Back to the Basics of Business

David, W.E. Deming, the late, great guru of management, made the following his first of fourteen points of how to do and not to do business:

POINT ONE: In what business are we?

I am amazed at how many people really have no idea of how to answer this for their organizations. One of the reasons is slack. You can ride off in all directions at once if you have the resources to do it. The American public school is a perfect example. Take away the slack and folks must decide what is of value, what works. We are moving closer and closer to economic conditions that will raise Deming's first question.