Sal881vw 11.05.2004
Constancy of purpose
“Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to
become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.” Dr. W. Edwards Deming
Scope
Constancy of purpose is the main element of the first point by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, and I
will focus my article on these three words as the remainder of the phrase is self-explanatory.
What is constancy of purpose?
Constancy of purpose is a fundamental characteristic within us that drives us to attain our
aims. It is our faithfulness to provide, much more then an instinct for survival. These aims may
vary from the very basic to the most elitist kind.
Needless to say organizations are made up of various elements the two furthest extremes of
the structure are Top Management and the Work Force, all are skilled individuals necessary
for the intended purpose and on going evolution of the organization. Some may say “the work
force must have constancy of purpose, look at their productive rate”, others will say “ it’s Top
Management’s job, they know where the money is being spent” and a multitude of similar
statements, how wrong or right they are depends to be seen. Mind you some topnotch
companies, of late, have really nose dived considering the status that they enjoyed and the
management styles they projected.
This typical scenario makes headlines day in and day out, at least, as far as the local scene is
concerned. Much to every ones definition of constancy of purpose, I believe that, it is a moral
obligation to provide a good product and an honest service that makes a customer return
indefinitely for our products and services. The pace setters have to be the powers that be,
Government, Institutions, Management, Educators and other entities leading us by good
example.
Creating constancy of purpose.
I have found that belonging, power, freedom and fun are four essential components in
creating constancy of purpose.
1) We have to belong to the whole process of constancy of purpose. Belonging is a
need as this stimulates us to find meaningful ways and enhances the believe in
ourselves to make valuable contributions.
2) We also have to have some level of power. This gives direction and commitment to
our ideas.
3) We also need freedom. This gives autonomy to express our ideas within defined
parameters that are wide enough to be creative without losing sight of the purpose or
objective.
4) We also need fun. My meaning of fun here is related to the workplace, we do tend to
associate easier with others that share similar interests. We learn much more from
these people because the atmosphere created is one of exchange of ideas and
experiences. Therefore communication is easier and conflicts are of the constructive
type.
To conclude, I find that constancy of purpose as Dr. W. Edwards Deming stated is a universal
concept, unfortunately applying it by the powers that be leaves much to be desired.