Engineers speak a different language. My fellow engineers will label me a traitor for confessing this, but it’s true. Of course, engineers use the same regional language as everyone else, but the words themselves have meanings that are specific to engineers and that are different than everyone else’s.

In particular, there is one word that seems to cause more trouble and misunderstanding than almost any other. That word is “quality.” Coincidentally, for process improvement experts, the definition of quality is very similar to engineers’ but also different from others’.

To an engineer, quality means building or producing an item according to its documented design. If the item meets its specifications and is built according to the documented design and tolerances, then a quality-oriented organization will approve it for shipment, and the business quality metrics are good.

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