NEW TO QUALITY

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 NEW TO QUALITY
Tim Robberts via Getty Images

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 NEW TO QUALITY

M
any arrive in the quality profession via a circuitous journey. You can't get a degree in quality,
so the ways people wind up in the field vary.
For many, finding quality ignites a new passion, but with it comes a learning curve.
Perhaps you've been introduced to flow charts or check sheets in a college class, but now your
need for information is amplified by the demands of your job and career. Who would be better
to advise you than those who have "been there/done that." QP tapped 14 seasoned quality
experts and asked them what advice they’d give newbies coming into the quality profession.
What quality tools should they know? What personal skills should they hone? What resources
will help them build a solid career foundation?
Tear out these pages (or bookmark this webpage) of insider advice. And don’t miss the info-
graphic on pages 28–29 for a list of ASQ resources that will help you feel like a quality pro in no time.
—Lindsay Pietenpol, assistant editor

Peter Pylipow,
Principal engineer, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.

ADVICE: BE CONFIDENT, ASK QUESTIONS

If you are new to the quality profession, here are some tips for your consideration:
– First, a pep talk! Have confidence; there’s no need to be timid. You are prepared
for this. Be mentally relaxed so you will be at your best. As a company employee,
you are part of a team, and everyone will help you succeed. Know that the job gets
easier as you gain experience.

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 NEW TO QUALITY

– Your most important asset is your abil- – Sampling is a frequent topic of

ity to think. Ask questions. Challenge
the status quo. Often, things are the
way they are because of something
that happened a long time ago. You can
change the procedures in your organi-
zation to fit current business needs.
– If there are problems with manufactur-
ing output or quality nonconformances,
talk to the people on the manufacturing
line. They know what the problems
are and usually how to fix them. All
you need to do is ask and get the ball
rolling accordingly. Remember to give
credit where credit is due and you will
make allies.
importance for quality professionals.
The key to sampling is understanding
the population at hand. Whether you
are dealing with internal processes
or a supplier, a good reference is the
article, “My Supplier’s Capability Is
What?” (Quality Progress, May 2003,
pp. 60–64).
– Lastly, you of course want to get a good
performance appraisal! Understanding
how you are perceived in the organiza-
tion is key. What can you do? Refer to
the article, “Performance and Percep-
tion” (Quality Progress, July 2018,
pp. 24–28).

Matthew Barsalou,
Extramural researcher, Poznan University of Technology

ADVICE: READ

When I was younger, there was a radio sixth edition, McGraw-Hill

show that asked people, “What music
would you take with you if you were
stranded on a desert island?” A quality
professional trapped on a desert island
would finally have the time to read the
essential quality-related books, so I got
to thinking about which books I would
want with me.
These are the book I believe every
young quality professional should read:
– Deming, W. Edwards, Out of the
Crisis, MIT Press, 1989.
– Gryna, Frank M., Quality Plan-
ning and Analysis, fourth edition,
McGraw Hill Science/Engineering/
Math, 2000.
– Imai, Masaaki, Gemba Kaizen:
A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach
to Management, McGraw-Hill, 1997.
– Juran, Joseph M., and Joseph A.
De Feo, Juran’s Quality Handbook,
Professional, 2010.
– ReVelle, Jack B., Quality
Essentials: A Reference Guide
from A to Z, Quality Press,
2004.
– Shingo, Shigeo, The Sayings
of Shigeo Shingo: Key Strat- GET CERTIFIED
egies for Plant Improvement,
Productivity Press, 1987.
ASQ certifications are a mark of quality
– Tague, Nancy R., The Quality
excellence in many industries. They are
Toolbox, second edition,
designed to help you advance your career
Quality Press, 2005. and prepare you to be a more well-rounded
These aren’t the only books quality professional. See what certification
I would recommend, but they is right for you at asq.org/cert.
apply to everybody in the field
regardless of position.
I have other recommendations
for those who want to know more
and those with more specific
knowledge needs, but these
should serve as a starting point.

