
Waste-to-eat-sea-to-drink
Don't Save Water on Holi-day
Be Shame-less Or Water-less

Who Comes First: Consumer Or Customer ?

Other day in one of my sessions, the marketing staff complained about (false) sale of some products. The goods sold by the company a couple of years ago were still lying in near-unpacked condition at buyer's end. The new staff at their client company appeared non-cooperative when the seller approached to effect a new sale.

The objective of the training workshop was to improve sales revenue. The case under study turned out to be one of a wrong-sale.

Why were the goods lying in near-unpacked condition for so long?

Because the user didn't find it fit-for-use.

Why?
Because the order was finalized by purchase manager without adequate involvement of the end-user.

What had happened was the seller knew the purchase manager who happened to have 'influence' on closing the deal. So he used his relationship to materialise the order.

In the process the real user got ignored.

Not only does ego of the user gets hurt due to such indifference but also some opportunities get lost.

Opportunity to understand real needs: the voices of grassroot level customers.
Opportunity to design-in such voices in order to make the offering robust.
Opportunity to outdo competition through customized offering.
Opportunity to enhance relationship.
Opportunity to create 'word-of-mouth' publicity advocates reinforced through delightful experience of the offering.

All this loss at the cost of loss of future business.

Buyer's management might succeed in forcing the end-user to use bought goods particularly if it's a costly capital equipment. But such forceful 'selling' calls for some long-term Costs-Of-Poor-Quality (COPQ): Costs due to reluctance to use. Costs of wrong use. Costs due to inadequate serving of purpose. Costs of sour relationships among people within and without.

All this waste because of overselling or inadequate selling.

What's the learning?

Understand the difference between Consumer and Customer! End-user of the pen or pencil, the child for instance, is the consumer. Buyer, the parents, are the customer.

Consider the voice of consumer regarding functional use (her needs) first while designing an offering.

Do consider the voice of customer as well in order to design-in peripheral aspects of the offering as well as nuts and bolts of the corresponding buying process: the wants.

Sometimes however the role of consumer as well of the customer may be played by the same personality.

In any case, she might take presence of both the needs and wants for granted as a 'must'. But the seller/marketeer can't afford to because the absence of both surely won't be taken for granted individually nor jointly by both the consumer as well as the customer.

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-1)
Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-2)
Functional-Aesthetics
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling
How To Make A Difference
Nauseous Communication Gaps
Judge If It's Paralysis-By-Analysis
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily
Does recognition really matter
Customer or Custo-Mer ? 
Experienced A Delightful Payment !
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul
Do you keep curing your brand ? 
A customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality! 
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers
Do You Force Customers To Quit
Should one care for value ? 
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms !
Do You Ask Right Questions ? 
Talk In Order To Listen! 

Forgive Or Don't?

Forgiveness is the Economics of Heart..
It Saves the Expense of Anger
The Cost of Hatred
The Wastage of Peaceful Moments &
Gives You Profits on Smiles..

The above whatsapp that I received gives the message to: Forgive And Forget!

True..!
Lovely tangible and intangible cost-benefit analysis it offers.

But it's difficult for me to forgive someone slapping me, arriving from the 'blue', apparently for no reason. One shouldn't tolerate itunless of course it's sensed as a God-sent one.

In the latter case my action is to Forgive. In case of the former it is to: Forgive But Don't Forget. Because history 'says' if you do (forget) and stay indifferent, more 'slaps' come back in search of you for 'no reason'.

Decades ago, doors of Sydenham commerce college got 'banged' on me. When some close some do open. Some for the better. Those of Ruparel college opened with many more thereafter. 
The 'slap' proved to be God-sent!

In engineering college, someone ridiculed my looks. I learnt to differenciate among Functional, Aesthetic and Functionally-Aesthetic look/s.
The 'slap' proved to be God-sent!

There were many more 'slaps' even in my professional life. Sometimes due to inadvertent mistakes. All of those made me stronger and wiser.
The 'slaps' proved to be God-sent!

