The Art of Inquiry

Musings on Lean, Agile, Adaptive Process and Productivity in general

Browsing Posts in Credits

Very few of the ideas I talk about here are my own. Sometimes they are verbatim ideas from others, more often they are a mashup, a synthesis of thoughts and ideas.

Because most of these ideas originate from others, I believe it correct and appropriate to give those others appropriate credit. In this category you will find mentions of people, books, papers or other bibliographic references, or mentions of people who have significantly effected my thinking. The idea is to give credit where credit is due.

Onions

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This is one of the several photos of onions created for me by a former colleague of mine, Sharon Hoffman in 2004. I was preparing for a graduate school project, and knowing she was an amateur photographer, asked her for advise on how to take photos of an onion. The following Monday she had several photos on my desk that went well beyond anything in my creative sphere. “It was a fun exercise,” she said. I offer her my eternal thanks.

Some people find onions to be smelly and offensive. I find them to be beautiful, and living in the land of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion, almost as good to eat raw as apples. They are also a wonderful metaphor for the many layers of behavioral dynamics in us as individuals, and our organizations.

From, George Eckes, Six Sigma for Everyone, John Whiley and Sons, 2003.

Eckes writes a short introduction into Six Sigma, running 121 pages of big type. He describes the objective of Six Sigma as the simultaneous optimization of both effectiveness, the ability to deliver customer appreciated value, and efficiency, the ability to deliver that value with the least waste.
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Artwork by Lichen Dai.

This is a calligraphy version of the traditional Chinese symbol wèn, meaning learning, knowledge, or scholarship. It is used here to represent inquiry. Two ears surrounding a mouth; to listen twice as much as one speaks.

It is used as the site icon to capture the questioning intent of the site.