The Quality Metamorphosis of CEOs
1987:
Me: I wish to introduce myself as a Quality Improvement consultant
CEO: Oh. You mean Quality Control.
Me: No. In Quality Control you maintain the standard. In Quality Improvement you challenge the standard.
CEO: ??##?
Me: In Quality Improvement the by-product is a reduction in Cost Of Poor Quality (COPQ).
CEO: Yes. I understand. My rejection rate is 1%. Guess the COPQ is also 1% of total costs. Correction. It is nil. I can sell my rejects in the open market.
Me: Sir. The 1% rejection translates to COPQ of 10% of total costs.
CEO: ??##
And so the Quality Improvement journey commenced.
1997:
Me: I wish to introduce myself as a Business Excellence consultant.
CEO: Oh you mean Continuous Quality Improvement.
Me: Yes and No. CQI is a core value of Business Excellence. Business Excellence is ISO 9001 + CQI + Benchmarking. Collectively they deliver Best Practices.
CEO: Oh. How long will it take?
Me: 1000 days.
And so the Business Excellence journey commenced.
2007:
Me: I wish to introduce myself as a Performance Excellence consultant.
CEO: Our financial results have crashed. It’s a global problem. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Me: Lets salvage the situation. Lets focus of the vital few processes that are generating chronic waste and consequently loads of COPQ.
CEO: I had not realized Quality was a strategic tool for delivering financial results.
Me: Yes it is. CQI, coupled with Innovation, can double your average profit without capital investment.
CEO: How long will it take? I can’t wait.
Me: 500 days.
And so the Performance Excellence journey commenced.
2017:
Me: I wish to introduce myself as a Global Benchmarking consultant.
CEO: That’s great. Our markets have no geographical boundaries. We have customers in the USA, Germany, China, Japan, Australia, and of course India.
Me: Would you like to be Better + Faster + Cheaper + Different?
CEO: Yes of course.
Me: In that case, we need to Build Quality into Design. We need to Benchmark global Best Practices. We need to develop Next Practices that get Benchmarked.
CEO: How long will it take?
Me: 250 days.
And so the Global Benchmarking journey commenced.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- We need to set stretch strategic goals to become a global benchmark for Quality and Reliability.
- Product Life Cycles are shrinking. Break Even Points are headed for Zero. So we do not Make; we only Buy.
- Robotic Process Automation allows for 100% inspection. So what happens to CQI?
Amazing article. You the real Quality Guru in India!
Thank you for your kind words, Tauseef.
When you one thinks like a CEO, with ownership as his/her core values!!! Thanks Sir!!!
Thank you Parimal
Well described for the ‘corporate’ managers. The progress is real.
Still not visible at the ‘mom & pop’ shop or small business and home level. When that happens ‘quality of life’ improves.
Mom & Pop shops have amazing customer engagement. That is Quality.
In India, the ‘pan walla’ shops are a benchmark for housekeeping practices and customer engagement.. The hole in the wall shops have fast moving goods in stock – soft drinks, snacks, sweets, cigarettes, ball pens, razors, blades, tobacco products, etc., etc. They engage with their customers and are familiar with their needs.
Another example is the ‘bhel puri walla’.
Reminds me of Dr. Juran’s tongue-in-cheek paper to the ASQC (American Society for Quality Control) when they wanted to rename themselves as American Society for Quality Control and Reliability !
Dr. Juran kept adding more and more terms after ‘Reliability’ – he was at his sarcastic best .
Dr Juran was a legend. He believed in economy of words. His choice of words was always precise and dictionary-accurate.
I was not aware about his tongue-in-cheek comments re ASQC. Thanks for the information.