Quality --- a state of mind.

Special "Off Cycle" Bonus Posting

It is not news to regular readers that I am an engineer.  But you may surprised to learn that I do not believe that all the "numeric" or "engineered" or "metrics" approaches to obtaining good quality in a manufactured product will succeed by themselves.  In fact they may be merely cover-ups for failure to provide leadership.

You cannot "legislate" quality, or morality, or motivation, or hard work, or customer service,  or anything similar to any of these.

All of these are a state of mind.  In an organization, they are built on a genuine commitment at the top of the organization.        [Here a family could be considered an organization.]

You can only create the atmosphere or conditions for quality.

Having said that, once the atmosphere or culture for top quality is created then the "metric" systems have value.  But people have to first take ownership of the concept of building a quality product or providing quality service. It has to be part of the tribal commitment first.

It must be an every day, every hour, every minute thing. 

When I was managing and building the company, we worked hard to assure quality.    One time we had some formed metal parts that did not quite fit together like they should  (think of a shoebox and cover).  To demonstrate that this was not acceptable, I gathered everyone together around a band saw and literally sawed into a number of the parts, tossed them on the floor and announced (not completely calmly) that this was not acceptable quality.  The fact that I was willing to sacrifice money (finished parts) to illustrate my commitment to quality helped drive home the point.

We used to have frequent short meetings at which the subject of quality would usually be discussed.  During one such meeting, our production supervisor  (Aaron) saw someone set a cold soda can on a sheet of steel.  (We had no formal meeting room or even a break room, so we always met on the factory floor).  He could be quite animated and became so that day, declaring with much passion "That is what I am talking about when I talk about quality! That will leave a ring on that steel that customers will be able to see even after it is painted!"  I backed him up, though not with quite as much volume.

All our management team knew I would (and did) back them on quality.   Paul, our sales manager, more than once went into factory and held a heated  discussion because of a shipping error --- some wrong thing had been shipped.   Yes, shipping errors are quality errors!  Accountability for quality is required so that everyone feels  it is their responsibility.

Lest it sound like we were always yelling or screaming, it should be noted that we actually spent a great deal more time rewarding or thanking people for good quality.  As I have noted before, you need to reward the good a lot more than to "punish" the bad if you want to instill a positive attitude about anything.

We worked hard to build the group knowledge of what good quality was, to the point that it did not have to be measured.  Everybody just "knew" it if was bad or good. You cannot develop the tools for every quality situation in advance of knowing what the "problem" may be. If people think that it is "ok" unless it is "in the book", you have not created a quality state of mind.   With a "quality state of mind" people can usually judge what to do in a new situation.

We built a reputation in our industry for quality which carried us a long ways with developing  major customers.  Like every thing else that is good, it has to be an ongoing and forever thing.  If not, the culture withers just as green plants wither without water and eventually death occurs.



Quality should be an attitude ---- not a department. 



The same is true for customer service and many other facets of business or life

Every Day is Sunday in the Sweet Bye and Bye

Our first employee in the production of foam marking systems was a man named Clifford Boomer. He was retired from an area manufacturer and was well known in our community for his support of high school athletic teams, his church, and many other civic events and organizations.

He was a generally calm and patient man and a source of stability for me in the very early days of our business.   I was young and driven to succeed and sometimes got too much adrenalin flowing.  A small business has just as many operations or departments as a large one, but they all have to be performed by one or two people.  In our case, it was my father and me.

I was running all of the manufacturing operation ---- including fabrication, assembly, purchasing, as well as taking service calls, doing design, and taking many of the sales calls which came in, etc.  I was not merely managing, I was physically doing the work, with help from Cliff.   At times I'd get pretty stressed and it showed.

That was when Cliff would get me aside and tell me to calm down.  He would remind me that "Every day is Sunday in the sweet bye and bye" meaning that there are no worries once you die and to just relax a moment while here on earth.  To this day, I sometimes stop myself and remember Cliff's words when I get too over wrought.