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 NEW TO QUALITY
Robert Perkin,
Director of quality, automotive industry
ADVICE: EVERYTHING BEGINS
WITH PEOPLE, PURSUE YOUR
INTERESTS, LEARN STATISTICS
As a long-time engineering and quality professional, I am
thankful for the resources and support of ASQ and QP.
So, what advice would I give to younger professionals enter-
ing industry overall, and the quality field in particular?
– Everything you do personally and professionally
begins with people. As a young engineer, I was con-
sumed with design and process. At best, people to me
were something of an obstacle. This was completely
upside-down thinking. No matter what you are trying
to do, you need people aligned with you and support-
ing you. This means you must build relationships and
trust. Take an interest in the people in your avenues
of life. Learn their stories, families, personal and
professional interests, and goals. Even in the most
adversarial business relationships, this will make
a big difference.
– Pursue industries first and foremost that really
interest you. I started in the aerospace industry.
The products and technology were very impressive,
but I was never going to actually use the product no
matter how long I worked. Try to be in a place where
the product interests you and you can really get your
hands on it.
– Find formal ways to learn applied statistics in depth.
This will profoundly affect the way you approach any-
thing professionally. You can look for college courses
for a foundation, for example, and Six Sigma programs
that your school or organization supports. If you do
these things, good things will come to you.
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Julia Seaman,
Vice president of research,
Bay View Analytics
ADVICE: KEEP LEARNING
AND GROWING
Looking back at my first years as a professional,
I received one piece of advice that has been most
valuable and influential to my growth and successes:
Strive to continue learning and growing as an employee,
a manager, a leader and an individual.
To follow this, I have learned that it is better to
ask lots of big and small questions to anyone who will
answer them. Within quality and statistics, we build
and implement techniques from others, so whenever
I have questions—on statistical coding, interpretations
of results or implications of decisions, for example—I seek
out anyone who has direct or indirect expertise to help
me identify the best approaches, or to just bounce ideas
back and forth. I notice now, multiple years into this
position, that I can pay back this advice and these short-
cuts that were shared with me, which are only learned
from experience.
As a scientific, statistical and healthcare consul-
tant who works with diverse clients, I have found that
many industries value quality skills, though they may
not specifically label them as “quality.”
In healthcare and biotech, for example, there are
specific quality positions around manufacturing and
clinical data, but there also are positions related to those
fields in clinical operations, research and development,
and business development that require the ability to
interpret and communicate the effect and importance
of quality to others.
Seeking out these quality-adjacent positions is
a great way to learn the greater impact of this field
within an organization and helps to further improve
the methods and results for those working in those
quality positions. Quality matters!

