As we know that Natural / Pure / Basic sciences
define principles / develop information to predict or understand a specific
phenomenon occurring in the world and applied science is the discipline
of science that
applies this existing scientific knowledge to develop more practical
applications, like technology or
inventions. Physics is a pure science; however Applied Mechanics is the science
which uses laws of physics for the applications to design structures and
appliances. Multiple Applied sciences emerge based on the nature and area of
application of principles of pure science. Continuing with example of Physics;
the disciplines of optics, quantum physics, materials science, applied mechanics, nanotechnology, micro-fabrication, mechanical engineering,
biophysics, electrical engineering, control theory, aerodynamics, energy, solid-state physics, etc.
are all applied sciences emerging by applying specific principles of Physics in
different areas.
Excellence is also kind of basic science, which
can be applied to various aspects and provide us process or methodologies to be
adopted in the specific areas. E.g. Baldrige Excellence Framework has been
created by applying excellence principles to overall business performance. This
framework coupled with methodologies, processes, measurement KPIs, etc. has
emerged as one of the Applied Excellence Science called “Business Excellence”.
Several corporations have taken cue from this and built their own global
excellence frameworks to be followed creating a number of flavors of this. Deming applied principles of excellence to
product quality and defined 14 principles to be followed for achieving
excellence in Product Quality which ultimately became a TQM movement still in
practice. This is another example of Applied Excellence. Henry Ford applied the
principles of excellence to assembly style of manufacturing giving rise to
Manufacturing Excellence stream of thinking. There are several such examples of
application of excellence principles to build a new science altogether.
I have made an attempt to apply some of the key
principles and aspects of excellence to an Individual and define certain signs
to identify if one is progressing on the path of excellence or not. The idea is
to keep them simple to understand, simple to apply and simple to measure.
Ideally one should be able to do it in “self-service” mode without any external
intervention or help.
First and foremost thing about excellence is, that
it has a start point, which is when one realizes and takes up this journey
consciously, but no end point. It is a continuous process of going to a better
state / stage of performance level from where you are today in any aspect of
life. When this aspect is applied to an individual, it means one needs to learn
something new every day, one needs to do things better and better as the days
pass, one needs to move forward in the achievement of current goal of excellence
on daily basis. If one asks three simple questions to self before sleeping and
answers them with honesty to oneself; one can provide a clue as to if he/she is
on the journey of excellence or not; these are
Have I
done anything today to improve myself?
When we talk about an individual, it could be
relationship with spouse / Children on personal side or Boss / Subordinate /
Customer at work. or it could be reading a new technical article to improve
your knowledge about specific technology or it could be doing some experiment to
learn or it could be something as simple as complimenting someone for good
work. The key here is to identify proactive actions which we have initiated and
executed to seek an improvement in the desired area/s during the day. We might
face a little trouble in the beginning to differentiate between proactive and
reactive/ suggested actions but once we start getting hang of this, each action
identified creates a positive feedback to us and pushes automatically to do
more of these actions driving us ahead in the excellence journey.
Have I
done anything NEW today to improve myself?
This question is different than the first
question. One word “NEW” differentiates both. We can do things which we have
done in past again and again to improve the situation and we would be achieving
some results. But it is important if we are trying something NEW which can give
us different results and with a possibility of better / faster improvements. A
person trying new things is positioned better to receive better and differentiated
results than a person using the things which he / she has been using for many
years. If you are taking certain actions again and again, you expect the
similar results again and again and after a while the effectiveness of the
actions and results starts diminishing. So, one needs to ask this question separately.
What I
am going to do tomorrow to improve myself?
This question provokes oneself to do something
new, different for improvement. It also allows oneself time to think about it
in advance and assess if there is anything different one can try the next day
for areas where one wants improvements or one has to continue what one is doing
currently to ensure results. It also helps one to plan for the next day which
is a key in getting things accomplished.
What is
my SAY-DO ratio?
Last and most important question one needs to
ask is what is their SAY-DO ratio? Many a times we make plans when we are
thinking but are not able to act on the same as planed and do not realize that
we are really not acting as we desired. Our SAY-DO ratio is poor. We realize
this when some external source points out that results are not changing.
Normally it is too late for any correction and we might have missed the bus. So
it is important to consciously assess one self using this question which will
help us to ensure that we do what we plan.
When we ask these 4 questions to oneself before
sleeping, we apply some of the basic principles of Excellence and create a
Applied version for improving Personal Excellence.