Day-by-day, I've been trying to get WISER to know the difference!

P. S. You may take a tests of wisdom for the 'slaps' in case of situations in the blogposts listed in the end.

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 
Functional-Aesthetics 
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 
Take Habits For A Ride 
How To Make A Difference 
Big-Be Or Bug-Be ! 
Make checklists your friends  
Drove To Hell ... Almost ! 
Nauseous Communication Gaps 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam! Will It Work Here?  
Some Moron ! Some Great !!!  
That's How Morons Work
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable 
Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass  
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy 
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?
Do you know a Best-Career-Plan 
Take your career in fast lane!
Succession-Plans In Fast Lane!  
In-a-problem? No-problem! Dwell-a-while!
Success-or-failure! What-do-you-like? 
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully 
Do You Ask Right Questions?  
Overworked? Tension? CPU of the mind hung-up? 
No Time? Micro-Meditate!  
Talk In Order To Listen!  
Eternally Happy! 
What You See Isn't What's Made 
Am I 'Short-sighted' or 'Long-sighted'?  
Deity is in the eyes of the beholder 

Functional-Aesthetics

"Almost all crime is due to the repressed desire for aesthetic expression." Evelyn Waugh English Writer. 

The concept in this blogpost was triggered by a picture that I saw painted on a wall of Rail Museum in Mysore.

It said: Way to Maharani (Queen) Saloon!

At its first sight, I was reminded of a term usually misspelled in India, Saloon for Salon: the term for a barber's shop.

I wondered what had the painting to do with the rail exhibits. In the wildest imagination, I could think of its links, if at all any, with the hairdressing of Queens of the dynasties in palaces of Mysore and around.

I found myself wrong after looking around for a while. I found the real Saloon. A part of the rail carriage was exhibited there. It was devoted to seated relaxation combined with a dining table: The Saloon!

Anyway, let me take an about-turn now. Let me expand on the thought that occurred to me at the sight of this picture at this site.

Why do people go to a salon: a barber's shop?

Some go for their Functional 'Needs'.
Some go for their Aesthetic 'Wants'.
Some go for "Functional-Aesthetics": This is the term & the concept that had instantaneously occurred to me then at the sight of the painting.

I 'googled' for the term "Functional-Aesthetics" and giggled that it didn't exist.

What is Functional-Aesthetics?

Typically a haircut that's acceptable with reference to military norms is functional.

Actually long hair can be unhealthy as well as dangerous, both in military as well as in other contexts. In military setting in particular, additional reasons of their typical haircut could be to preempt accidents due to long hair, its maintenance, distractions or undesired attractions due to them if stylized, as the case may be, in the warfield. The functions that it is expected to serve makes it a functional haircut.

A funny haircut acceptable only to a small group of trendy people as a fad could be termed as purely aesthetic one. It's generally acceptable as a style for its funny aesthetics more than for the function that it's expected to serve if at all.

On the same lines, a haircut typically acceptable to school norms could fall in the category of Functional-Aesthetics.

In short, 'needs' that stand the tests of an acceptable system's logically acceptable judiciously balanced norms or standards or criteria could be termed as Functionally-Aesthetic.

'Wants or desires' that go beyond such logical norms or criteria could be termed as Aesthetic more than Functional, with reference to a given system. 

A style that adds substance to the function (that it is supposed to serve) without any extra cost to the offering nor to the ecology may also stand the test of being Functionally-Aesthetic: A shirt for instance bought for its extra-large pockets or additional pockets unconventionally located on its sleeve, say, in order to eliminate carrying an extra hand-bag. 

Paradoxically, a functionally-aesthtic offering to be on the right path of evolution should truly lead to multi-functionality in its usage with minimalist use of resources while at the same time simplistic-to-use, maintain & facilitate eco-friendly disposal as a part of its total lifecycle. 