Casey Bedgood,
System accreditation
optimization officer and Six
Sigma Black Belt, Navicent Health
ADVICE: MASTER THE BASICS
For years, leaders have used the phrase, “Hindsight
is 20/20.” Have you ever stopped to think about what
that really means? The reality is that wisdom and
insight come from years of experience. Often, career
wisdom is gained by making mistakes and learning
the hard way which potholes to avoid in the future
so the same mistakes are not made again. The pearl is
to keep it simple and not fall prey to analysis paralysis.
So, what advice would I give to beginners in the
quality arena? The key is to stick to the basics. Becom-
ing a master at simple performance improvement
techniques, such as root cause analysis, process map-
ping and displaying data, will pay dividends in the long
run. When COVID-19 arrived last year, health systems
across the country were struggling with lab testing
because the virus was new and no precedent had been
set. Everyone in my state, for example, was experienc-
ing significant delays in test results, which essentially
crippled hospitals’ ability to operate. Thus, caring for
sick and injured customers was challenged—to the say
the least.
Our team used a simple process map to display
the current state issues and quickly design the ideal
future state for lab testing in less than one hour.
We used those two depictions as a visual display
to inform enterprise leaders, physicians and many
others about the challenges we were facing and
changes that had to be implemented immediately.
When the leaders and providers saw this simple tool,
the challenges resonated clearly, and they approved all
resources on the spot. These efforts saved thousands
of hours of COVID-19 lab testing delays in the first few
days of the pandemic and saved many lives.
Overall, quality beginners should master the
basics, keep things as simple as possible and always
look for a way to do things better.
NEW TO QUALITY
Jim Bossert,
Senior performance excellence
consultant, JPS Health Network
ADVICE: VALIDATE YOUR DATA
Nothing is more embarrassing to a new quality person
than having his or her credibility challenged when giving
a presentation. When someone questions where you got your
numbers, you better be ready to describe how you obtained
and validated them.
Too often, people assume that the numbers obtained
when putting together an analysis are automatically good.
This is a critical error. Whenever someone gives you data,
you must ask some basic questions to ensure they are valid.
If the questions cannot be answered, consider performing
a measurement systems analysis (MSA). MSA is a tried-and-
true way to ensure your data are good and reliable.
Often, however, people don’t know how to set up an MSA.
It is an essential step that will help you be comfortable with
your data. Is the data yes/no data? This is important because,
for acceptance sampling, that is all you are looking for.
Do you know how the inspectors were trained or how well
they understand what they are looking at? Have you studied
the consistency of their evaluations?
A good MSA will help you understand the error around
each number. If the error is less than 10% of the total vari-
ation, you have some degree of confidence in the goodness
of the numbers. If it is greater than that, you must work to
improve the consistency.
GET HIRED
ASQ’s Career Center offers all the resources
you need to find the job that’s right for you.
Access tools, tips and services for managing
your career long term. Visit asq.org/career
to peruse the job postings.
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 NEW TO QUALITY
Lance B. Coleman Sr.,
Director of quality,
IDEX Health and Science LLC
ADVICE: GENERAL LESSONS
These are some general lessons that I have learned professionally
and personally over the years that have served me well. I hope they
are helpful to you, too.
Join a professional organization—and not just when you are
looking for a job. Join two if you can. Join for the information
and resources, an opportunity to gain valuable experience, free and
discounted training, networking, mentoring and friendship.
Be a lifelong learner; continually seek to learn and do new things.
Assess your skills annually and understand the desire for those
skills in the marketplace.
Take advantage of training through your company, professional
organizations such as ASQ, YouTube and any other credible source.
Set a short (two years) and longer-term (five-plus years) goal to
work toward. Assess them at least once each year to ensure you are
moving toward the goal and that the goal is still appropriate.
Understand the history and breadth of the quality profession—​
not just the here and now—by reading the quality classics:
– Crosby, Philip B., Quality Is Still Free, McGraw-Hill, 1985.
– Deming, W. Edwards, Out of the Crisis, MIT Press, 1989.
– Goldratt, Eliyahu M., and Jeff Cox, The Goal, North River
Press, 1984.
– Imai, Masaaki, Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense,
Low-Cost Approach to Management, McGraw-Hill, 1997.
– Juran, Joseph M., and Joseph A. De Feo, Juran’s Quality
Handbook, sixth edition, McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010.
Look outside of your industry when appropriate for best practice.
If you work for a medical device company and are looking to reduce
shipping problems, for example, you shouldn’t necessarily look to
other medical device companies. You also can look to the shipping
and logistics industry—they are the experts in the problem you are
trying to solve. To quote a conference keynote speaker I once heard,
“Disruption often comes from adjacent markets.”
Manage a good work-life balance to avoid burnout.
A platitude (but a true one) I often hear is that you are the average
of the five people you spend the most time with. Find two people who
have been where you want to go and see if they will mentor you,
or at least provide guidance. Find two people at your level to associate
with who are charging ahead quickly so you can encourage and
challenge one another. And always give back. Find one person who
is following in your footsteps who you may be able to help.
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Scott Laman,
Senior manager, quality
engineering and risk
management, Teleflex
ADVICE: SHOW RESPECT,
BUT EARN PROFESSIONAL
STANDING
“Caustic, callous and corrupt”—what a way to
begin a career. Those were words used to describe
a new employee during his first-year performance
review. At that point, the individual thought
too much of himself and did not pay due respect
to a much more experienced colleague—who
happened to be his boss. There was a lack of reali-
zation that the supervisor had earned professional
standing through many years of establishing
credentials and, more importantly, deserved
respect simply by being another human being.
As my career progressed into the quality
field, there also were times when I did not feel
respected as a professional. One person deemed
it unlikely that I would pass the ASQ-certified
quality engineer exam because I “did not think
like a quality professional.” When I moved to
the medical device industry, my department and
I were not considered true quality professionals
because we “didn’t have experience in that indus-
try.” I once was considered incapable of managing
people because I was “too technical.”
In each situation, there was an element of truth
to take to heart. Ultimately, the most relevant
ASQ certification, combined with time on the job,
played a part in establishing my credibility and
proving the naysayers wrong.
General respect and appreciation should
be given to everyone, while professional stand-
ing has an element of being earned. It may take
patience, tangible contributions and paying your
dues until your credentials in the quality field
are fully established and recognized.

