What to expect from a well-formed argument? I have always felt that when two disciplines of knowledge come together, great learning comes out of the exchange. And this is true irrespective of the nature of the disciplines. Take for example this instance when I was thinking about forming a hypothesis for a client of mine during an audit assignment, when I came across this little article on gemology in my hotel room in Cairo. The article was about unique properties of diamond and how diamonds can be classified. It talks about four aspects of diamond that qualifies a superior diamond from inferior ones – these are called the four ‘C’s of diamond classification. They are: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat. And then the article went on talking about the different aspects within the four. But this got me thinking. Just like a diamond, don’t the same four parameters apply to anything else – say, an argument you put in front of your clients or colleagues, or a hypothesis / conjuncture that y
An Enquiry into Operational Excellence -- By Shreekant Vijaykar