What about the demo you spent days making sure was perfect only to have it crash on the first input you make in front of the visitor? Angel Trick.

Have you ever been reading a book only to notice suddenly that you are twenty pages further in it than you have actually read. Angel Trick.

Have you spent hours trying to find some bug in a program, looked over your code repeatedly, and not seen that glaring error until you tried to explain the problem to someone else. Angel Trick.

Many narrow-minded people would claim that people who experience these problems are merely suffering from senility. I know better. These are tricks played on us by our guardian angels.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee in their hands: that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.

17Th Century Prayer Book

Back when I was young, I was arrogant and egotistical. I was always right. My way was always the most efficient and the most elegant. Other programmers bowed as I passed. Computers trembled when I entered the room. I could vanquish bugs with a single glance.

Then, one day this Master of the Universe got into his car to go to work. I piled in my weapons (listings and manuals), jumped in, closed the door, and backed out of the garage. Imagine my surprise when I saw the driver side door laying on the garage floor. It's kind of hard to be arrogant in February when you have to drive into work with your car door in the back seat. No one believed that I had closed that door either. Angel Trick.

Then there was the time I was skiing in Colorado. I enjoyed skiing the moguls and would regularly make one of the runs under the chair lift to impress the people riding up. I thought I was hot stuff. One day after being particularly proud of myself, I was coming off the mountain back to the lodge when right in front of the lodge, the large windows, the outdoor café, and all those people I fell on my behind and slid the last 20 yards down the kiddy slope. Angel Trick.

There was the time when several of my friends and I went flying off of Mt. Holyoke. All my friends went first and took sled rides to the bottom. I went last and spent 30 minutes flying the hot-rocks over the heads of a group of thirty nature trail enthusiasts while my friends looked up in envy. I soared and gained 1500 feet. On my landing approach I was thinking about how sweet it would be to gloat when I landed. When I regained consciousness, it took a minute for me to remember where I was and to get the cow dung off my face. My angel had sent me a puff of wind just when I had flared for my landing.

Yes, our angels protect us. But, they are also responsible for reminding us that we are only human and not angels. What better way than to make us look ridiculous every once and awhile?

So, what does this have to do with ISO 9000?

4.4.3 Organizational and Technical Interfaces

[...] and regularly reviewed.

4.4..4 Design Input

[...] and their selection reviewed [...]

4.4.5 Design Output

[...] Design-output documents shall be reviewed before release.

4.4.6 Design Review

At the appropriate stages of design, formal documented reviews of the design results shall be planned and conducted. [...]

I could go on and on but you should have the point by now. Everywhere you look in the ISO 9001 standard, you will see that it requires that documents be generated and reviewed. Why are all these reviews required? Because of Angel Tricks. The angels have a rule - they can't play the same trick on every one at the same time. By using reviews, we avoid the tricks and come closer to perfection than we can as individuals.

Currently, inspections [reviews] are the most effective and efficient method known for eliminating problems early.

John Hrones, Tech Solutions