Functionally-Aesthetic offering in general should 'sell' more in the longer run than purely Functional or purely Aesthetic one. Because it offers value; because it offers Total Quality to all its stakeholders. On the contrary, rest of the offerings necessarily need marketing 'push' & overselling too. Or in its absence, the purely Aesthetic may fail to exploit its full potential. 

A Lesson!

If you mindfully observe, you may find that the Mother Nature and its every design itself is Functionally-Aesthetic both in its form-and-fit. It's intelligently crafted Aesthetics! That's why everything natural from food-to-fossil is pure, beautiful, lean, value-adding and valuable. Hope human race strives to maintain it that way. Hope it draws a lesson or two to learn from (it) and invests its finite time in adding value to life rather than destroying it by incorporating the unwanted waste under the disguise of so-called Aesthetics.

Only way to do so is by arresting unneeded human activities and unwise choice/s for want/s that create a materialistic world. Spoiled choices in particular take one away from being Functionally-Aesthetic: The choices that are far from being sustainable!

Here's a MaiKu© poem while on the subject:

On way to queen's saloon
Imagination took off in balloon
Finally landed Saloon in Salon

©MaiKu Is My-Haiku
Freely ideate it's poetic rhymes
Any objective topic it chimes

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Do You Celebrate Mean-or-Green

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-1)

Aesthetics Spills-Over Function, Want Spills-Over Need (Part-2)

Should one care for value? 

Do you exercise your choice meaningfully

What You See Isn't What's Made

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable

Wish To Be Planet-Friendly?: Save! 

Less With More And More Gets Sore

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy

Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation

That's How Morons Work

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Eternally Happy

Eternally Happy: परमानंद

Elections on anvil for voters' will

Election on anvil
Drives political thrill
Snatches voters' will

With News-mill & Public-life-at-spill
Politicians relish a delicious kill
Without respite to electoral bill

Elections are on anvil.
Elections usually drive political mills that snatch voters' will.
Mushrooming News items drive people's businesses and boost marketing zeal.
It's an opportunity to spill public-life that provides politicians with a delicious kill.

One of the employees of a company I am associated with couldn't get renewal of license done. As a result the material that had governmental controls couldn't be available within desired time. It's operations got affected for over a month.

What is the loss and cost in the process?

Profitability of the suppliers affected.
Profitability of the supply-chain itself affected due to delayed supplies.
Inflation up due to enhanced demand-supply gap.
Reduced income to daily-waged labour.
Above all reduced income to national exchequer itself due to lost GDP numbers.

This is about corporate life that has impact on public-life as well in terms of inflation.

But what about direct hit to public-life due to absence of government staff in offices under the pretext of 'Election-Duty'.

Someone goes to rationing department and finds staff on 'Election-Duty'.
Someone goes to get domicile certificate and finds staff on 'Election-Duty'.
Someone goes to University department to find staff on 'Election-Duty'.
Someone goes to school to find even teaching staff on 'Election-Duty'.

Last year even exams got postponed around the vote-counting day. 

Under normal circumstances the machinery at least functions sometimes if you are ready to move your papers yourself from table to table for 'babu's signatures. Under circumstances such as 'Election-Duty', the machinery doesn't function even at snail's pace, that too officially. You may run from pillar to post. It'll all be in vain. 

All this at higher cost. Cost of wasted time. Cost of fuel and energy to run from pillar to post. Cost of overtime paid for Election-Duty. Cost of compensatory paid-holiday for Election-Duty. 

Not that staff loves Election-Duty for these benefits. In fact they don't. Because they have to report there in-time. Stay there full-time and do work: Search names, make slips, put stamps, take thumb impressions, tally the whole process, count votes, etc. etc. No 'escape' route. 

Anyway, why should public suffer at such extra cost? 

Isn't there a lot of scope for planning and organising? 

By the time we guess so, let's hope that the Voter-turnout improves and the voter votes for corruption-free governance, stability, growth and prosperity.

Here's a MaiKu© i. e. My-Haiku on elections.

