The events that have transpired since the onset of the current recessionary cycle underscore the turbulent times all organizations face.

Mistakes are a fact of life. No matter how much you try, you can’t completely avoid making them. And they can actually help to improve your company’s effectiveness and reputation if you handle them well.

I’ve been thinking of innovation these days, and how it’s being given as a password, and passport, to sustain economies, especially in the Old and New Worlds—that is, us. And how—and why—we are given rules to innovate.

As I titled this column, I was reminded that W. Edwards Deming liked to say, “The most important numbers are unknown and unknowable.” But some numbers are important, and most managers do not know how to manage them.

Some people are really good at procrastination: government bureaucrats, politicians, and kids, especially when it’s time for chores or bed.

Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series on effective, focused data analysis.

When a medical institution aspires toward excellence and patient safety, quality enhancement proves to be a key factor essential to the process.

Many companies’ internal quality audit systems suffer from a reputation of being mildly effective to completely ineffective or just nonvalue-added. Often, it’s viewed as a policing department from which one’s dirty laundry must be hidden.

This is a story that, as far as I know, has never appeared in print before. It’s not exactly hot news—the incident happened in 1970—but it exemplifies Henry Petroski’s dictum that engineers often learn more from failure than success.

As you all know, the influence of W. Edwards Deming on my career and thinking has been profound.