Speaking of streets ...
I saw a streetsweeper out today ... in the rain.
Isn't that a little counterproductive? All he was doing was laying a big patch of mud. It looked worse after he went by than before. Are we to believe all that will get washed away by the rain?
Looks just like dollars down the drain to me.
Isn't that a little counterproductive? All he was doing was laying a big patch of mud. It looked worse after he went by than before. Are we to believe all that will get washed away by the rain?
Looks just like dollars down the drain to me.
posted by The Observer at 3/27/2008 08:32:00 AM
8 Comments:
Should just let the hydrants be open and wash the streets.
Observer,
Have you ever had a job or boss? Just because you see something you are not sure of, in may be because you have never had a boss, or assigned any real work.
JAFO
JAFO;
I am not sure I understand? True that Observer was being a bit of a smart ass but, then again, with such dire straits facing the City budget isn't now the time to ask all employees to "work smarter"?
Not adopting a "smart work" ethic (i.e. Deming Philosophies) has damaged the UAW, Teamsters and other labor unions. The era of, "well, the boss said to do it" ought to be done, especially when it's on the public dollar, no?
Not defending the Observer (as I am sure they will do that themselves) I think it is a valid point as a taxpayer to ask if our money is spent wisely.
Observer,
If all we have to complain about is the weather and the roads, I would say all is well.
Jafo #1
Dear Alacajun
Thanks for noticing my remark. Translated into a work environment where employees are not encouraged to improve operations the following statement may be true.
Just because you see an hourly worker doing something that is obviously stupid does not mean that the worker is stupid—the worker may be doing exactly what his supervisor assigned him to do.
In my work, a figure of merit is a shop where everyone is working diligently to make good product, cooperate within workgroups and there is no obvious supervision. The concept of Lean Manufacturing is a bunch of BS in my opinion, because all the army of consultants can do is repeat what Deming and others have taught. Have you ever considered how many terms used to improving manufacturing systems have been born only to die?
JAFO
Dear Alacajun
Thanks for noticing my remark. Translated into a work environment where employees are not encouraged to improve operations the following statement may be true.
Just because you see an hourly worker doing something that is obviously stupid does not mean that the worker is stupid—the worker may be doing exactly what his supervisor assigned him to do.
In my work, a figure of merit is a shop where everyone is working diligently to make good product, cooperate within workgroups and there is no obvious supervision. The concept of Lean Manufacturing is a bunch of BS in my opinion, because all the army of consultants can do is repeat what Deming and others have taught. Have you ever considered how many terms used to improving manufacturing systems have been born only to die?
Last anonymous;
Sadly, I have considered all the "dead" terms in manufacturing but only because I am a Deming fan . . (guess, I just revealed my dorkness, eh?).
Just to clarify: My original post wasn't meant to criticize any worker or even suggest that they need to work smarter. It was meant to question the wisdom of a basic city policy. It's a policy I question again because again today, in the morning rain, the sweepers were out laying lines of mud. There must be some rationale for this that I'm missing. I'd hate to think they just do it by day of the week, no matter what the weather.
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