Opposition in a nightmare
Over the glass that politicians share
Shaking hands on voter's care

In Marathi

घेउ तूला अन् मला
पण देउ नको त्याला
माथी राजकारणी खलबतं, हाती मद्दाचा प्याला

In Malvani (Konkani)

घेवया तूका आनि माका
पन घालू नको त्येका
दारूच्या गुत्तात राजकारणी सोडीना हेका

©MaiKu Is My-Haiku
Freely ideate it's poetic rhymes
Any objective topic it chimes

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

ABCD of India Shining

Do you know a Best-Career-Plan

Take your career in fast lane!

Succession-Plans In Fast Lane! 

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow

How To Make A Difference

Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis

Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam!

Some Moron ! Some Great !!!

That's How Morons Work

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Customer or Custo-Mer? 

An Experience of Heart-and-Soul

Less With More And More Gets Sore

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass

I am a miser!
Fool for others but unconventionally miser or a maverick for myself!!

Who is an unconventional-miser?: The one who follows principles of MISER: Minimize-Improvise-Simplify-Eliminate or Reduce waste. 

In fact my family members have borrowed MISER philosophy from me like a cuckoo brought up in a crow's nest would do. 

In order to REDUCE WASTE, the other day my wife got broken-strap-set of her slipper replaced instead of throwing it away. Actually only left-side-strap from the pair was broken. So she wanted to bring the right-side one back for future use as a backup and thereby REDUCE WASTE further on.

But the over-smart cobbler didn't give her any chance to implement her good intention. May be he wished to protect national pride from her 'miser' attitude. Before even she could complete her request, he chopped off both-side straps in split-second saying it would have otherwise damaged slot in the slipper had he tried to pull it off.

If he could insert new strap in the slot he could have easily removed the old one from it. Naturally because it was a rubber slipper with rubber-strap made of flexible material. Upto my engineering studies I couldn't afford any other footwear than a low-end slipper. So having done similar excercise not less than 100-times, I could have done what the cobbler was supposed to do perhaps more skillfully. 

What is the learning?

This is a case of breaking window-glass and then suggesting to replace it without bothering costs of it to the country's economy. Some businesses do use such a strategy of local-optimization. They take things and people for granted including the country. 

This is no different than staff of an inefficient municipality not bothering about quality of roads that forces wasteful activities such as that of rubbing (puncturing) tyres of vehicles and breaking backs of travellers. In fact, the cobbler behaved indifferently to a complaint made to him later on having realized that he had put two different sizes of straps (number '7' and '8' as can be seen in picture): A quality defect. 

This is what happens in a high-mistrust society where moron suppliers thrive upon number games instead of global-optimization for the larger good.

This is what happens where people-in-power (leaders themselves) discard things as 'old' although they are in good form and fit (aesthetically and functionlly). There 'pride'and 'ego' doesn't allow them to use things 'used' by their predecessors. 

Anyway, that's about what others can do. As a lesson learnt, I have decided to choose (rather bank upon) my childhood skills next time. In generic terms: To do mistake-proofing instead of trusting non-trustworthy morons to get near-perfect service.

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow 
How To Make A Difference 
Big-Be Or Bug-Be ! 
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms ! 
Nauseous Communication Gaps 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam! 
Will It Work Here?  
Some Moron ! Some Great !!! 
That's How Morons Work 
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable 
Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass  
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy 
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Technology in-place, security dis-placed
IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?
Do you know a Best-Career-Plan 
Customer or Custo-Mer?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value?  
ABCD of India Shining
Beware Of Political-Presentations 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Hoarders Of Filthy Hoardings

That's How Morons Work

Calendar showed bank-holiday for Mohharrum marked on Thursday 14th.
Last minute it was changed to Friday 15th.
So Sachin Tendulkar got more spectators on idiot-boxes for his career's last cricket test-match.
Wankhede stadium housed-full for the match that had begun on 14th.