Deborah A. Coviello,
Founder, Illumination Partners LLC
ADVICE: HOW TO MOVE
INTO LEADERSHIP
Did you wake up one morning and realize you were
ready to lead but didn’t quite fit in or have a support
system? If leadership in the making was a fire, it would
start with a spark, develop into a slow burn and finally
ignite into an unstoppable flame.
If you exhibit one of these characteristics,
you’re ready to lead:
1. The spark. You’re labeled as difficult. People may
roll their eyes when you speak, or avoid speaking to
you because it could result in additional work they
have to do.
This is the time to speak to a mentor and find
a way to recognize your strength while modifying
how you communicate in your environment for
maximum impact.
2. The slow burn. You go to your boss’s office and
start writing a new approach to an existing problem
on his or her whiteboard. You’re so wrapped up in
the concept and storytelling, you get lost in their
world of trying to convince you of a new way. You’re
frustrated with your current role and are not deliv-
ering, yet you have time to share new ideas and are
energized by them.
This is the time to take control. Perhaps start
discussing with your boss the specifics of a project’s
status and ask him or her for input. When you’ve
met your boss’s needs, take a few minutes and say
something like, “I have an idea I’ve been thinking
about—can I share it with you?” In this instance,
you’ve satisfied your boss’s need and opened the
door for your creativity.
3. The Igniter. You’re the highest performer. Your
work is spot on and you’re praised for it. Your boss
leaves you alone because you always deliver. When
you ask for feedback and how to move up, your boss
draws a blank and says he or she will get back to you.
Take control of the conversation and ask your boss
what you should continue doing, what you should
start doing and what you should change. You’ll gain
more insight into any career planning your boss has
in mind for you and will get more tangible feedback.
NEW TO QUALITY
QUALITY GLOSSARY
For definitions of quality terms, acronyms and important
people in the history of quality, check out ASQ’s Quality
Glossary at asq.org/quality-resources/quality-glossary.
You’ll find definitions for A3 reports, Z1.4 sampling tables
and everything in between.
Luigi Sille,
Quality manager,
Red Cross Blood Bank Foundation
ADVICE: FIND YOUR
COMMUNITY
I will never forget when I started as a newbie in the
quality profession. I applied for a job with almost no
experience in quality and had to establish, document
and maintain a quality management system.
My first years in the profession were scary—​
oh yes—but worth it. I was eager to learn and know
more. I needed to upgrade myself and at the same
time inspire, motivate and create a quality culture in
the organization. My motto is: Every day is a chance
to learn something new. I read quality articles and
books, but what really worked for me was finding
a quality community (ASQ) I felt I belonged to and
networking with quality-minded people just like me.
They became my friends. I have learned—and am still
learning—so much from them.
LEARN ABOUT QUALITY
ASQ’s Learn About Quality page is the perfect place to
start if you’re new to quality. Explore the concepts, tools,
applications and technical terms that make up the world
of quality—all in one place. Find out more by visiting
asq.org/quality-resources/learn-about-quality.
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 NEW TO QUALITY

