Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume Xth – January 2022 Edition

Welcome to January 2022 edition of the X^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the X^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is inspired from the editorial of the January 2022 special Issue of Prabuddha Bharata (The Awakened India) – Living a Meaningful Life in a Digital World.

The intention is not to suggest that (quality (management) professionals ought to develop a philosophical approach to the practice of management. The purpose here is only to offer an altogether a different approach than the different  technological or management views with which we have been conditioned.

Digital technologies are shaping every sphere of human life. In his book, What technology wants? Kevin Kelly says that ten thousand years ago, humanity reached a turning point where our ability to modify the biosphere exceeded the planet’s ability to modify us. This threshold was the beginning of the Technium, which is said to be the accumulation of inventions that humans have created. We are now at a second inflection point, where the situation has reversed and the ability of the Technium to modify us exceeds our capacity to alter it.

It is in this continuously influenced world, the goal of the individual needs to be live कृतकृत्य, kṛtakṛtya – do what must be done – life. If put in different words, human pursuits, including the technological ones, ought to be able keep developing faculties of sustained acquisition of knowledge (or experience) that keeps life capable enough enables to differentiate what is real and what is non-real, what keeps our feet rooted to the world that is compassionate, with basic human ethical and spiritual values and what will keep us afloat in virtual world that may give us ephemeral comforts.

[The full editorial containing the details of the point of view, Living a Meaningful Life in a Digital World, by Swami Vireshananda, can be read by clicking on the hyperlink.]

I plan to devote the entire next year’s X^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management   Articles and Blogs to present the key articles of this Prabuddha Bharata issue as the base to explore how can anyone in general, and quality professionals in particular, can lead a meaningful life in the world of information overload. However, anyone desirous of reading the complete January 2022 issue Prabuddha Bharata can access the same @ Read Online link or can purchase the single issue @ https://shop.advaitaashrama.org/product/prabuddha-bharata-jan-2022/ . The brief outline of the special issue is @ https://youtu.be/JpeWb69RneA

Some More readings on the subject:

• Living A Meaningful Life In A Digital World, Talk By Vireshananda, Dec 19, Organized By RVSP Manila
• What Makes Life Meaningful: Michael Steger at TEDxCSU
• Discovering the Meaning of Life in the Digital Age | Melvin Poh | TEDxAIMSTUniversity
• Eckhart Tolle | Digital Age: Living with Meaning, Purpose & Wisdom | Talks at Google
• Living a Meaningful Life: Using All Our Senses | Oliver Yeh | TEDxMSJHS
• Digital ethics and the future of humans in a connected world | Gerd Leonhard | TEDxBrussels
• Elves, Ethics & The Digital World | Don Heider | TEDxPurdueU

We will continue with our regular sections in 2022 too.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on–

• Dr. Deming’s Legacy and Continued Relevancy for Quality Professionals – W. Edward Deming’s influence spans the 20th century and as you’ll hear from Steve Prevette, ASQ Fellow and college instructor, Dr. Deming’s teachings are still invaluable today- and even tomorrow.

We have taken up one article from Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems :

• Leadership Traits – The key to successful leadership in today’s environment is influence, not authority – Most people might agree that leadership is the ability to induce people to do, willingly and well, what someone wants and expects them to do. Certain traits seem to be inherent in most effective leaders.

1. Integrity: Integrity is more than being trustworthy and honest. A person with integrity is someone ethical with high morals and principles, in what he says and what he does, even under the most trying circumstances.
2. Trustworthy: Effective leaders are honest in their dealings with people. They can be counted on to follow through on their commitments every time. Their word is their bond.
3. Professional character: They treat people with courtesy and dignity. They realize a person’s worth is not related to position. Effective leaders take time to care about people.
4. Fairness: …fair rules, fair tasks, fair competition, fair discipline, etc.
5. Tactful: It is almost impossible to obtain willingly positive responses from people if their leaders “rub them the wrong way” unnecessarily.
6. Persistence: Leaders must stay with problems and situations because, to evoke the desired response from people.
7. Consistency: Good leaders have a proper balance of mental, emotional, and physical characteristics so people can adapt to their leadership style.
8. Show Interest: Effective leaders have a sincere interest in people…. interest in their problems, progress, hopes, ideas, likes and dislikes. Effective leaders know that people tend to be drawn to, and respond to, those who demonstrate an interest in them.
9. Lead by Example: Leaders need to set the example for others to model.
10. Communication: Communication skills enable a leader to connect with others to build and maintain healthy relationships.
11. Positive: Coming in every day with a positive attitude, a “can do” spirit gives people confidence in the leader, the organization and work being performed.
12. Gratitude: Effective leaders demonstrate loudly and often to those who give of themselves to support the group’s success.
13. Accountable: Effective leaders take full accountability when their team fails regardless of where mistakes were made or whose performance was lacking.
14. Desire: To have “courage” they need to have confidence that is gained by being fully prepared. Being fully prepared comes from desire, commitment, and hard work, most often when no one else is around.

‘From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand, we have –

• The Benefits of Automation – The five reasons to consider, and have been considered for decades, about automation

1. Reduces time and energy
2. Saves money in long run.
3. Accuracy
4. Improved production workflow.
5. Reduces waste.

[Editorial Note: This is the classic conditioned outlook of technologically and managerially conditioned thought process. We plan to explore why and what of ways of broad basing this outlook in the year 2022.]

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of Living a Meaningful Life in a Digital World.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.