Holding your tongue those last few days

[Nords]

Dilbert is so accurate that we need to really study Dilbert's version of: 1.Total Quality Management-------TQM

The Navy became totally infatuated with TQM in the early '90s. Only we called it TQL-- Total Quality Leadership.

It wasn't pretty.

 

[unclemick]

Welllll! - from the old Curmudgeon corner.

A revisit to Deming's Red Bead Experiment or even early Henry Ford probably wouldn't hurt.

Interestingly - Toyota did a long while back - the rest - as they say is history.

P.S. here's a couple:

FEMA - failure effects mode analysis
ZD - zero defects (really old one)
And my favorite - life cycle cost analysis - or some such.

And people wonder about my fascination with 'the human turd.'

Heh, heh, heh - only three.

MTM - measured time and motion, Factory simulation software, Signal to noise ala Taguchi, IDEF zero.

Still read Dilbert every Sunday - the pain of recognition dimishes with time - even though the bulk of working years were non cubicle.

 

[OldAgePensioner]

Nords,
My LA based aerospace company decreed in the late 80's , "Every employee is required to get a certificate in CPI as a condition of continuing employment". I refused to participate because everyone coming back from the training looked depressed, nauseated, and spewing sarcasm. IOW, it sucked.

During the 90's TQM, we got some dumb pencil with a koala bear on top called "Koala-T Bear). You had to go to Boot Camp and do some stupid little project where you learned to solder a electrical board. Geesh, who comes up with this crap. Again, I would not participate.

A young guy who was leaving the company to go to work for Hughes collected a couple of trash bags full of the Koala pencils and dumped them (at 5am) in the VPs parking spaces. Funniest thing I ever saw during my career. Imagine the VPs pulling up in their Mercedes and seeing what everyone thought of them.

He's still a legend in LA.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Nords,
My LA based aerospace company decreed in the late 80's , "Every employee is required to get a certificate in CPI as a condition of continuing employment".  I refused to participate because everyone coming back from the training looked depressed, nauseated, and spewing sarcasm.  IOW, it sucked.

During the 90's TQM, we got some dumb pencil with a koala bear on top called "Koala-T Bear).  You had to go to Boot Camp and do some stupid little project where you learned to solder a electrical board.  Geesh, who comes up with this crap.  Again, I would not participate.

A young guy who was leaving the company to go to work for Hughes collected a couple of trash bags full of the Koala pencils and dumped them (at 5am) in the VPs parking spaces.  Funniest thing I ever saw during my career.  Imagine the VPs pulling up in their Mercedes and seeing what everyone thought of them.

He's still a legend in LA.

A clever segue (look it up folks)

I view most of society, pop culture and almost all levels of government
in this way. Thus, I refuse to participate......and, like the guy who dumped the pencils, I "dumped my pencils" (good metaphor) many years ago.

JG

 

[Michael Moore]

During the 90's TQM, we got some dumb pencil with a koala bear on top called "Koala-T Bear). 

Since my current location is a "Regional Office of Quality Assurance" the Koala-T Bear resonates for me.  I may have to do some googling to see if I can find something like that and  mention it to management before I go as obviously being an ideal way to motivate the employees.

cheers,
Michael

(edited to spell my name correctly)

 

[SteveR]

I have been in Quality Assurance for 30+ years and I have seen every program you can imagine come.........and go. Mostly because management did not really endorse the programs or tried to force feed the organization without really understanding the basic concepts before the did it. It was just the "thing to do" for many companies. ISO made it worse. ISO registration is a joke and most US companies see it for what it really is....a money maker for ISO. They make the rules, change them every 5 years, charge you for copies of the rules, require you be audited by ISO registered auditors every year or so at your cost and then charge you for the whole process. Nice racket.

Quality programs could work if management really believe in them. They don't so they come and go with regular frequency and employess view them just like the HR programs that come and go. Program of the month or "Flavor of the Month" program. No wonder most workers and middle management is so disillusioned with managment in most companies. Even Motorola who "invented" Six Sigma has sucked at the business for many years. They had a good program but they killed the golden goose along the way. Same for Ford, GE and many other megacorps. As soon as $$ gets a little tight the first things to go are management's committment to funding quality or employee programs.

I will be glad to be done with this business soon.

 

[Nords]

Koala-T Bear

Ohhhhh, I get it now!

 

[Kitty]

It seems when you give them notice they just can't leave you alone in gov. I think there is a case of you traitor you, I'll get you for leaving me with this #%&***.

In gov. service there is no love lost up or down the chain just varies as to intensity. If you leave before being qualified for ret. you lose everything. Or in case of the employees under the new system almost nothing. So, after a decade or so your trapped. The kissups are getting ahead, God help you if you tell anyone the truth about anything that they don't want to hear. Your marked for life.

