SOME OF THE SYSTEM PROBLEMS AT THE OSCARS. I posted a couple of days ago on the Oscars mixup. I had not read that much about it, but I hazarded a guess, based on the generalization of W Edwards Deming that problems usually arise from the system not the people. I have since read more about the system problems at the Oscars.
*For some reason, there was no way of knowing beforehand from which side of the stage a presenter would enter. The fix for this problem was to have duplicate prize envelopes, one at each side of the stage.
*All the envelopes were apparently the same in appearance—no color coding for each of the prizes, for example.
*There was no procedure for destroying the duplicate envelope after a prize was given.
*As these linked stories from the TMZ site and the New York Post indicate, there may have been some friction between two of the presenters, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, so that their rehearsal time was cut short.