After so many decades of quality assessment, process-improvement initiation, statistical analysis, and general discussion, one would think the question, “What is quality?” has been answered and closed. One would be wrong.

“Business and human endeavors are systems... we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system, and wonder why our deepest problems never get solved.”—Peter Senge

It was Mark Twain who said, “Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.” This has become my favorite saying, both with regards to customer experience and to life in general.

Editor’s note: Here’s part one.