The Parable of the Green Lawn
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR TOTAL QUALITY
A new housing development has lots of packed earth and weeds, but no grass. Two neighbors make a wager on who will be the first to have a lush lawn. Mr. Fast N. Furious knows that a lawn will not grow without grass seed, so he immediately buys the most expensive seed he can find because everyone knows that quality improves with price. Besides, he will recover the cost of the seed through his wager. Next, he stands knee deep in his weeds and tosses to seed around his yard. Confident that he has a headstart on his neighbor, who is not making much visible progress, he begins his next project.
Ms. Slo N. Steady, having grown up in the country, proceeds to clear the lot, till the soil, and even alter the slope of the terrain to provide better drainage. She checks the soil’s pH, applies weed killer and fertilizer, and then distributes the grass seed evenly with a spreader. She applies a mulch cover and waters the lawn appropriately. She finishes several days after her neighbor, who asks if she would like to concede defeat. After all, he does have some blades of grass poking up already.
Mr. Furious is encouraged by the few clumps of grass that sprout. While these small, green islands are better developed than Ms. Steady’s fledgling lawn, they are surrounded by bare spots and weeds. If he maintains these footholds, he reasons, they should spread to the rest of the yard.
He notices that his neighbor’s lawn is more uniform and is really starting to grow. He attributes this to the Steady children,who water the lawn each evening. Not wanting to appear to be imitating his neighbor, Mr. Furious instructs his children to water his lawn at noon.
The noon watering proves to be detrimental, so he decides to fertilize the remaining patches of grass. Because he wants to make up for the losses the noon watering caused, he applies the fertilizer at twice the recommended application rate. Most of the
A new housing development has lots of packed earth and weeds, but no grass. Two neighbors make a wager on who will be the first to have a lush lawn. Mr. Fast N. Furious knows that a lawn will not grow without grass seed, so he immediately buys the most expensive seed he can find because everyone knows that quality improves with price. Besides, he will recover the cost of the seed through his wager. Next, he stands knee deep in his weeds and tosses to seed around his yard. Confident that he has a headstart on his neighbor, who is not making much visible progress, he begins his next project.
Ms. Slo N. Steady, having grown up in the country, proceeds to clear the lot, till the soil, and even alter the slope of the terrain to provide better drainage. She checks the soil’s pH, applies weed killer and fertilizer, and then distributes the grass seed evenly with a spreader. She applies a mulch cover and waters the lawn appropriately. She finishes several days after her neighbor, who asks if she would like to concede defeat. After all, he does have some blades of grass poking up already.
Mr. Furious is encouraged by the few clumps of grass that sprout. While these small, green islands are better developed than Ms. Steady’s fledgling lawn, they are surrounded by bare spots and weeds. If he maintains these footholds, he reasons, they should spread to the rest of the yard.
He notices that his neighbor’s lawn is more uniform and is really starting to grow. He attributes this to the Steady children,who water the lawn each evening. Not wanting to appear to be imitating his neighbor, Mr. Furious instructs his children to water his lawn at noon.
The noon watering proves to be detrimental, so he decides to fertilize the remaining patches of grass. Because he wants to make up for the losses the noon watering caused, he applies the fertilizer at twice the recommended application rate. Most of the