Centers, wrong work

The Fourth Way of spiritual development, which Gurdjieff represented, combines the other three ways, aiming at developing all three brains in a relatively equal and harmonious fashion. This is obviously desirable in and of itself, as well as setting the stage for the development of an entirely different kind of center for the self, the center that we call the Master in the parable. Various characteristics of Fourth Way work will be discussed in the remainder of this book, and some have been mentioned already, although not specifically identified as such. One of the primary tasks of self-observation, discussed in Chapter 17, is the personal observation of the different flavors of the three brains and of the wrong work of one brain for another. 

Ostensibly, only allowed transitions should be observed experimentally. In many cases, however, transitions are observed which formally are forbidden. This is not as disastrous as it would appear. Usually it is our model of the molecular structure which is wrong we assume a static molecular skeleton and forget that vibrations can change this firm geometry and allow the molecule to have other structures. These other structures have different symmetry elements from those we worked with and give new and different selection rules. For example, we could destroy the inversion center and remove the parity restriction. 

Standards are the baseline from which all continuous improvement activities can be measured. An example I often use is that of an order picker in a Toyota distribution center. I am not sure if the facts I use are correct, but that is inconsequential because what is important is the concept. Standard work for order pickers is 12 picks every 15 minutes. If in any 15-minute period they do not make their standard, they have to signal their supervisor. The supervisor immediately responds and approaches the order picker not to ask why he did not work to standard, but instead to ask what process problem, or problems, prevented him from making standard. Was the inventory count incorrect Was the inventory in the wrong location These and other questions will be asked until the problem is solved. This short, simple example demonstrates three distinct principles of lean respect for people, standard work, and a continuous improvement culture. Having defined standards that everyone understands enables the other two principles. Unlike this example, the actual workday of many supervisors is one spent firefighting rather than focusing on continual Improvement. Moving from one problem to the next fills their days because standards are unknown or not communicated. 

The Captain said, Both of them are wrong. What can we do followed by Alternate is correct , presumably meaning that the standby airspeed indicator in the center of the instrument panel was working properly. 

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