When I was first asked to consider writing a blog to support ASQ's Quality For Life campaign, I was honored but a bit intimidated. The honor part is easy to understand, but you may wonder why I was intimidated. Well, I'm not the most technically savvy person, and blogging seemed like it might challenge my limited skills. And then there was the fear that perhaps I didn't have anything very interesting to say. I got some great support to address my first concern, and I found out that generating a blog is easy when someone else sets it up for you! However, my second concern remains in question until we see if this topic resonates among the quality community.
Back to the topic...what does Quality For Life mean to me? As I contemplated the phrase, I found multiple layers of meaning. Most obvious is that quality is the profession I've chosen to pursue, albeit from a rather circuitous beginning. This layer has the tools and methodologies of our profession along with change management, team building, and facilitation skills thrown in. The next layer is the systems orientation and large-scale organizational improvement that I find in my work with the Baldrige National Quality Program and associated state programs. It's a wonderful opportunity to continue my own personal development as well as to encourage the larger community of applicants on their own quality journeys. The next layer is even bigger and more difficult to define. It's the whole canvas of our lives, where we interact, people we touch, causes we support, and every opportunity where, in some way, we can make a difference for the better.
As this campaign begins, I'm anxious to hear your stories. What does "Quality For Life" mean to you?
"Quality for Life" means a life-long focus on making a positive difference in the pursuit of excellence or at least, being really darn good. I believe folks that aspire to this intent use Baldrige as a framework to organize approaches, and for guidance in how to do it - but more importantly - folks that aspire to this intent are a community of like-minded people with similar values that will go above and beyond to help another person or organization. That's my kind of people and collectively (sometimes even individually) this group makes an impact to the lives of individuals and the success of organizations. It's a great family to be part of and a great motto to aspire to. Guess that's why I'm one of those people that is addicted to the B word and the Q word (the 8 letter and 6 letter words, respectively - ha!).
Posted by: Genie Dillon | October 8, 2008 11:44 AM