I've been trying off and on for over two years just on the net,  to
find a copy of the best editorial or commentary I've ever read.  My
copy was accidently destroyed about ten years ago.

 Searches of Google and every other major search engine, (plus
countless research sites) have turned up nothing using the "If it ain't
broke fix it" term. The "facts" as best I can recall:

Published between 1985 and 1990.  I can not remember the authors name,
but believe it was a nationally syndicated columnist.  I don't know
what publication it appeared in, but it was print media.

The title as best I can remember was "If it ain't broke, fix it" The
gist of the article was that it's the unsatisfied people, who question
why, are unhappy with the status-quo, that has propelled the human
race throughout history. Without the people who like to tinker and
figure out how to do things different/better we would still be living
in caves, walking, etc, instead of riding in cars and walking on the
moon.

One key line that sticks in my memory was (paraphrased): It it ain't
broke, fix it. If it's fixed, improve it(or perhaps make it better).
If it's improved, perfect it. If it's perfect, move on to something
else and start anew.

NOTE: It is "not" the editorial by the same title at Hinde Sight,
http://www.ozcraft.com

---

Clarification of Question by karl_db-ga on 14 May 2002 06:58 PDT

Was not about any material thing in specific. Just an extremely well
written commentary about the spirit and affect on human history and
development  of those who have been driven to question the status-quo.
How to make things better, easier, faster.

I do remember it mentioned "status-quo", and something along the lines
if everybody had a "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude we'd
still be walking, living in caves, never stepped foot on the moon.

I'm also sure it contained the following comment, (though not an exact
quote): "If it ain't broke, fix it. If it's fixed, improve it. If it's
improved, perfect it. And if it's perfect, move on to something else
and start over again."

It’s may have appeared in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne
News-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star or Time Magazine. Less likely, but
possible, is Life Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, or U.S. News
and World Reports.  Regardless of where it appeared in print, I’m sure
it was by a nationally syndicated columnist/writer/editorilist/etc,
not a local author.

This is a wonderful attitude and a great way to approach a problem.

It sounds just like an article I have some personal familiarity with,
called <i>Discontent</i> by columnist Chuck Gallozzi. I found a copy
of it
here:

   [ http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/discontent.htm ]

I seem to remember a similar column in a technical publication that I
clipped and saved.  Could it be from something like Personal
Engineering and Intrumentation News, which appears to be no more? 
Personal Engineering &

Instrumentation News
http://www.pein.com/  NOT A CURRENT WEB SITE.

Another technical magazine that I think may have had it was related to
chip development.  Does this help?

Has anyone done a search on lexis-nexus?  It's an incredibly useful
online search database of most any published source.  It's
subscription-based but most companies and public libraries have
subscriptions. I'd think that Lexis should work well for this.

Can you tell where you have seen this article?  It helps to narrow down by region.

The closest I was able to come with a periodical search for 1985-1990
was the following very management-oriented article.  The moon landing
isn't mentioned...

The Washington Post October 4, 1987, Sunday, Final Edition 
SECTION: OUTLOOK; PAGE C3; OUTPOSTS; MANAGEMENT 
Business in the Future Tense by Tom Peters
THERE ARE no excellent companies. The old saw, "If it ain't broke,
don't fix it," needs revision. I propose: "If it ain't broke, you just
haven't looked hard enough. Fix it anyway."  [continues for 2500
words, but you'll have to get it yourself... copyrighted material, but
any major library should have it.]

Hi Karl,

I also found the reference to Tom Peters as the psychology of change
relates to business management (TQM).  I'm wondering if this was a
column based on Peters' book, "Thriving on Chaos" published in 1987. 
When I initially read this question, the quotes did had a motivational
flavor to them.  I haven't read this book but I'd be interested in
getting a peek at the bibliography.  Maybe someone can check out that
angle.

Good luck finding your column.
V

Hi carl_db,

I ran many searches through Lexis-Nexis and read many articles
pertaining to the search terms you suggested.  I could not find any
articles that made mention of the segments you recall (e.g. "moon"
with "if it ain't broke").

One article, though, does come remarkably close to the gist of what
your original stated.  It was printed in the September 3, 1995 "Tampa
Tribune" on page 6, headline "A would-be pioneer on the social
frontier".  I have read the full text of the article, and while I
cannot copy it here it refers to pioneers and trailblazers who
"sacrifice" to "turn[s] what was once a difficult path into a
steppingstone for those who follow" and concentrates on pioneers who
helped end racial prejudice, such as Martin Luther King and Jackie
Robinson.