Matthew Barsalou

TOOLS: ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM, FLOWCHART, PARETO

CHART, RUN CHART, STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL
(SPC), FAILURE MODE AND EFFECTS ANALYSIS
(FMEA), PROBLEM-SOLVING METHODS

There are many quality tools and methods a quality
professional should know. For those new to the
field, the Ishikawa diagram, flowchart, Pareto
chart and run chart are simple and easy to learn,
yet highly effective and applicable across industries.
Less easy to learn, yet still important, is SPC.
Even if a young quality professional can’t select the
correct control chart for a type of data or calculate
control limits, he or she should be able to read and
interpret a control chart. Learning how to create a
control chart is essential, but it can come in time.
If money is the language of management, statis-
tics is the language of quality. Quality professionals
don't need to know statistics as well as professional
statisticians, but they should have an understand-
ing equivalent to a university introductory statistics
course. An understanding of variation is critical
in the quality field, such as when a control limit
is calculated or a capability study is performed.
There also are other essential methods, such
as FMEA and control plans, although control plans
are more commonly used in industry than services.
Regardless of the type of organization, a young
quality professional should be knowledgeable
of problem-solving methods such as 8D reports
or A3 reports.

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W. Frazier Pruitt,
Senior engineer and quality
assurance supervisor, Southco Inc.
TOOLS: INTERNATIONAL
AUTOMOTIVE TASK FORCE
(IATF) CORE TOOLS
When starting out in quality, many quickly
learn to use modern quality tools such as
control plans, FMEA, capability studies
and MSA. I also learned these tools but had
little understanding early on of how they
function together. Feeling naive, I hesitantly
shared my experience. Comforting to my
ego, yet still disconcerting, my conversation
confirmed that many new quality profession-
als do not know, and are not taught, how the
tools function together as a powerful system.
The problem is that each tool often is stud-
ied and applied in isolation. Only slowly do
people piece together that the tools can make
up a system. For me, it took working with
automotive quality systems to realize how
all the tools fit the system. Here are some
of the relationships I wish I knew sooner:
The elements of a flow diagram are
the process steps of a process FMEA
(PFMEA). Special characteristics desig-
nated in a PFMEA make prime targets for
capability studies. Measurement systems
used for a capability study should be val-
idated with an MSA. The control plan’s
controls correspond to controls listed in
the PFMEA, and the control needs can
vary based on the process capability.
None of these examples are difficult to put
into practice, but they—and others—often are
not explicitly taught. I encourage everyone
who wants to understand how all the parts
work together to study the IATF core tools.
Even if your organization chooses not to
deploy all the tools, or chooses not to use
the tools with the full rigor of IATF require-
ments, knowing the relationships can help
you build a more effective system.
Key Points
Advice, recommended reading and skills to focus on when starting
your quality career.
Expert advice
– Be confident. You are part of
a team and everyone will help
you succeed. The job gets easier
as you gain experience.
– Look for ways to do things
better. Ask a lot of questions
and challenge the status quo.
– Master basic quality tools, such
as root cause analysis, process
mapping and displaying data.
– Validate your data.
Must-read quality classics
– Crosby, Philip B., Quality Is Still
Free, McGraw-Hill, 1985.
– Deming, W. Edwards,
Out of the Crisis, MIT Press, 1989.
– Goldratt, Eliyahu M., and Jeff
Cox, The Goal, North River
Press, 1984.
– Gryna, Frank M., Quality Plan-
ning and Analysis, fourth edition,
McGraw Hill Science/Engineer-
ing/Math, 2000.
– Imai, Masaaki, Gemba Kaizen:
A Commonsense, Low-Cost
Approach to Management,
McGraw-Hill, 1997.
Skills to cultivate
– Value awareness—being able to
determine what the next highest
value-adding activity is, and then
doing it.
– Imagination—allows you to see
alternatives, act on complex
alternatives, change conven-
tional ways of doing things
and remedy deficiencies.
Tools to know
– Ishikawa diagram
– Flowchart
– Pareto chart
– Run chart
– Statistical process control
NEW TO QUALITY
When presented with data, ask
basic questions to ensure they
are valid.
– Find a community of
like-minded people. Join a pro-
fessional organization, which will
help you network, find a mentor,
and provide career resources.
– Be a lifelong learner. Gain new
skills, take advantage of training
opportunities and set goals.
– Juran, Joseph M., and Joseph
A. De Feo, Juran’s Quality Hand-
book, sixth edition, McGraw-Hill
Professional, 2010.
– ReVelle, Jack B., Quality Essen-
tials: A Reference Guide from
A to Z, Quality Press, 2004.
– Shingo, Shigeo, The Sayings of
Shigeo Shingo: Key Strategies for
Plant Improvement, Productivity
Press, 1987.
– Tague, Nancy R., The Quality
Toolbox, second edition, Quality
Press, 2005.
– Emotional intelligence—​
the attitude you have for
yourself and others. It consists
of four skills: self-awareness,
self-management, social
awareness and relationship
management.
– Failure mode
and effects analysis
– Problem-solving methods
– International Automotive
Task Force core tools
qualityprogress.com || QP || 25

