An analysis of failures to produce in several fields showed this fault:

Never unmock (take down or destroy) working installations.

A working installation is something that is operational.

Example: A cook can cook 30 dishes of various types successfully. Instead of retaining these as they are and seeking on the side to create or find new dishes, the cook experiments with and changes her 30 standard dishes. The result is failed production.

The most flagrant violation of this is tearing up Div A to create Div B.

Example: A musical group has 15 finished pieces of repertoire. Instead of developing totally new pieces, they rewrite their existing repertoire. The result is a failure to do good shows.

Division A is working. Somebody orders Division B to be strengthened.

Example: An org is doing well with a standard CF letter writing campaign. This personnel is pulled off onto phones only as an experiment. The org stats crash. The correct action would be a pilot phone program using new personnel and leaving the standard actions in.

A stupid or suppressive personnel person will tear up Div A to get personnel for Div B.

In all cases the right thing to do is maintain without variation the standard production line and if experimenting or change is to be done: pilot it on the side with people or actions that do NOT impede standard production.

The correct action is to find extra or new people for the new action.

There is always a better model in the research lab than there is on the production line. The only bug occurs when the incomplete and unknown model is shoved over as the standard production.

MUSICAL CHAIRS (transfers of persons around an org) is THE SINGLE MOST DESTRUCTIVE ACTION TO AN ORG'S STATS.

If on test and experience a new action, properly piloted, is better, then and only then is it added to the standard line.

A failure to recruit and train new people leads one toward the destruction of working installations.

Whenever a new unit has to be made up, the failure to recruit and train shows up vividly. Essential people are ripped off their posts to form the new unit and the destruction of working installations by this action shows up at once in production stats.

It takes a great deal of work to find, hat and post people and get them experienced enough to produce. It takes a lot of work to make a working installation. But in one swoop some irresponsible personnel transfer can destroy it.

In mechanical matters the same thing applies. It takes a lot of work to make something operational. If for a while it is not used, a mechanic may rob its parts to set up something else instead of getting new parts for the something else. Then when the working installation is needed, it doesn't function and a great deal of trouble and expense is put in setting it up again. The trouble and expense is far more costly than getting the parts elsewhere.

NEVER UNMOCK A WORKING INSTALLATION.

It will be far more costly than going to a lot of trouble and expense to get the people or parts elsewhere.