Word from the Chair...
What an amazing field we work in! Whether your title includes the word “quality” or not, if you are reading this newsletter then there is a good chance that you are involved in quality somehow wherever you work or volunteer. You might be a quality control supervisor, or a quality inspector, or a statistician, or an internal auditor. Or perhaps you are not in a “traditional” quality role at all. Maybe you are a customer service representative, or a trainer, or a purchasing agent. Or maybe you are involved in a not-for-profit organization or government agency or school. No matter where you work, there are undoubtedly processes involved, and within each of these processes there are things that can be streamlined or improved. As Henry Ford once said, “If something has been done the same way for six months, check to see if there is a better way. If it has been done the same way for two years, then there is surely a better way.” That’s not to say that we pursue change just for the sake of change, but in the fast-paced (that seems like such an understatement!) world in which we live, we must change and adapt and improve if we are to succeed over the long haul. ASQ provides us such a tremendous opportunity not only to learn about what is happening outside of our little worlds, but also to apply what we know in different arenas and to interact with others along the way. This Spring we will be learning about how quality is involved with improving things in healthcare, government, manufacturing, and entertainment because with quality, the possibilities are endless to “make good great.”
