What is a “fire” look like in your organization and how does management deal with them?

What can you do to keep your production flow moving and your processes moving. At the end of the day, rather than waste your energy trying to straighten out the flow, focus your effort on flattening out the curves and minimizing interruptions as much as possible.

The first night I spent in America I spent in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. I’d flown from my home in Bangladesh to Thailand, then to Taiwan, then to Seattle, to Detroit, and to Lansing, just to save some money for the airfare. Then I caught a ride to Mount Pleasant and my new university.

How can you trust the quality of your processes if your people can’t be honest with you?When I talk about “honesty” in the context of quality, people often mistake my intent. I do not intend to imply that people are dishonest nor that poor quality is indicative of people being dishonest nor that they do not know right from wrong. I most definitely do not suggest that possessing quality is in any way elitist nor that the character of a people, and the societies with which they belong, can be measured by someone else’s impression of quality.

When leaders are honest, empathetic, resist compromises, and optimize opportunities to do better—talent follows.The Challenger space shuttle disintegrated in mid-air, killing all seven astronauts. It was later found that a $900 O-ring was to blame.

People make judgments about quality every day:Fresh from the automotive body shop, a young man inspects the repair work on his car, carefully appraising the smoothness of the paint job from every angle.About to purchase a new business suit, a woman spends a few moments examining the material, seams, and even the button holes.A new mother is deciding which of two different manufacturers of baby food she will buy, and makes her final decision based on the packaging.Exhausted from a long flight from Germany, a weary traveler opens the door of his hotel room, sniffs the air and firmly presses down on the foot of the bed.

It’s one thing to inspire people to come up with ideas to improve the level of quality in your organization. It’s yet another thing to encourage those same people to turn their ideas into action.

There has been a lot of media coverage about enormous salaries paid to top executives, including their mind-boggling “golden parachutes”. Primarily CEOs, these executives aren’t always paid based on their talents.

Talent exists throughout your organization and enables people to contribute, succeed, and feel invested in the company.

If you want to create your quality revolution, you need to stop thinking about quality and think more about your people.