In his October post, the CEO of ASQ, Paul Borawski asks:

What new fields or disciplines could most reap the benefits of quality tools and techniques?

At first I thought this must be a trick question, as the obvious answer is: “all of them” – which immediately came to mind.

Could it be that simple and that complex all at once?

Yes.

OK. Then what?

Where have I applied the tools and techniques of Quality? What is my story… me and TQM and Quality and Process Improvement, etc., etc., etc.?

In 1982 I wrote a White paper at MTEC – the Motorola Training & Education Center that proposed a combination of the Quality Tools of Deming and Juran (and others) with the Process Orientation of Geary A. Rummler and the Behavior Tools of Neil Rackham of Huthwaite. That White Paper is  here – and a story behind that is here.

MTEC White Paper 1982 – 39 page PDF – a white paper I wrote while at MTEC – Motorola’s Training & Education Center – in May 1982 where I proposed combining the concepts, models, methods, processes, tools and techniques of Geary Rummler, Neil Rackham (of SPIN Selling fame) and of Deming, Juran and Crosby (and other quality gurus). This led to my boss taking that idea and changing it to become a Geary Rummler Do-It-Yourself Consulting Kit – which after I left in October 1982 became the training course created by Geary Rummler called OPS (Organization Performance Systems) – that later morphed into what became Six Sigma at Motorola.

In 1994 my business partners and I wrote a book in conjunction with the Council for Continuous Improvement – here – that combined TQM and HPT (Human Performance Technology).

In 1999 I published my 2nd book: lean-ISD – about the application of lean principles to ISD – Instructional Systems Design.

In 2001 my book T&D Systems View further extended my use of HPT and Systems Thinking to one organization unit – the T&D function – as a demonstration of how I would encourage T&D functions to operate via an analysis and design tool (the T&D Systems View clockface).

When I look at my work as a consultant since November 1 1982 – most of it revolves around and is directly related to Improvement.

Improvement of human performance – and as all performance is a human endeavor, I felt OK branching out as needed – and it almost always is needed – from my discipline of Instruction (Training, Performance Support, etc.) into the other non-Instructional arenas.

And that’s all good.

How and where have you applied Quality in non-traditional areas?

Isn’t it EVERYWHERE (he shouts)?

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