Nicole Radziwill,
Senior vice president of quality and strategy, Ultranauts Inc.
SKILL: VALUE AWARENESS
It doesn’t matter whether you’re new
to quality or have decades of experience:
The top skill to cultivate is value aware-
ness. Although the concept already is
embedded in many quality tools, it can
be easy to lose sight of it when you’re
enmeshed in problem solving that uses
those tools.
Value awareness means determin-
ing what the next highest value-adding
activity is and doing it. Goldratt’s theory
of constraints asks us to identify the
biggest problem impeding throughput
in a production system and remove that
constraint first.
Lean is built on enabling value flow,
eliminating value blockers, and using tools
such as value stream mapping to find con-
straints by highlighting what matters most
to customers and stakeholders.
In software, agile methods encourage
teams to deliver incremental functionality
that’s complete but low scope, and simple
but high quality. The Baldrige Criteria for
Performance Excellence asks us to orient
every aspect of how we lead and operate
26 || QP || July 2021
NEW TO QUALITY
our organizations in terms of delivering
real value to real people.
With value awareness, you’ll avoid:
– Setting up elaborate project management
systems when you just need small teams
to be able to execute simple projects.
– Spending a whole week crafting
accurate, detailed effort estimates or
complex, multi-tab spreadsheets when a
back-of-the-envelope calculation would
have been perfectly fine (and freed you
up for doing the work instead of plan-
ning the work).
– Spending hours creating perfect-​
looking process flow diagrams with
enterprise software when reviewing
a quick sketch on paper would have
helped you and your colleagues gain
shared understanding more quickly.
To choose speed at the expense of qual-
ity is, to paraphrase W. Edwards Deming,
a costly myth.
So, too, is to lose sight of value at any
moment. Work on making value aware-
ness a habit—a part of every thought,
every behavior and every decision.
Luigi Sille
SKILL: EQ
Nowadays, one crucial skill
a quality professional must
possess to be successful is
emotional intelligence (EQ).
Quality professionals tend
to forget how important the
human factor is to imple-
ment a successful quality
management system. Quality
professionals who possess
EQ can help build a foun-
dation of trust, respect and
positive attitude among their
staff and colleagues. This is
the recipe for success.
Once you realize that
every aspect of our life
revolves around quality,
improvement becomes
impossible to ignore.
TRAINING
ASQ offers training
courses for quality
professionals of all
experience and skill
levels—whether you're
new to quality, a quality
practitioner or profes-
sional, or an academic.
Courses are designed
and developed by the
best subject matter
experts and taught by
well-respected specialists.
Browse the training cata-
log at asq.org/training.

