Global Quality for the 21st Century

A book excerpt from Quality Management Demystified
by Sid Kemp, MiracleMind CKO

Dream globally - act locally

Quality is a key issue for the entire planet. A focus on quality could have a profound effect on the nature of the global society we are creating, on the war on terror, and on the sustainability of earth’s ecosystem for many generations. And, as my colleague Malcolm Ryder, Principal and Research Director of Archestra puts it, "high-quality companies have the best opportunity to be the ones that solve the problems we care most about."

I ask you to join this discussion at two levels: global vision in quality and global society and local action - what you can do in your own business and your own life, in creating sustainable, growing quality.

I invite you to dream and plan with me. Is it possible that American business is actually addicted to innovation, to quick-fix solutions, because we are unwilling to look at the underlying problems? Perhaps, though, if we still have the same old problems, we don’t really need new solutions. As long as we keep running after new solutions from outside and relying on innovation, American quality is likely to yo-yo up and down.

As a culture, China is making choices remarkably similar to choices that caused England to rise and fall as a global power, and caused the United States to rise and then begin to slip. It is highly likely that, in 40 or 50 years, China will pay a lot of money for innovative solutions to massive environmental problems such as pollution and even global warming.

Think of it - North America could begin a continental Quality of Life initiative, addressing process quality, quality for business and profit, and quality of life through all our social institutions. If you read all of the literature on quality and excellence from the 1980s and 1990s, you’ll see that we almost got there. Total Quality Management infected more than just business. Some governmental agencies were transformed. Universities, schools for children, and hospitals all adopted TQM. TQM was changing all aspects of society.

Globalization is unavoidable. We are in a difficult situation that will require change - and loss for some - in the process. Whether it leads to benefit for all soon, or not until much later, may depend on whether we play globalization as a win-win-for-all game, or as a win-lose game.