Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickt
Yep, and I prefer not to even socialize with them. I don't even like going out to dinner with them. They can make even a fine French dinner a stressful event. Your point is very well taken.
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I have had the honor of having dinner with several influential people. In his day Ken Olsen (Digital Equipment Corporation) was quite powerful, but in a social environment was just another guy who didn't want to talk business in those environments. At the same gathering were other members of his staff, and I will always consider C. Gordon Bell as a mentor.
I had the honor of meeting and talking with Admiral Grace Hopper. Wow. That lady was a LEADER.
I also took a Six Sigma class in the 80's. It was taught by the originator, W. Edwards Deming himself. We were trying to bring the strategy into other than manufacturing - software engineering - as a pilot program. Deming taught his class, which mostly was about management, not statistics. Later we had dinner as a group since he also was interested in finding ways to apply six-sigma techniques to non-manufacturing processes. Again, a humble person who was willing to teach as well as learn.