When we got married, my husband and I received a Black Forest German CooCoo clock. As a pendulum and weight clock, I have had to wind it and reset the time once every eight days. For years now, the clock has lost 5 minutes per week. For years, I have been annoyed that the clock hasn't kept time better than that! Five minutes a week!
A few weeks ago, I read a Smithsonian article on pendulum and weight clocks. The article discussed their construction in detail. Different types of construction results in different levels of accuracy. Due to the nature of the mechanisms, the very best pendulum and weight clocks lose only five minutes every eight days.
Well, that was a show stopper. For over 20 years, I've been annoyed with the clock for losing five minutes every eight days. Then, I learn. I learn that it is actually a very fine clock. My perceptions have changed. I am now very happy with the clock.
When we use the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria, we are trying to learn. If we truly learn, our perceptions will change. What have you learned so far? How have your perceptions changed?
It may not just be your handmade Coo Coo clock. Technology now still does not keep accurate time. Every couple weeks my ihome alarm clock falls back a minute. It forces me to remember that when I think I am five minutes ahead I am on-time and when I am on-time I am five minutes late. A theory I have heard more than once when I am preparing to go to a meeting or interview.
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