Jennifer Hooks,
Owner, management consultant,
Hooked on Performance Excellence, LLC;
adjunct instructor, Medical
University of South Carolina
SKILL: EQ
A quote from Phillip B. Crosby is: “If quality isn’t ingrained
in the organization, it will never happen.” 1 How do you
ingrain quality in your organization? Start with EQ. It's the
attitude you have for yourself and others, and consists of:
1. Self-awareness. Know yourself and how you feel in par-
ticular situations. The project sponsor forgot to schedule
your next team meeting. Acknowledge your frustration
and breathe. It happens. Reschedule and move on.
Self-awareness is being confident enough in your
strengths and limitations to realize a setback is only
temporary. Humility, patience and respect go a long way.
2. Self-management. Always stay in control. The data
abstractor gave the wrong information requested. Hold
your tongue—don’t say anything you will regret later.
The quality profession is ever-changing and fast-paced.
Being agile, resilient and adaptable to change course
quickly while staying optimistic drives achievement.
3. Social awareness. There is no greater intelligence
than kindness and empathy. The team is always ready
to solve problems and eager to beat the deadline,
but today something seems off. Do you keep going as
if nothing is wrong, or do you stop, listen and discuss?
Keep an eye on the warning signs of others’ emotions.
The biggest contribution you can give is active listening.
4. Relationship management. Connect with others
to find common ground. Your first team meeting is
prepped and you bring out every tool in your toolbox,
but the team appears disengaged. What went wrong?
People don’t initially want tools, they want you.
Inspire, influence and communicate in a way that builds
trust for people to change, succeed and handle conflict.
Everything is driven by emotions—from starting a new
assignment or reviewing data to talking to the CEO.
Practice strong EQ skills to ingrain quality in all you do.
REFERENCE
1. Philip B. Crosby, Quality Is Free, McGraw-Hill, 1979.
NEW TO QUALITY
Hank Lindborg,
Executive director and CEO,
National Institute for Quality Improvement
SKILL: IMAGINATION
Quality professionals need imagination. Almost 30
years ago, employers deemed imaginal skills that
“enable one to see alternatives, to change conventional
ways of doing things, to remedy deficiencies, to grasp
and make sense out of increasing amounts of data,
to choose and act on complex alternatives” as critical.1
With the advent of Quality 4.0, they are more in
demand now.
Fortunately, quality management and planning
tools offer disciplined approaches for harnessing
ideas in groups. A principal tool is brainstorming,
developed by the now almost-forgotten advertising
guru Alex F. Osborn—one of the 20th century’s most
important advocates of educating the imagination.
As an author, he influenced popular thinking through
his book Applied Imagination: Principles and Proce-
dures of Creative Problem-Solving,2 which—through
three editions—explored the creative process and
laid out techniques for a broad range of applications,
from enhancing personal relationships to developing
leadership and careers.
As those who have practiced hoshin planning or
learned Six Sigma know, quality aims to close gaps
between generating ideas and acting, so brainstorm-
ing is only the first step followed by many others,
including the affinity diagram—created in the 1960s
by ethnographer Jiro Kawakita—to see patterns in
group thinking before further testing and application.
Part of the quality movement’s genius has been to
formalize and order such tools for collaborative prob-
lem solving, planning and risk management—each of
which requires skill in seeing alternatives. For anyone
entering the profession, openness to new viewpoints
and a thorough grounding in participation tools
are essential.  QP
REFERENCES
1. John P. Evans, “A Report of the Total Quality Leadership Steering
Committee and Working Councils," Procter and Gamble Co., 1992.
2. Alex F. Osborn, Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of
Creative Problem-Solving, third edition, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1963.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 27
 NEW TO QUALITY

Quality Career
Playbook
If you’re new to quality and
wondering where to start,
look no further! ASQ offers
everything you need to begin
your quality career and become
an experienced quality pro-
fessional. Whether it’s training,
ASQTV
ASQTV offers some great episodes about essential
certification, books or webcasts,
quality tools, such as process improvement, root cause
the resources listed here are a analysis and quality function deployment. Here are a few
great starting point for learning episodes that will give you a handle on some essential
all there is to know about quality. quality tools:
– “Basic Tools, New Applications.”
– “The Cause and Effect Diagram.”
– “Process Mapping Basics.”
– “Root Cause Analysis for Beginners (parts 1 and 2).”

