13 Feb, 2019

It is so easy to look at a situation or issue and formulate an opinion or response based upon intuition, gut or what we believe is our own intellect. But wait, the most obvious answer is not always the correct assessment. Maybe a closer look is in order. While I am not advocating analysis to paralysis, I am suggesting that taking another pass or two might render a more accurate response. No, I’m not talking about “Fake News”, I’m talking about behaviors related to Quality. After your first

04 Jan, 2019

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? More importantly are you sticking to them? Research has indicated that only about 17% of resolutions are maintained throughout the year. That’s pretty discouraging. However, when you think about it, an issue was identified that you want to be better at; and you put together an action plan (Prevention) for the improvement. Most likely you are tracking results of your efforts. Good luck and keep it going! Quality initiatives at work are sort of like

15 Dec, 2018

Do you have a strategy for Quality? I’ve asked this a number of times of clients and after a few blank stares and a questioning looks of what do you mean, I quickly follow, filling the silence with: Well I’m sure you have a strategy for sales and profit objectives, so I was wondering if you have one for Quality. A strategy for Quality ties directly to growing a company and improving bottom line financials. Companies exist to create value. Value cannot be created within a company without a

19 Nov, 2018

As I read various publications on the subject of Quality, I have noticed increasingly the focus of Quality is on the tools of Quality rather than the behaviors of Quality. I fear that we are at risk of losing the identity of Quality to the tools of Lean and Six Sigma. I have no dispute over their value as a contributor to the improvement of processes through failure and waste reduction. By and of themselves, though, this is not the big picture of Quality. I have seen these tools misused to make

23 Jul, 2017

For those who have been reading my blogs, you know this isn’t about cooking, but rather Behavior Based Quality. Yet there can be some similarities. Anyone who grills always shoots for perfection. In Quality terms, that’s Zero Defects. The behaviors of grilling actually embrace both safety and Quality behaviors by using proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as mittens or hot pads. Successful grilling also requires the use of Quality tools such as instant read thermometers to assure,

11 Jul, 2017

Do you ever wonder why some people just don’t get “it.” They move through life as a series of events befall them with no clue as to why things happen or don’t happen. In business we often see managers and executives that fail to see or understand the impact of decisions that they make or concepts that they promote. The people who think and behave like this are not bad folks, they are just afflicted with what I call Linear Thinking. Life to them is a chain of events as if they were lined up as

11 Mar, 2017

It seems as though the tools that are used to improve Quality have not changed much in the last 15 to 20 years, perhaps more. What we are seeing are variations on the theme as those wanting their place in history think up new ways to use old tools and then call it something different. Most of them are like retreads on old tires. They serve the purpose and achieve the objective and garner attention until the “new” wears off. We should be searching for the innovation that brings about profound

21 Feb, 2017

While many companies say they are committed to Quality, organizational structure and behaviors may tell a different story. So what do Quality professionals do in a situation like this? I would suggest that they uniformly adopt the Behavior Based Quality (BBQ©) philosophy within their department by setting the example for incorporating the CPI behaviors of Compliance, Prevention and Improvement. This also means implementing metrics and taking the appropriate remedial corrective actions and

13 Feb, 2017

There was an article in today’s paper about Safety culture, or rather broken culture. Interestingly, the CEO being interviewed commented that people thought of Safety as a cost which he thought was a sign of a broken culture of safety. When he took over his new position he set about to turn that around and change the culture of the company to Behavior Based Safety. This ties very closely to what I have been promoting as Behavior Based Quality (BBQ) in my past posts. The CEO’s company was so tied