Arecent online story in TIME magazine, “A Better Return on Investment” profiled the U.S. Army’s Fort Stewart in Georgia, focusing on the base’s Baldrige journey. Baldrige staff and stakeholders that I’ve heard from have varying opinions of whether the article has a negative or neutral spin. Regardless, in my opinion, what we need to continue to do is educate organizations on the return on investment inherent in Baldrige—the value proposition, if you will.

And to borrow something I heard a Baldrige stakeholder say, “Government is spending money to save money—that sounds paradoxical.” I contend that the military is saving money investing in Baldrige.

Here’s the letter that we wrote to TIME’s editor:

“Thank you for your recognition of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and its value to military and other organizations.

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