Right First Time

So its a book, and quite an old publication too, somewhere in the 80s! I heard about this from Dad who read this book on quality control, several many years ago, I remember seeing it with him when i was in school i think! He had borrowed it from the library. He had told me that it was an excellent introduction to quality control and how it gets applied in the manufacturing world (his line of work too). 

Several years passed and i was in college and we did have subjects on statistics and probability and application of the normal distribution in many areas of work. And i was into these quality books too by then, inspired by dad again, and had read works of Edwards Deming (Out of the Crisis), Scherkenbach (The Deming Route to Quality), Phil Crosby (Quality is Free), Frank Price (Right Every Time) and a few others. The one by Frank Price was actually a sequel to the first book, Right First Time, which i was never able to get. The ones available for sale online were priced 4k and 5k (international editions, and way too pricey) and i could not find it in the British Library or other places too. 

Until now! I got the copy from the IIM-B library recently and of course I borrowed it! Its been a month (or more i think!) since i have it and just completed it now! The book, the style of writing and the concepts were very easily presented in such an entertaining way too, a testament to the expertise of the author to make an otherwise drab subject, as interesting as a novel! 

The book starts with the ill's that plague the companies in the industrial sector, faced with tons of quality issues, and rejections. It goes on to explain about how to measure process capability, measure it against tolerance limits (after much negotiations on the specifications based on the ultimate function), and find answers to the question "Can we make it ok?" in this stage. Subsequently, moving on to answer the question "Are we making it ok?", where it gets into sampling and measurements, and understanding drifts of averages and range, and setting control limits to the process. And finally trying to answer, "Can we make it better?",  a question towards continuous improvement and action. Here the concepts of t-tests and f-tests were introduced, as a way to compare between capabilities of different machines and to enable us to make a distinction of which one is better (using statistical significance). 

While the above made part-1 of the book (where there was a fair bit of math), part-2 dealt more with people and quality, as after all, the outcomes are indeed due to a large measure upto the people incorporating the practices of quality control. To this extent, it explained several concepts from behavioral science, especially covering the fallacies of Fred Taylor, and McGregor's theory X & Y. And moving into more recent studies of Heizberg and Maslow (Theory Z) and Lawler, towards breaking down the activities of work and the motivations (will) to make a good deal of it. 

Overall, the book is a managerial treatise on quality control, explained in a language that is ironic, and witty, and towards the end, dealing a lot with psychology and human behavior. It was a good read, and almost felt like a literary work towards the end, due to the inimitable language and the ease with which difficult concepts were introduced fairly simply. 

I am glad i could finally read this work, and appreciate what my dad must have appreciated so many years ago! And i told him i read it...you should have seen the glint in his eye :) 

Ciao!

The Ocean of Churn

 Hello hello,

Checking in to write a very brief review of a really nice book I happened to read recently! 

I don't write book reviews often (well i don't even update this blog too often!) but this time I thought about writing on this book because it was so well researched and narrated in a really nice manner. I couldn't believe history can be written in an interesting manner too! My school history classes were such a bore! Or maybe, I am now more mature to appreciate history :) Whatever the case, it was a welcome break. 

So this book is by Sanjeev Sanyal and its called The Ocean of Churn. Now I have read Sanyals earlier books, Land of the Seven Rivers and another short story book, so in a way i knew what to expect. A thorough work, with a bit of irony and humor, and a lot of interesting stories from history and how it has shaped our world, and India especially. 

This book does the same, and this time it is from India's maritime history and how it has shaped the subcontinent. There were so many interesting characters from history that were brought to the fore. Many forgotten, and many links unknown, and all those came together into this wonderful melange of narration from Sanyal. I could transport myself into those voyages taken up by so many from the past, and relive those times. It was really helpful that maps were provided in between as well, to show the important places where different events took place, across the entire coastline of India, Africa and Southeast Asia. 

The matrilineal lineage and its importance to several of the kingdoms of the south, the wars, the after-maths, the voyages, the different discoveries of trade routes, the rich history of India with its extraordinary progress in trade across countries in the Indian ocean, the violence and bloodshed of invaders, the coming of the Europeans, the contribution of India and many of its stalwarts, the grey shades of characters, and so many facets and connections. Indeed, if history were to be taught in this manner it would be so much richer. Our schools need to seriously think about making the past come to life in a more evocative manner! For from it, we realize how we landed here, what has shaped our thinking and our culture, and how it's being shaped further as well. 

I am so intrigued by this book, I think I would want to re-read it and the earlier ones as well! 

Just to relive and understand better, ourselves and the lands whence our ancestors tread, and the waters they sailed..!