The article goes on to dispell those who "maintain the status-quo" as
being obstacles in the human race's pursuit to overcome any physical
barrier which has even "managed [for us] to go to the moon and come
back."

The article was written by a Tribune editorial writer named Joseph H.
Brown.

If you can remember any more details about the original article, I am
very intrigued and would like to do more research on this topic with
your clarifications.

Hope this helps,
carwfloc-ga

Hi Karl_db,

There was a book review in the LA Times (October 11, 1987 Sunday Home
Edition) :

HEADLINE: IF IT AIN'T BROKE, FIX IT ANYWAY; 
THRIVING ON CHAOS; 
HANDBOOK FOR A MANAGEMENT REVOLUTION BY TOM PETERS (ALFRED A. KNOPF:
$19.95; 576 PP.);
THE RENEWAL FACTOR; 
HOW THE BEST GET AND KEEP THE COMPETITIVE EDGE BY ROBERT H. WATERMAN
JR. (BANTAM BOOKS: $19.95; 338 PP.)

A small quote of the text of the article :

With change as their lodestar, neither author can be accused of
permanently enshrining companies (although Waterman comes pretty close
to canonizing IBM). In a constantly shifting world, anything can
happen, including the devolution of a company from hero to goat in a
brief period of time. Peters can therefore come right out and say:
"There are no excellent companies. . . . No company is safe . . . too
much is changing for anyone to be complacent." And Waterman asserts
that "change is the norm," drawing this moral: "The highest expression
of management art is the manager's ability to renew a department, a
division, a company, himself." The old saw, "If it ain't broke, don't
fix it," doesn't apply anymore. Peters replaces it with: "If it ain't
broke, you just haven't looked hard enough." And he adds: "Fix it
anyway." His erstwhile collaborator, Waterman, agrees. He quotes John
Akers, IBM's chief executive, on why IBM is always reorganizing: "We
organize for good business reasons. One of the good business reasons
is that we haven't reorganized for a while."

From Lexis-Nexis.com

Doesn't quite look like the news article is the right one, but it
makes me wonder if it was in a book, such as the ones listed above,
that you saw it.

Just my $0.02 - so that's $50.02 floating around for this answer!

-calebu2

Hey Karl,

Still working on this one for you.  I know your question is closed but
an article you remember almost 20 years later is definitely worth
finding!  I'll keep researching but I thought I'd share what I've
found so far in case someone else can pick up a scent.

It's just a hunch but I think you may have seen it in Time magazine. 
Maybe it was in the brain research category, although all the clues so
far tend to turn up business references.

Danah Zohar is my top search candidate.  She wrote several books that
had to do with transformation programs.  "The Quantum Self," "The
Quantum Society,(?)" and "Rewiring the Corporate Brain."  Here's a bit
of short text I found on my travels.

(quote)
Most transformation programs satisfy themselves with shifting the same
old furniture about in the same old room. Some seek to throw some of
the furniture away. But real transformation requires that we redesign
the room itself. Perhaps even blow up the old room. It requires that
we change the thinking behind our thinking—literally, that we learn to
rewire our corporate brains.
(/quote)

Could also be some quotations from Robert Kreitner as this came from
some interactive annotations in his textbook "Management," Chapter 10.

(quote)  
A chair is something to sit on, a desk to work at, and a couch is for
slouching. How can a company build innovation into things that have
been on the market-in one form or another-since early cave people drew
rocks around a fire to sit on while toasting their dinner and
themselves? One way is to take a non-traditional approach to R&D. By
letting your people stretch, their designs may start to stretch as
well. The very irreverence that the group has been accused of
demonstrating may be responsible for the "outside of the box" thinking
that led to their leading-edge designs. Risk-taking is required to
make things different.
(/quote)

http://college.hmco.com/business/kreitner/management/8e/students/annotations/ch10.html

Outside chance would be James Champy, as I found this quote from a
Inc. as a business retrospective along with their catch phrases.

(quote)
A manager reportedly told James Champy, co-author of the landmark book
on reengineering: "We don't really know how to do reengineering in our
company; so what we do is, we regularly downsize and leave it to the
three people who are left to figure out how to do their work
differently."

Source: As quoted in "Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing from
Scratch," Inc. 20th Anniversary Issue, 21 (May 18, 1999): 51-52.
(/quote)

http://www.inc.com/incmagazine/articles/4696-print.html

Possible additional search terms:

Peter Drucker
ideation group
Theory Y
kaizen (Japanese word for "continuous improvement")
Masakki Imai
Dr. Robert Ballard
agile learning
systems thinking

Hope this information sparks an idea in someone and, as a team, we can
find this article for you.
V

Have you visited libraries of universities? Have you asked from news groups?