The medieval shopkeeper was in a position to exert top-down control of business policies and procedures by virtue of the force of his presence. If his senses did not deceive him, he could constantly teach and see and guide his subordinates (generally family members) through the simple steps of production, presentation, and collection--achieving control over daily processes. As time progressed, this ability to manage the behavior of growing numbers of people has had its fits and starts--enjoying improved concepts and tools while suffering from discontinuities of time and place and understanding.

 

 

In our day, institutional control is highly compromised--resulting in higher than necessary costs, inability to adequately compete, and constant irritation to employee and customer alike due to breakdowns in performance and unrealized expectations. This condition has been widely considered an artifact of modern life--systems of all kinds break down, mistakes are committed with regularity, and employees seem to be less and less prepared to fill the shoes of their predecessors.

 

A prominent business consultant indicated recently that an entirely new general theory of business management is needed to fill this gap. Past ideas and structures were no longer valid in the new interconnected, networked world. Coming to a solution--he said--will require a generation of theorists, consultants, and thinkers.

 

As in music, such answers must be found in the realities of science and human behavior. We now have tools not available to the medieval shop that can conquer the challenges of space, of time, and of complexity. In concert with this, the realities of organizational control have been theorized and solved by a past generation, showing us the way to achieve control.

 

Happily, the symphony orchestra, a model suggested by W. Edwards Deming, is not comprised of alien beings or celestial angels with whom we have no common frame of reference. They are industrialists in their own right, with labor disputes, competitive challenges, and 'bottom line' predicaments. Yet, they operate under total control in a stunningly complex environment. Being in control, they make it look easy--and, indeed it may be.

 

Armed with a common language to define and express complex processes, couldn't we do better? Understanding the art and science of process control--as perfected by Walter A. Shewhart and taught by Deming--couldn't we benefit, as do musicians from their mastery of the physics of sound? By taking command of the marvelous technology of computers, couldn't we defeat the challenges of time and space and function--problems not faced by the musicians themselves?

 

The answer is 'Yes' to all of the above. The question is one of desire. Are we driven--as were the symphonists of two centuries ago--to harmonize and integrate our efforts? Are we willing to make the compromises that they made--to throw out much of the good that leads us down the wrong path? To frankly face the truth?

 

If we have the desire and act on it, then we will surely build as they built--providing a foundation for a future that will be much less at odds. Workers and managers will achieve the state of happiness and joy referred to by Deming and enjoyed now by the musicians we study. Having solved the problem of institutional performance--we can then move on to larger and more important problems of the market and of society. If Deming was right--and he was--control brings peace.

 

In our day, institutional control is highly compromised--resulting in higher than necessary costs, inability to adequately compete, and constant irritation to employee and customer alike due to breakdowns in performance and unrealized expectations. This condition has been widely considered an artifact of modern life--systems of all kinds break down, mistakes are committed with regularity, and employees seem to be less and less prepared to fill the shoes of their predecessors.

 

A prominent business consultant indicated recently that an entirely new general theory of business management is needed to fill this gap. Past ideas and structures were no longer valid in the new interconnected, networked world. Coming to a solution--he said--will require a generation of theorists, consultants, and thinkers.

 

As in music, such answers must be found in the realities of science and human behavior. We now have tools not available to the medieval shop that can conquer the challenges of space, of time, and of complexity. In concert with this, the realities of organizational control have been theorized and solved by a past generation, showing us the way to achieve control.

 

Happily, the symphony orchestra, a model suggested by W. Edwards Deming, is not comprised of alien beings or celestial angels with whom we have no common frame of reference. They are industrialists in their own right, with labor disputes, competitive challenges, and 'bottom line' predicaments. Yet, they operate under total control in a stunningly complex environment. Being in control, they make it look easy--and, indeed it may be.

 

Armed with a common language to define and express complex processes, couldn't we do better? Understanding the art and science of process control--as perfected by Walter A. Shewhart and taught by Deming--couldn't we benefit, as do musicians from their mastery of the physics of sound? By taking command of the marvelous technology of computers, couldn't we defeat the challenges of time and space and function--problems not faced by the musicians themselves?

 

The answer is 'Yes' to all of the above. The question is one of desire. Are we driven--as were the symphonists of two centuries ago--to harmonize and integrate our efforts? Are we willing to make the compromises that they made--to throw out much of the good that leads us down the wrong path? To frankly face the truth?

 

If we have the desire and act on it, then we will surely build as they built--providing a foundation for a future that will be much less at odds. Workers and managers will achieve the state of happiness and joy referred to by Deming and enjoyed now by the musicians we study. Having solved the problem of institutional performance--we can then move on to larger and more important problems of the market and of society. If Deming was right--and he was--control brings peace.