Once upon a time there was a woman. She was not a morning person. Okay, okay, the woman is me. I stumble from the bedroom, down the hall, through the living room, and around the corner to the kitchen to heat the water for my morning cup of tea.

As I round the corner, my foot hits an object which—according to my groggy senses—should not be there. I hear a tinkling and with my next step I feel cold water on the bottom of my bare feet.

“Oh no! Not again!” I moan. “That stupid cat. Why can’t he just drink water like a normal cat?” I whine, as I bend over to clean up the water that is splashed across the kitchen floor. “This is the third time this week this had happened! Stupid cat!”

You see, I have this rather large, white cat who—for some unknown reason—feels the need to drink his water off his paws, rather than directly from the water dish. In the process of dipping his paws in and out of the water, he quite often moves the container I use for his drinking water, scooting it with his paw onto the kitchen floor…smack dab in the middle of my sleepy march to the teapot.

I stop him whenever I catch him in the act. I tell him no. I put him outside to punish him. I praise him when he doesn’t.

He’s a wonderful cat in every other way. And then one day, as I am bent over the puddles, some words of wisdom sink in on a very practical level.

“No amount of care or skill in workmanship can overcome fundamental faults of the system.”

W. Edwards Deming, The New Economics

…and I pet the cat and smile.

That afternoon, I smile as I go to the pet store and buy a big, sturdy, heavy water container. I smile as I fill it with water and set it on the floor.

And, the next morning I stumble from the bedroom, down the hall, through the living room, and around the corner to the kitchen to heat the water for my morning cup of tea.

Did I mention that I am not a morning person?

As I round the corner, my foot hits…the dry kitchen floor.

I smile.

∞ • ∞ • ∞ • ∞ • ∞ • ∞

So what do you complain about? Even if you don’t complain aloud, I’m pretty sure there’s something that bugs you, both professionally and personally. Well, I need to warn you that studying about Deming’s work will rob you of the sweet aroma of complaining. Because you’ll discover that there’s really a lot more situations you can improve than you could ever imagine.

I remember one time, early on in my learning, when I was driving David Langford to a meeting, and as I drove I described the current frustrating situation in which I found myself.

At a lull in my explanation, David looked at me and said, “So, what are you being the victim of?

Victim, I thought? Perhaps he hadn’t been listening carefully as I had been sharing the immense challenges of trying to change the traditional mode of education.

He continued, “I mean, so what are you going to do about the things you’re complaining about? I’ll look in my briefcase, but I’m pretty sure there’s no magic wand in there. All I have to give you are different tools and a different philosophy of improvement that can shift the way you look at the system. Of course, sometimes it almost seems like magic.”

So, I realize that one of the first systems I changed—providing water for my cat—didn’t rock the world, but it certainly changed mine. It was a concrete, simplistic example of how I could move beyond the initial tendency to blame, to punish, to reward, and yes to complain, and instead focus on fixing the system.

I changed the question from. “What’s the matter with that stupid cat?” to “Why in the world is the cat doing that?” Well, maybe initially it was more like ‘Why is that stupid cat doing that?’

Why is the cat’s water bowl moving to the middle of the kitchen floor?

—Because the bowl is moving when he hits it with his paws while he’s drinking.

Why is the bowl moving when he hits it with his paws while he’s drinking?

—Because it’s moving easily across the tile floor.

Why is it moving easily across the tile floor?

—Because it’s lightweight.

Why is it lightweight?

—Because it’s a cheap, plastic container I found in the garage.

Why is it a cheap, plastic container I found in the garage?

—Because it was quicker and easier than getting a water bowl designed for cats.

Duh!

Sometimes quick and easy is not.

Try the magic. Next time you find yourself saying or thinking, Why is that (student, parent, colleague) _________? , try taking a few minutes to truly explore the causes behind the results. By the way, if you want to learn how to use this ‘magical’ tool, just go online and search for ‘5 Whys’.

Stupid Cat…So what?

Moral of the story: Fix the system, not the blame.

How can you move beyond the initial tendency…

to blame,

to complain,

to punish,

to reward,

… and, instead, fix the system… and achieve magical results?

 

What is a puddle in your life? In other words, what is something that you complain about?

 

Look beyond the current situation. What might be causing this to happen?