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Home » Way of the Quality Warrior

Way of the Quality Warrior

The Way of the Quality Warrior podcast is about becoming powerful at the function of Quality—revealing the true current state and envisioning the desired future state. The underlying paradigms and contexts for practicing Quality and using quality tools are discussed. It is common for quality tools to be used with only the most superficial understanding of their purpose and the larger organizational aims and philosophies. Topics of the podcast range from what we fight as Quality Warriors to psychology to paradigms and assumptions encountered in work to talking about certain tools and their appropriate usage.

by Keith Fong Leave a Comment

WQW 019: Two Obstacles to Continuous Improvement

WQW 019: Two Obstacles to Continuous Improvement

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 the ideal state.

I believe that there are two fundamental reasons that I share in this episode of Way of the Quality Warrior podcast: lack of imagination and lack of alignment.

There is a reference to the book The Power of Positive Parenting by Dr. Glenn Latham. It’s not just for parents—authority figures can use this, too.

I talk about GE and Jack Welch. Much of what I think is expressed by David Gelles in his book Jack Welch: The Man Who Broke Capitalism . Gelles was interviewed by Jeffrey Pfeffer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2022. Here’s the link: David Gelles Interview–Stanford 2022 (YouTube)

I also talk about Boeing (a company that has had multiple leaders from GE who worked under Jack Welch). John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight (HBO) episode about Boeing’s history and decline is entertaining, thorough, and sound.

You can contact the podcast host, Keith Fong, at the website Way of the Quality Warrior

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WQW 018: Poor Quality Crashes Companies

WQW 018: Poor Quality Crashes Companies

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 over fist, right? Actually, you are declared bankrupt. One important element of your company going bankrupt is poor quality in the product and services your company provides. This episode looks at just such a company.

This episode discusses the appeal of the product, the quality problems experienced by customers, and what improvements could have been made to prevent the quality problems.

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WQW 017: Where are the X-ray Glasses?

WQW 017: Where are the X-ray Glasses?

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 more detail about process and how to develop the skills in analyzing processes in order to see through the lens of process.

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WQW 016: Everything is a Process

WQW 016: Everything is a Process

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 students. There was nothing remarkable about the ceremony, but I think it gives us a window into process.

Dr. W. Edwards Deming said “If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.” (For more information about Dr. Deming: Dr. W. Edwards Deming) Seeing the world through the lens of process is a superpower for making things better.

In this episode, we discuss what a process is, some types of outputs and inputs, and how I would have coached the organizers.

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WQW 015: The Fundamental Defects in Quality Methods Training

WQW 015: The Fundamental Defects in Quality Methods Training

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 Warrior podcast, we consider 4 common problems in the deployment of Quality tools and methods: the sink or swim school, overselling benefits and under-teaching weaknesses, using report formats as the procedure, and lack of teaching expertise.

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WQW 014: Parallels of Addiction Treatment and Continuous Improvement

WQW 014: Parallels of Addiction Treatment and Continuous Improvement

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 developed by James Prochaska, John Norcross, and Carlo DiClemente for the treatment of addictions provides a very useful guide for those of us in Quality and Continuous Improvement. We are attempting to guide change efforts constantly.

 

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WQW 013: Waste Is Not The Enemy

WQW 013: Waste Is Not The Enemy

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 of waste as a bad thing actually blinds those of us teaching and coaching continuous improvement to the genius of the Toyota Production System.

Looking at the role of waste as it affects profit, other ways to reduce cost and some of the consequences are discussed.

I reference plastic injection molding in the discussion. In case you are not familiar with the process, here’s a link to a good overview video on YouTube: engineerguy Plastic Injection Molding

All episodes and episode notes are at Way of the Quality Warrior website

You can also contact the host Keith Fong there or on LinkedIn Keith Fong on LinkedIn

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WQW 012: Quality Is Expectation

WQW 012: Quality Is Expectation

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 beginning of my career. There is no magic, but there is a need for perceptiveness.

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WQW 011: Counting In Action

WQW 011: Counting In Action

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 emotion rather than by meaningful data and information, this episode provides a couple of examples of how to leverage managers need for numbers. Also, there are a couple of examples where using the wrong numbers or using numbers wrong is self-defeating.

There is a reference to Paul O’Neill, CEO of Alcoa from 1987 to 1999. The YouTube video where he talks about improving the financial book closing process in 1991 is . The comments specific to the financial book closing happen at 27:38 in the video. I highly recommend watching the entire video. O’Neill is one of the greatest corporate leaders ever.

All episodes are at Way of the Quality Warrior website . There are also downloadable copies of the annotated slide decks of presentations made by Keith Fong in the last couple of years. There is also a contact form if you’d like to get in touch.

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WQW 010: Managers can Count Better than They can Think

WQW 010: Managers can Count Better than They can Think

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 and a challenge.