No doubt I am his fan but had many other priorities.
My schedule of submitting a renewal application for instance on Friday 15th had anyway got upset due to last minute announcement of change in holiday.

That was generation of a waste due to 'waste in planning' as above!

Their website was working with interruptions so somehow the least I could do was to download the form. While Sachin stepped on field, early in the morning I rushed to the authority's office to 'field' them. Luckily there was no queue perhaps because public had queued to watch Sachin bat.

Without even looking at the form, expression-less staff on counter repelled me saying: "We don't accept renewal forms on Saturdays".

He didn't bother about my request to "at least verify the application form for mistakes and inadequacy in attachments, if any."

That was a 'waste in manpower and energy' of the office facilities!

So I had to schedule a leave from work on Monday additionally with a provision for revisit again in case of any inadvertent gaps in the form.

That was a 'waste in mandays and fuel'!

Some questions arose in my mind... Likely in yours too!  

Why was it not possible for the authority to declare on their website 'what activities they perform (or don't) on what day of the week'?

That was a 'waste by not using technology' although installed!

In absence of transparency of such information for customer, why was it not possible for them to verify and accept the form on Saturday itself. It was just a matter of filing it overnight until Monday for onward processing. Their staff was sitting on the counter anyway.

Why should the customer be made to suffer!

'Waste in manpower' due to inadequate methods as above!

What's the learning?

Rather than any new learning, the episode reconfirms the way morons work and the way they run their business processes. 

That's how 'man' (ab)uses 'power' in inefficient and ineffective sectors and makes customer powerless.

I know the situation is too small an experience than large scale disgusting experiences most of us might have had.

The purpose of bringing it up here is to draw parallels from among such experiences, be it in private or public sector, manufacturing or services industry. The real value-adding time in most of the processes is hardly five percent. For instance, the 'renewal' in above case doesn't involve more than a few seconds for 'a check' of past records on the computer (provided it's working) and then signature by the verifier and his boss. But in reality it takes much more, just as it takes twenty minutes at times on a fuel pump while filling operation itself doesn't take more than a minute.

Hopefully an awareness on the wastage as follows and inefficiencies thereby that such practices breed might help begin reducing them to make processes leaner.

Waste in planning, design, etc.! 

Waste in methods! 

Wasted manpower and energy of the office facilities!

Wasted mandays and fuel!

Wasted technology!

Wasted resources in general (material, space, machines, etc.)!

Gravity of such inefficient and ineffective work-culture can be judged by estimating the costs (direct, indirect, tangible as well as intangible) that the corresponding stakeholders have to bear as a result of such wastes. 

An eye opener for their leadership to begin their journey towards a Zero-waste Leaner company!

I think title of this post should have been: That's How Morons Generate Waste! 

Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder: Please do consider leaving a comment or sharing this post.

Make It Simpler, Rest Will Follow 
How To Make A Difference 
Big-Be Or Bug-Be ! 
Treat Root-causes, Not Symptoms ! 
Nauseous Communication Gaps 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Raam or Krishna-Shyam: Tell me Hey Raam! 
Will It Work Here?  
Some Moron ! Some Great !!! 
That's How Morons Work 
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable 
Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass  
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy 
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 
That's how some business partnerships work 
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 
Technology in-place, security dis-placed
IQ-EQ-or-SQ: What-is-more-important?
Do you know a Best-Career-Plan 
Customer or Custo-Mer?  
Experienced A Delightful Payment ! 
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul 
Less With More And More Gets Sore 
Should one care for value?  
ABCD of India Shining
Beware Of Political-Presentations 
Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 
Hoarders Of Filthy Hoardings

Discrimination-is-Cremation of Law-&-Order (Part-2)

Do you want to know how to Tax-Tax-Tax?

How to: Tax-Citizens, Tax-Nation, Tax-The-Planet !

Have you read this joke about two guys working for the municipality? One would dig a hole. He would dig, dig, dig. The other behind him would fill the hole. 