Somedays you feel your in a Marx Brothers movie and they keep changing the script.

Kitty

 

[BUM]

TOMichael,

Welcome to your


LAST DAY



ER is just hours away. Its party time!


BUM

 

[Michael Moore]

Thanks, but I've only got 30 minutes out of the way so far. However, I'm taking care of important business, like pushing a bunch of MP3 files over to a coworker's PC.

At the end of the day I'll log out, log in to the server as localadmin, and disable my PIN, delete my mailbox and scrub all my files. Just a bit of tidying up on the way out.

cheers,
Michael

 

[KB]

Michael....enjoy yourself in ER.
Figures that you'd have to do the work to disable your own pin. How ironic...

I only have about 6 weeks of ER but find that I am thoroughly enjoying myself...

 

[renferme]

I had to bite my tongue because both my wife and my son work for the company.

 

[Dreamer]

I hope you thoroughly enjoy your retirement! Freedom! Yeah!

Dreamer

 

[MJ]

Welcome to the wonderful world of ER living.

Enjoy.........

 

[Michael Moore]

It seems OK so far.

I'm sure it will take a while to sink in. There have been some times this morning where I think about not having to go back to work and it feels a bit strange. Also, there were the "end of an era" thoughts as I was driving home last night that had me thinking back to when I started 29 years ago, and some of the different things that happened during that time.

cheers,
Michael

 

[REWahoo]

Michael,

When you woke up this morning and realized this was the first full day of your retirement, did you break out in a big grin and say to yourself, "I never have to work again...never again!" I sure did.

REW

 

[Michael Moore]

As I said, it still seems a bit unreal. Intellectually I know work is over, but I haven't internalized it yet. After all, today is Saturday, a non-work day just like all the other Saturdays. Let me get a few Monday-Fridays behind me and it will probably start to sink in (it better!).

I've also got to get out of the "work as an excuse" mode. You know: "the weekends are too darn short, or I've got to get cleaned up to go to bed to get up early, so I'll just not even try to get started on a project as there isn't enough time to justify it" stuff. It is pretty annoying because a lot of those projects I've ended up avoiding have been hobby projects that I'd actually like to do.

I'm hoping that after a couple of weeks of being able to sleep until I'm ready to wake up, along with some more regular exercise, I'll find that I have more energy and enthusiasm for the things in general.

cheers,
Michael

 

[REWahoo]

I've also got to get out of the "work as an excuse" mode. You know: "the weekends are too darn short, or I've got to get cleaned up to go to bed to get up early, so I'll just not even try to get started on a project as there isn't enough time to justify it" stuff. It is pretty annoying because a lot of those projects I've ended up avoiding have been hobby projects that I'd actually like to do.

I'm hoping that after a couple of weeks of being able to sleep until I'm ready to wake up, along with some more regular exercise, I'll find that I have more energy and enthusiasm for the things in general.

If your experience is similar to mine, you are going to find out what hobby projects are really important to you and which you just thought were important. As the "I don't have to start (do, finish,...) this today, there is always tomorrow" mode kicks in, your true priorities will emerge.

So far (~3 months), I'm discovering low priorities on lots of projects.

REW

 

[Michael Moore]

I've already made plans to get out from under about 16 project bikes. 10 are already spoken for, another three are being considered by a guy I know, and that leaves only three to be advertised. I think I can stand to have only 8-10.

But I've basically been a virtual motorcyclist the last couple of years - things came apart, didn't go back together, and I haven't ridden. I'm shooting for starting the season next year with at least a couple of the retained bikes ready to race.

cheers,
Michael

 

[windsurf]

NORDS SAID: You would think that it'd be hard to be distracted by these temper tantrums & pontificates when you have the rest of your life awaiting your planning.  Get started-- you only have three days left to get it done on company time & resources!!

REPLY:It's sort of like the remorse you feel over not having jumped the bones of all those nubile wenches that crossed your path "in the day."  Company time and resources offered so many openings.  But, alas.   The same inhibitions that kept me from jumping all of those bones halted the impulse to screw my partners.

 

[Brat]

The Other Mike..

As another CSRS who early-outed I thought long and hard about my exit.  The advantage you have is that there is almost nothing you can do that would blow up your retirement road.  It is possible to leave and take a parting shot at making life better for those who come behind you, I did.  The what and how depends on your agency circumstances. 

As many in private industry can vouch, it can be worse.

Hold your own retirement celebration for those who care.  Focus on your life, and the lives of those you love, going forward.

 

[Nords]

The same inhibitions that kept me from jumping all of those bones halted the impulse to screw my partners.

I think we have to count that as TWO missed opportunities!