Check out these videos and more on the ASQTV Tools channel
at videos.asq.org/product-category/channel/tools.

Training and Certification

ASQ offers training courses for every quality professional
at every stage of his or her career. If you’re new to quality,
check out the Quality 101 course, which teaches concepts
such as the seven basic quality tools so you can improve
processes and increase operational efficiency.

Explore the training catalog at asq.org/training/catalog.

Also check out the Certification Pathway tool at asq.org/cert.

ASQ certifications are designed to help you advance your
career, improve your organization and prepare you to be
more accomplished, effective and quality focused. The ASQTV
episode “Certification: The Basics”—found at videos.asq.org/
certifications-the-basics—offers a great overview of certifica-
tion basics, as does the QP article by Jim Bossert, “The Gold
Standard” (November 2018). Check it out at https://tinyurl.
com/qp-gold-standard.

28 || QP || July 2021

Quality Resources
ASQ’s Quality Resources Center is the world’s
most comprehensive library of quality-related
information. In addition to more than 75 years’
worth of articles, case studies and journal
content, it also offers:
– Learn About Quality. The Learn About
Quality page includes an in-depth explana-
tion of quality concepts, tools, applications
and technical terms. It’s a great place to
start if you’re just getting your feet wet:
asq.org/quality-resources/
learn-about-quality.
– Quality Glossary. This glossary—recently
updated with 50 new terms—offers a thor-
ough list of quality terms, acronyms and
key people in the history of quality:
asq.org/quality-resources/quality-glossary.
– Standards. Check out the Standards 101
page for everything you need to know
about International Organization for
Standardization standards:
asq.org/quality-resources/standards-101.
NEW TO QUALITY
Recommended Reading
Quality Press has published several books geared toward
beginners, including:
– Duffy, Grace L., The ASQ Quality Improvement
Pocket Guide, Quality Press, 2013.
– McShane-Vaughn, Mary, The Probability Handbook,
Quality Press, 2016.
– Moon, Jayet, Foundations of Quality Risk Management,
Quality Press, 2020.
– ReVelle, Jack B., Quality Essentials: A Reference Guide
from A to Z, Quality Press, 2004.
– Tague, Nancy R., The Quality Toolbox, second edition,
Quality Press, 2005.
Find these titles and more at asq.org/quality-press. Also check
out the Quality Press online book catalog: https://tinyurl.com/
quality-press-catalog, where you can peruse books by category.
QP’s Back to Basics column offers a refresher on a quality
tool, concept or method—perfect for those new to quality:
https://tinyurl.com/qp-back-to-basics. And, in honor of ASQ’s
70th anniversary in 2016, QP packaged up the 50 most popular
Back to Basics hits for the January 2016 issue. Read more at
https://tinyurl.com/back-to-basics-hits.
Also check out these QP articles:
– “10 Quality Basics” (June 2007, pp. 25–37). Ten regular
QP contributors offer quality newcomers a glimpse of
the knowledge they need to succeed: https://tinyurl.com/
qp-10-quality-basics.
– “Beyond the Basics” (April 2012, pp. 18–29). These seven
new quality tools will help you innovate, communicate
and plan: https://tinyurl.com/qp-beyond-basics.
– “Building From the Basics” (January 2009, pp. 18–29).
Seven quality professionals present explanations that
provide the basics of how each of the seven basic quality
tools is used: https://tinyurl.com/qp-building-from-basics.
– “Career Climb” (January 2010, pp. 20–27). Five of QP’s
Career Coach columnists discuss challenges encountered
when moving to a new job, moving up in the organization
or changing positions: https://tinyurl.com/qp-career-climb.
– “Now What?” (Quality Progress, October 2020, pp. 12–25).
We asked seven experts to share their best advice on start-
ing a quality initiative: https://tinyurl.com/qp-now-what.
qualityprogress.com || QP || 29