Penny-Wise Pound-Wiser

Penny-Wise Pound-Wiser

Daily saving countless Water

Being an intelligent Miser

That's the Haiku poem I wrote at the sight of my dinner plate.
Actually each day I tried to be a miser and console myself that I'm an intelligent miser. 

I reason it out of being a so-called self-appointed "intelligent" miser. 

Why? Because I ask some "foolish" questions to every human activity that I see, rather, that "I probe" I should say. 

But I don't have control over some. 

So I be "funny" with myself, with what I've control over. 

My dinner plate for instance.
I 'want' a fresh one. That's my desire.
That's my healthy habit.
But can my 'need' be served by something else?

Can I choose a soiled one that's available from the kitchen after being used for its intended purpose in the cooking process? 

For instance, one in picture is the pot of balance quantity of rice and another one is that balance quantity of curd. 

One plate and one bowl stays fresh!

Also you can see an old newspaper used below the plate so that the table doesn't get soiled. 

Plate reused!

Water saved, waste eliminated!!
Economy for Ecology!!!

How many such activities and avenues possible in a day? 

How much time can be saved that can be used for more value-adding work? 

How much water can be saved each day?

Countless at times!!!

Penny-Wise Pound-Foolish it is to call the self so-called intelligent!

Read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:

Rise-n-Fall in the Rain-Fall 

Take Habits For A Ride 
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully

How To Make A Difference

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling

Poverty-to-Power of Poetry

Wish To Be Planet-Friendly?: Save ! 

Soon-waste-to-eat, Sea-to-drink !

Don't Save Water on Holi-day

Do You Celebrate Mean-or-Green

Not-Soon, Says Monsoon

Rise-n-Fall in the Rain-Fall   

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

Functional-Aesthetics
Bust-wants, Boom-needs

Should one care for value? 

What You See Isn't What's Made

You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable

Do You Cleanup-After-Crisis 

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 

Less With More And More Gets Sore 

How To Make A Difference 

Some Moron ! Some Great !!! 

That's How Morons Work

Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass  

WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling 

Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy 

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture 

Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice? 

Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !! 

Don't Save Water on Holi-day

Not So 'Raddi' Business Model

'Raddi' is a common term used in India for scrap papers that include newspapers. As a slang when someone says it's 'Raddi' it means it's rubbish.

But the business of buying-n-selling 'Raddi' itself isn't 'Raddi'. It's actually an evergreen business flourishing with an enhanced focus on Reuse-Recover-Recycle (3R).

With varying rates in various seasons, in monsoon it fetches the least price.

Like each business has it's tricks, the 'Raddi' fellow has not so 'Raddi' tricks in his Business Model. Can you spot one in the picture?

Leaning the 'Raddi' against legs: The trick is to support it so that it weighs less than actual.

He buys at ten (10) bucks per kilogram and sells at fifteen (15).
You think he makes five bucks profit per kilogram.
Gross profit of fifty (50%).

Wait a minute! There's something more to it.
The weight 'shown' to you on scale: ten (10) kilogram is false.
If you ask him not to lean the 'Raddi' against body, his trick number-one gets preempted.
Ask him not to hold the weigh-scale by two hands. Trick number-two gets preempted.

Minus his creative innovations (the tricks), same 'Raddi' weighs twelve (12) kilogram.
'Tricky' bonus of a cool twenty percent i.e. (12-10 means) two-kilogram extra material or 0.20 per Kg that fetches him rupees three extra.
So the 'real' profit is five bucks plus 'tricky' bonus of three bucks.

Earning eight (8) bucks over ten (10).
Gross profit of eighty percent (80%) almost.

Not very difficult maths.

'Raddi' Business, but not so 'Raddi' Business Model though!

Of course with an unethical side to it that's unacceptable!!

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

Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?
That's how some business partnerships work
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!
Take Habits For A Ride
That's How Morons Work
You seem Reasonable if you appear Un-reasonable
Smart-Moron Who Breaks Your Glass 
Do You Ask Right Questions? 
The Business Of Businesses
Business Eco-rgonomics

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