New Home for the Quality Curmudgeon
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Mumbles and Grumbles About the World of Quality
The Quality Curmudgeon has moved! Visit the new, improved Quality Curmudgeon blog at:
I've been writing about quality issues since 1984—23 long years. In that time I've interviewed hundreds of quality professionals, gurus, practitioners, authors, consultants, you name it. Although each person had a unique perspective on quality, each claimed that improved quality (usually as a result of following his or her quality recipe) was right around the corner.
It’s October and one of my favorite holidays is near: Halloween. Although this year’s holiday holds more tricks than treats as our economy teeters on the edge of recession thanks to an unstable housing market.
One of the fun parts of being a columnist is that you get to opine on whatever strikes your fancy, as long as it somewhat relevant to the magazine’s general content. You also get to make predictions without having to worry about having a ton of supporting data. Sure, I can be wrong, but as long as what I write is moderately informative/interesting/amusing/entertaining, the editors will keep publishing it.
One of my favorite Web sites is www.lifehacker.com. The site posts an ever-changing cornucopia of tips, tools and techniques for hacking (i.e., improving) your personal and business life. Lifehacker is updated constantly, and I usually check it a couple of times during the day. It’s a great little break during the workday.
I seem to have struck a nerve with "The Death of Civility." Here's what one reader has to add:
Yep, civility is dead. I attribute it to the "special" factor as much as the other reasons you've listed. You know the "special" people--the self-anointed folks who don't have to wait in line in their cars, and feel free to drive up the "turn only" lane until the last minute, then cut you off (as you've sat through three or my cycles of the light)? The ones who blithely ignore the "10 items or less" rule in the grocery store, holding up 5 other customers with a few items each, all so that they didn't have to wait in the longer, non-express line themselves? The ones who push and bully their way to what they want, and others be damned? We all know these folks--and I work very hard not to BE one of these folks, every day.
They also see no reason to explain or apologize for their actions. Why should they? They're "special."
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend during the last few years: the death of civility. The first symptoms of civility’s demise showed when e-mail was born. The symptoms worsened with the introduction of instant and text messaging. Civility took to its deathbed with discussion boards and listservs. The final nail in the coffin was driven with the advent of blogging.
Here's part one of a TQM training video made by a group of students at a Scottish university. Check out the German-Scottish-Yoda accent! I'll post part two soon.
What I really meant to say. . .
The city in which I live—Chico, California—is a wonderful place. It’s a relatively small city (about 75,000 residents), but it’s home to California State University, Chico, so there’s always a lot of fun stuff going on. Chico is safe, clean, and has most of the modern amenities considered vital in today’s world: Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Costco, etc.