We don't understand math
I've worked with enough young people on their math that I know when I walk in the room some smart-ass will ask me, "how do I use this in real life?" Or more to the point, "why do I need to learn this?" (Like they're the first people in history to ask that question...) But didja ever notice that the people who ask are the ones who, five years later, will not be able to tell whether they have enough gas in their tank to make it to the gas station? Or whether they can afford BOTH the movie AND the popcorn? This is why the United States if falling behind most of the rest of the world in economic competitiveness -- you need look no further.But math is more subtle even than that. I have met a fair number of adults, most of them in supervisory positions, who fail to understand that it will cost them more to fire or lay off an employee and then hire and train a new one than it will to keep the old one and offer some extra training and maybe a deadline for performance improvement. This is why Deming said "drive out fear". Employees who are in fear for their careers are not naturally productive, and will not generally go out of their way to bless customers. Consider the following comment from a Fast Company panel discussion:
What we found in our study was that companies that have soft and fuzzy behaviors -- making all employees feel like owners and feel connected to the company's vision and values -- were growing at 141%. The companies without these behaviors were growing at 10%. Those "nice things" ultimately produce dramatically different economic impacts.We don't understand math, so we don't value the things the math tells us we ought to value.
Labels: education
posted by Ron @ 10:54 AM
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1 Comments:
Managing Fear by Gerald Suarez is a good article on the topic.
If you are interested in more on Deming's ideas see: Deming on Management
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