Out of the Crisis.Org

[Louis Altazan]

My wife is having our house decorated. The decorator noticed two clocks on the end table by our bed. She laughed, “Do you really need two alarms?” One is a backup and is set five-minutes after the first. She gave me a really strange look and said, “You need to have more fun in life.”

I just laughed with her and let is slide. She may not understand, I find being on time a lot of fun. In fact I pride myself on being on time. What I don’t consider fun is being late. I think each person may have different priorities and take joy in different things.

Fun derived from productive effort is no less enjoyable than fun found in pure leisure. I think people often do not enjoy the work they do. Perhaps because of this, the notion has become popular that only activity away from work may be considered enjoyable. I think this is quite unfortunate and misses the entire point of work.

I feel fun in the work place is not only desirable, it is imperative. My experience has been, a fun workplace is more productive and more attractive to clients. This does not mean a lack of discipline. On the contrary, a disciplined environment may be far more conducive to fun than disorderly surroundings. What it does mean to me, is an environment in which people are encouraged to be their best. One in which people are challenged but not overwhelmed. One that provides quality materials with which to work, proper tooling and adequate time.

When Dr. Deming wrote Point twelve of the fourteen points, I think fun at work was implied. Producing quality and constant improvement is not counter to having a good time. In my opinion they are very much complimentary. When implementing Dr. Deming’s philosophy, many have asked, “Where is the best place to begin?” I can think of no better place.

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Louis Altazan
Owner/Manager AGCO Automotive Corporation
Baton Rouge, LA