戴明环帮助我克服拖延症

长期以来，我总是试图把事情想清楚，彻底策划好，一次性把事情做对。但结果却总是往相反方向发展。我不仅不能一次性把事情做好，还经常是演变成拖延症，甚至最后把事情弄成不了了之……我试着去解决这个拖延症，却无功而返，直到我重新遇到戴明环。

我眼中的戴明环曾经只是一种做事的指导方法，我只是认为这就是要PDCA（Plan-Do-Check-Act）计划-实施-检查-改进的指导性的做事方法。但正是因为不得其核心，所以虽然知道戴明环的概念，却从未真正掌握，更谈不上用这种方法帮助自己了。

重读PDCA的概念时，我注意到戴明环的核心概念其实是“用高频的小改进去替代试图一次性解决的想法”。试图一次性把事情做对，会导致过度分析和思考，会让人心理压力过大，导致“思考瘫痪”，反而不容易实现。而持续的多次的小改善远比一次把事情想得周全再做要有效。即

Continuous "kaizan"(frequent small improvements) is much better than over-thinking caused "analysis paralysis" that intended to get it perfect the first time. It is better to be approximately right than exactly wrong.

多次小步迭代

事实上，大多数情况下的拖延症就是总想一次性实现更好的结果，结果导致自己压力过大，反而一直拖拖拖，最终或者拖没了，或者拖到最后仓促完成，质量反而更差。正确理解了戴明环后，我不再试图一次性做对，而是想着先大概对大概完成，如果有时间就通过多次迭代的方法不断改善。接受了这样的做事观后，我做事的压力大大降低，实际上即便是我所谓的大概正确的初稿也比仓促完成的“终稿”质量要好，效率反而高了。

对戴明环的另一个重要理解是关于Plan阶段的。英文维基百科上说“Plan：Establish ** objectives and processes** required to deliver the desired results.” 在计划阶段不仅要考虑目标，还要考虑过程！！！ 而且这个过程是实现目标的必须的过程，即这个过程是实现目标所必需的，是不能弄虚作假的。我过去不知道在计划阶段是不仅要认真思考目标，也要认真思考实现过程的，导致我即便定了目标，因为没有思考实现过程和方法，结果也是不好。当我这次理解了戴明环后，我在每天的日程开始时，我就会大脑中“想象着执行一遍”目标和过程，即在脑中走一遍，如此，既有目标，又有实施，还有最后的分析和总结，于是每天的进步都是确定和能看得到的。自己能感受到逐渐进入了一种正循环。

这个经历给我的启示是，要尽量寻找自己能接触到的最好的资料，尽量早一些或第一次就学到正确而准确的知识。相对而言，英文资料的质量更高。越早学到，收益越大。当人一旦真正做成了一件事情，踏踏实实地感受到进步后，尝到了这种进步的甜头后，真的会不愿意停下来了……

PDCA戴明环
Wikipedia：PDCA (plan–do–check–act or plan–do–check–adjust) is an iterative four-step management method used in business for the control and continuous improvement of processes and products. It is also known as the Deming circle/cycle/wheel, the Shewhart cycle, the control circle/cycle, or plan–do–study–act (PDSA).

• Plan：
  Establish objectives and processes required to deliver the desired results.

• Do：
  The do phase allows the plan from the previous step to be enacted. Small changes are usually tested, and data is gathered to see how effective the change is.

• Check：
  During the check phase, the data and results gathered from the do phase are evaluated. Data is compared to the expected outcomes to see any similarities and differences. The testing process is also evaluated to see if there were any changes from the original test created during the planning phase. If the data is placed in a chart it can make it easier to see any trends if the PDCA cycle is conducted multiple times. This helps to see what changes work better than others, and if said changes can be improved as well.

• Act：
  Also called "Adjust", this act phase is where a process is improved. Records from the "do" and "check" phases help identify issues with the process. These issues may include problems, non-conformities, opportunities for improvement, inefficiencies and other issues that result in outcomes that are evidently less-than-optimal. Root causes of such issues are investigated, found and eliminated by modifying the process. Risk is re-evaluated. At the end of the actions in this phase, the process has better instructions, standards or goals. Planning for the next cycle can proceed with a better base-line. Work in the next do phase should not create recurrence of the identified issues; if it does, then the action was not effective.