'Dig-Dig-Dig' followed by 'Fill-Fill-Fill'! 

A man watching the furious activity from sidelines was confused. He finally asked them what they were doing. The hole-digger replied, "Oh yes it does look funny but the guy who plants trees is sick today."

So when the tree-guy resumes his duty, rework will resume dutifully is it?

This question kept bothering the confused man.  He kept  wondering about their unique Principles-n-Practices:

Dig-Dig-Dig ! 

Fill-Fill-Fill !!

Tax-Tax-Tax !!!

Break-Break-Break !
Make-Make-Make !!
Waste-Waste-Waste !!!

What is the relevance of the rework-joke here?

The question raised in my earlier blogpost titled Discrimination-is-cremation of law-&-order: Part-1 was "Why footpath on the other side was not made-up yet?". See red-circle in picture-4 from Part-1 above.

Eventually if & when they do it, I was hopeful that the past improvement (see green-circle in picture-4) that of a ¹mistake-proof divider for saplings would be replicated on the other side. I was happy, for it would make it difficult for parked vehicles to run over saplings on the other side as well, of course if planted. I was also hopeful that it will provide a tree-lined walking-avenue for pedestrians.

But alas, I was proven wrong!

With elections a couple of months away, the 5-year-pending work did get a push as a 'shining-opportunity'. However, picture-5 clearly shows that the improvement itself was undone while reworking the footpath after leaving it unused (without planting trees) for over 5 years.

Picture-6 also shows a rework of breaking the made-footpath in order to 'embed drain-pipes below it'. Perhaps a result of an inadequate design then or it was forgotten 5 years ago due to lack of inspection checks.

Do you know cost of rework?

Can you now calculate COPQ (Cost-Of-Poor-Quality) of Poor-Design that results in such rework?: Cost of extra labor & extra material (as can be seen in picture-7). Surprising that the old stones were not recycled forcing extra mining. Perhaps the regulatory authorities did not know that excessive mining is akin to raping the planet.

Other costs are cost of delays causing inconvenience, accidents², traffic jams, etc. It's typically a different Indian-story that the newly made-up 'foot-path' is creatively used as a 'scooter-path' (see picture-8). Now the traffic-police doesn't enter the 'path-zone' for penal action in 'municipal-jurisdiction'.

Apart from COPQ as above, issue of survival of saplings itself (if at all planted somewhere by the side) stays doubtful like in past. It goes without saying that cost to the planet and people as a result of inadequate tree-cover is intangible.

Now you may know relevance of the Dig-Dig-Dig Fill-Fill-Fill joke above!

The tangible and intangible impact of such 'rework-factories' that keep repeating rework due to sick-designs, sick-planning, sick-administration, sick-shoddy quality-of-work is insurmountable !!

It is like someone breaking your window-glass for fun. 

You change it for fun. 

Glass-factories profit on this break-make game and make fun. 

Or it's like making a shoddy road. 

You drive on it to rub tyres and enjoy the fun. 

Tyre-factories enjoy the fun as a bye-product of this rub-on-road game. 

Main fun-product is profiteering from road-construction contracts. The vicious cycle of costly 'Dig-Fill' and 'Break-Make' game goes on pushing public to experience death daily.

What is the solution?

Why should the 'sick' people responsible for this not be held accountable by slapping a Rework-Tax on them equivalent to at least the tangible part of COPQ? 

Research shows that such COPQ that gets embedded in a typical project cost work out to not less than 30%. In other words, there is a profit-potential of at least 30% if sick-work-rework chain is broken. An answer to this chaos until of course you add more tips and thoughts to this, is installing Kaizen-culture and penalizing indisciplined shoddy work with a sense-of-urgency.

Let us exercise our choice to engage in improvement culture. Let us not allow above kind of 'sickness' to be reflected in our own work and workplace !!!

Footnote-1, Mistake-proofing is called as Pokayoke in Kaizen parlance
Footnote-2, Accidents due to dirty-dagerous-difficult (3-D) situations