People who are not managers often don’t understand what challenges managers are facing. Their expectations of the managers can be unrealistic which undercuts their effectiveness and influence. This episode explores what managers are facing.

Of course, there are two sides to the issue. Many of the challenges managers face with their people are related to things that the managers are capable of controlling. That is also discussed.

Guy Kawasaki’s book “The Macintosh Way” is referenced in this episode. Guy has made a PDF version available for free at this link: TheMacintoshWay.pdf

Guy’s website is Guy Kawasaki

Edward R. Tufte’s book “Visual Explanations” is also referenced in this episode. His website is Edward Tufte website. The book’s webpage is Visual Explanations book. The specific chapter referenced in this episode was published as a booklet. It’s webpage is Visual and Statistical Thinking booklet

You can contact me via the website Way of the Quality Warrior or on LinkedIn Keith Fong

 

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WQW 009: JiuJitsu Style Quality

WQW 009: JiuJitsu Style Quality

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 the “yielding art” of Jiu Jitsu where the opponents’ energy is used to defeat them. This episode discusses applying that idea in several contexts when solving problems.

Paul O’Neill, CEO of Alcoa from 1981 to 1999 is referenced. After listening to this episode, check out these videos on YouTube. This is a leader who demonstrates how to use organizational energy to overcome obstacles and attain excellence.

Paul O’Neill explain why safety was his leadership focus

Paul O’Neill talking to Healthcare CEOs

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WQW 008: Is the Ishikawa Diagram a Bad Guy Sidekick to the 5 Whys?

WQW 008: Is the Ishikawa Diagram a Bad Guy Sidekick to the 5 Whys?

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 Diagram is also a poor tool?

This episode talks about what the Ishikawa Diagram really is and better practices to leverage its use.

Ishikawa Diagram on Wikipedia

London Tube Map

Way of the Quality Warrior website

 

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WQW 007: The Anti-Quality Tool: 5 Whys Root Cause Analysis

WQW 007: The Anti-Quality Tool: 5 Whys Root Cause Analysis

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.

This episodes dives into the 5 Whys and the issues it creates. It ends with possible ways to improve the situation.

 

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WQW 006: The Violin Shaped Object and Quality

WQW 006: The Violin Shaped Object and Quality

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.

In Quality, we have plenty of our own examples of the VSO phenomena—where there is the promise of Quality tools and initiatives leading to improved performance and then the reality of little to no sustained improvements or benefits.

This podcast episode explores some of the possible explanations for why quality initiatives and tools are failing when they are implemented.

Here is a link to an music store’s description of a Violin Shaped Object: https://kennedyviolins.com/pages/what-is-a-vso

The famed pianist Keith Jarrett also comes up in the episode. Here’s a link to a fan website that has links to many, many resources about Keith Jarrett: Unofficial Keith Jarrett website

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by Keith Fong 5 Comments

WQW 005: Diet Fads and Quality Initiatives—Two of a Kind

WQW 005: Diet Fads and Quality Initiatives—Two of a Kind

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 podcast page for all episodes, extra information, and to contact the host Keith Fong: Way of the Quality Warrior

Referenced paper: Fothergill, E., Guo, J., Howard, L., Kerns, J.C., Knuth, N.D., Brychta, R., Chen, K.Y., Skarulis, M.C., Walter, M., Walter, P.J. and Hall, K.D. (2016), Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after “The Biggest Loser” competition. Obesity, 24: 1612-1619. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21538

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Way of the Quality Warrior podcast logo

About becoming powerful at the function of Quality.

photo of Keith
by Keith Fong
Way of the Quality Warrior,
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Way of the Quality Warrior

WQW 019: Two Obstacles to Continuous Improvement

WQW 018: Poor Quality Crashes Companies

WQW 017: Where are the X-ray Glasses?

WQW 016: Everything is a Process

WQW 015: The Fundamental Defects in Quality Methods Training

WQW 014: Parallels of Addiction Treatment and Continuous Improvement

WQW 013: Waste Is Not The Enemy

WQW 012: Quality Is Expectation

WQW 011: Counting In Action

WQW 010: Managers can Count Better than They can Think

WQW 009: JiuJitsu Style Quality

WQW 008: Is the Ishikawa Diagram a Bad Guy Sidekick to the 5 Whys?

WQW 007: The Anti-Quality Tool: 5 Whys Root Cause Analysis

WQW 006: The Violin Shaped Object and Quality

WQW 005: Diet Fads and Quality Initiatives—Two of a Kind

WQW 004: Problem Solving Bankruptcy—Gradually And Then Suddenly

WQW 003: Building the Quality Army

WQW 002: Who’s the Quality Enemy?

WQW 001: Where to Start?

WQW 000: Blazing the Path to Better

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