Thanks Cliff!

Do ultrasonic pest repellers work?

Short answer. NO!
Don't waste your money buying them.

I can back it up with scientific proof.

One of  our daughters, Alissa, did a science fair project testing such devices when she was in high school. She had a glass enclosure about two feet by six feet by 1 1/2 feet high which had a top.  She divided it with an insulated board which had a small opening.  The "pest repeller" was put in one side and the white mice could pass freely between the two sides.

No matter whether the repeller was turned on or off, the mice showed no preference as to which side they were occupying.  And those that were on the repeller side  did not flee when it was turned on.

Simple conclusion:  It did not work!

Yet, people keep buying them over and over and over.

That's not unlike management mistakes that are sometimes made over and over and over.  J. P. Morgan comes to mind with recent risky trading schemes.  To be successful, a manager needs to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.  Actually, that's true for lots, if not all, people.

Of course, the real fun began when some of the mice escaped!  The little white furry things ran about the house for a number of weeks.  Every now and then, one of our cats would score a major hunting victory!  Eventually there were no more white mice.

Two types of people

1. Those who are happy with all that they have, regardless of how little "all" may be.

2. Those who are unhappy because of what they don't have, regardless of how much they do have.



There are many variations of this theme and we all have ample opportunity to see examples of both types.

Most of us know which is our own predominant "type".

Enough said.

Short post.

You didn't tell me you needed any.

It was just a week ago that we stopped in Paducah, KY for the night.  We stayed at a Pear Tree Inn, just across the parking lot from a Texas Roadhouse.  We had made this stop before and had excellent service at both places and great carryout ribs from the Roadhouse.  Why carryout?  We had our big dog, 105 pound Luna, with us and weren't sure about leaving her while we out eating.  (The Pear Tree [by Drury Hotels] allows pets, so we were not illegal, but we did not want a "big dog bark" echoing down the hall while we were out.)

My wife ordered our ribs and at the appointed time, I walked over to get them.  The carryout cashier opened every box for me to view the contents before bagging them and asked me if I wanted a complimentary bag of peanuts.  She was friendly, efficient and the experience was good.  I included a $2 tip with my payment, not a lot, but not too bad for a few minutes work.

Back across the parking lot to our room I walked and it sure smelled good as we unpacked the bags of food.  We were ready to eat.  But there was just one problem.  No silverware or napkins.  Back across the parking lot to the Roadhouse.

I walked in to the carryout counter and explained that we had not received silverware or napkins.  The same friendly and efficient person looked at me and said "You didn't tell me you needed any     ----  so I thought you probably had your own."  There was not an apology and it was apparently my fault for not telling her I needed silverware!

I admit that I am a stickler when it comes to bad customer service. When I get bad service which the person tries to blame on me as having unrealistic expectations, I am liable to blow.  The next half minute of my story is censored, but fortunately there was a management person nearby who took charge.  Leaving the silverware and napkins out was an honest mistake (I think), but the response was inexcusable.

Otherwise the service was good and the food was great.  We will go back, in spite of what I said in the heat of the moment.

I believe you have every right to complain about bad service.  But you also have an even greater obligation to compliment good service.  In my view, the compliments should be given not only to the person providing the service, but also to their manager.

I have gone in search of a manager at restaurants far more often to compliment than to complain  (usually my complaints are levelled only at the server ------ the manager probably knows that the person is marginal or worse.  As managers and people we all need to hear "the good" ---- since people are so much more likely to let loose with "the bad".

Customer service is sometimes the only way one organization can really differentiate itself from competitors.  Even if the product or service is excellent, bad customer service can make it difficult or impossible to succeed.





 complaint---Dennys in nashville.   in to cracker barrel several times to find manager to compliment.  compliment --Hilton garden in in chicago. compliment --capt j's seafood deck cb grouper.