Thursday: Reduce theory to practice

Theoria and Praxis. Put the words in quotes and look at a few references on the web.

Also, try "Theoria & Praxis" and "Theory and the Practical." You could spend a lifetime contemplating all the entries. I will assure you that many monks and recluses have done just that. There is something profoundly informative about theory. It is not idle speculation, "Oh, that's just a theory."

Theory opens one to the world of perfections... in business it is also called continuous improvement, kaizen, Six Sigma, the theory of constraints (TOC), Total Quality Management (TQM) and more.

It pushes us into a powerful domain of thinking and business is becoming increasing good at it, doing even better than the universities where you would expect to find "theoria thinking" in abundance. It is this type of thinking that is causing today's business revolution to succeed beyond any political or religious ideological movement. Thinking about the many sides and faces of perfection has opened hundreds of doors in every business and in every application and within every detail.

In our vision and mission statement for Small Business School, we open the way to an even more basic document, our first principles. In that statement I say this about perfection:
"This is also the basis of the value chain. The more perfect a moment or an experience is, OR the more perfected a thing or system is, the more valuable it becomes. Thus, we have the beginnings of business. Any assertion that counters life's evolving perfections is not religion (at best, it's a cult); it is also not business (it's exploitation or a bad company); certainly it is not good government; and most often, it is not even good science."

This is the new revolution that changes everything forever.

Key links to go further:
1. Continuous Improvement: Visit with Ziba Design
2. Kaizen: Visit with Modern Postcard
3. Theory of Constraints: Visit with Steve Hoffman
3. Six Sigma: Visit Time Technology with Nigel Skeffington
4. Total Quality Management: Visit with Diversified Chemicals
5. Inculcate quality: Visit with Arnold Joseff