There have been a couple of great columns in recent weeks in Quality Digest Daily dealing either directly or indirectly with the subject of root cause analysis. Mike Micklewright gave us his spin ... [Read More]
It was the great W. Edwards Deming who first applied this tenet, “Drive out fear,” to quality management in his book Out of the Crisis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1982) It’s one ... [Read More]
The final draft of the revised ISO 9004 standard is out for ballot. This means that it will hopefully be available before the end of this year. It’s radically different from the last version. For ... [Read More]
A father and his son were going to market. Their donkey was laden with the vegetables from their garden and assorted wares they were going to sell. The young son became tired and so his father ... [Read More]
"The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor: he took my measure anew every time he saw me, whilst all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me.” ... [Read More]
As some of you know, quality “speak” and concepts have been known to bleed into my everyday life. This is not uncommon for quality professionals. The only difference between some of us and the rest of you is that many of you are still in denial. You won’t admit to the occasional slip of the quality tongue (e.g., “I need to see the objective evidence that you’ve done your ... [Read More]
A couple of months back I was watching “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”--one of the more enjoyable game shows in recent memory. The premise is that the contestants should be able to answer the questions, since it’s stuff we learned during or prior to the fifth grade--nothing deceptively clever or arcane; just facts and information, history, science, grammar, and current geography. ... [Read More]
One of the most interesting books I’ve read is Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon and Schuster, 2006). It’s a historical narrative of Lincoln’s administration, focusing on the dynamics of his cabinet.
Lincoln was dedicated to preserving the Union. At the time of the Civil War, the United States was less than 100 years old. The system of government “… of the people, ... [Read More]
On several occasions while conducting a third-party surveillance audit, I’ve gotten the following query--or a variation thereof: “One of our customers called us last week and wants to come in to do an audit in three weeks. Why can’t they just accept the results of the audit that you’re doing? After all, they’re auditing us to the same requirements. Isn’t registration to ISO 9001 ... [Read More]
E
mpowering people is a cool idea. Giving individuals authority and responsibility has many benefits. It fosters accountability and communicates confidence. It avails people the opportunity to ... [Read More]
