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December 2016
January 2017

2016-12-28 »

Why complex corporate approval chains are stupid, in the words of W. Edwards Deming, in 1992:

"""
The reader will perceive at once the source of the problem-two signatures [on the factory employee time card]. The worker signs the card, leaving the foreman to correct the mistakes. The foreman signs it under the supposition that the worker should know better than anyone what he did. Result: omissions, inconsistencies, and wrong entries. Solution: Cross out the foreman's space on the 900 cards that you will use next week; same for the 900 cards for the following week. By then, you can have new cards with no space for the foreman. Further, if a worker could have filled out the card correctly-be sure that he could-return the card to him. You don't need to stamp a message on it to say that his pay may be delayed. He will understand this without help. The problem will vanish in three weeks.
"""
– W. Edwards Deming

In related news, this is one reason that manual testing departments are a bad idea. It encourages you to not check your work carefully yourself.

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