Episodes
Two Obstacles to Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is predicated on problem solving, you're closing a gap between the current state and an ideal state. However, problem solving, thus continuous improvement, is often not that successful, especially if you are attempting to reach...
Poor Quality Crashes Companies
Your company is called the Tesla or Apple of your market. You've gotten more investment capital than any other company in your market. The product you sell has a long waiting list of customers. You must be making money hand …
Where are the X-ray Glasses?
In the previous episode, I proposed that seeing the world through the lens of process is a superpower. However, you have to develop the superpower—it's not like Spiderman getting bitten by a radioactive spider. In this episode, we'll talk in …
Everything is a process
Attending a high school honor society induction ceremony for my niece, I was witness to how a group of students organized and executed a process. Something they had experienced themselves and which they took ownership for the next generation of...
The Fundamental Defects In Quality Methods Training
What if the most common training practices in your field actually undermine the topic you're teaching? In Quality, we have exactly that situation in training the tools and methods of Quality. In this episode of the Way of the Quality …
Parallels of Addiction Treatment and Continuous Improvement
The work of a Quality Warrior is much more than the Quality and Continuous Improvement tools like Failure Modes and Effects Analysis, Design of Experiments, process behavior charting, and problem solving, to list a few. The Stages of Change model...
Waste Is Not The Enemy
In the Quality and Continuous Improvement world, it's common to focus on waste reduction as the enemy to success. However, I don't think that waste is the enemy of the Quality Warrior. Not that waste is good, but the obviousness …
Quality Is Expectation
Quality as a feature or characteristic is fulfilling expectations. In this episode of Way of the Quality Warrior podcast, I share some of the lessons I learned about creating quality in providing services as a product design engineer at the …
Counting In Action
In the previous episode, "Managers Can Count Better Than They Can Think," that premise was presented. This episode adds some examples to develop that idea. In a world where too many problems are described and explained more by opinion and …
Managers can count better than they can think
There's a premise that I think can help Quality Warriors become more influential in their organization: Managers can count better than they can think. Is this an attack on managers? No, it is not. It is a call for understanding …
JiuJitsu Style Quality
The names of Six Sigma certifications were taken from martial arts. Green Belt and Black Belt sound sexy. But there are other things in the martial arts that could be adopted to drive continuous improvement. In particular, the idea of …
Is the Ishikawa Diagram a bad guy sidekick to the 5 Whys?
The Ishikawa or Fishbone Diagram is often coupled with the 5 Whys tool for root cause analysis. In the previous episode, I argued that the deficiencies of 5 Whys makes it an anti-quality tool. Does that mean that the Ishikawa …
The Anti-Quality Tool: 5 Whys Root Cause Analysis
The 5 Whys Root Cause Analysis tool is very popular in continuous improvement and quality. The 5 Whys concept is very easy to understand and it's easy to teach. However, that simplicity leads to problems that undermine the quality profession. …
The Violin Shaped Object and Quality
If you are looking to purchase a violin through an online vendor, reading reviews will quickly introduce you to the VSO--the Violin Shaped Object. It looks like a violin, but it doesn't produce the sounds you expect from a violin. …
Diet Fads and Quality Initiatives—Two of a Kind
Diet Fads and Quality Initiatives seem to share a number of traits. This episode discusses those traits and introduces an idea that may explain why so often diets and quality initiatives fail. Go to the Way of the Quality Warrior …
Problem Solving Bankruptcy—Gradually And Then Suddenly
Big problems and crises happen suddenly after they have been developing gradually. This is a consequence of problem solving bankruptcy. Problem solving bankruptcy is when attempts to solve a problem have been unsuccessful and the team is out of ideas...
Building the Quality Army
In Episode 1, quality for products and services was defined as "Presence of desired features and the degree of excellence of those features." How do we develop the capability of the team so that our company delivers the quality that …
Who's the Quality Enemy?
A Quality Warrior is fighting against someone or something--who or what is the enemy? There are a couple of reasons that an organization will launch quality and continuous improvement initiatives. One of those reasons drives most of the focus. What...
Where to start?
In this inaugural episode of Way of the Quality Warrior, host Keith Fong introduces himself and then shares the origin story of the podcast which takes us directly to the question: How can we define Quality? The organization you'd expect …
Blazing the Path to Better
Does making things better motivate you? The tools and concepts of quality are powerful weapons for improvement, but they require understanding a wide range of topics for effective use. This podcast "Way of the Quality Warrior" will explore those...