Replying to LO29283 --
In a message dated 10/9/02 5:48:46 PM Pacific Daylight Time, mburson@gwi.net
writes:
> I'm currently an internal consultant in a public sector setting that was
> violated (and I don't think that's too strong a word) by an instrumental
> approach to TQM ten years ago, resulting in an organization that now
> culturally resists anything that even vaguely suggests the faddish
> "quality circles" and "process action teams" of that era. We've recently
> made great strides by sneaking a quality management system in under the
> radar screen, including a a vigorous and ongoing internal audit regime,
> and have discovered to our delight that this has become an excellent
> surrogate for a formal CQI program. That is, by dropping down and
> touching different parts of the organization, or a single quality element
> across the organization, in a discrete way that emphasizes adding value to
> the work people actually do, we've created a process of continuous
> improvement without the label.
Something you said struck a chord with me. When I was researching the
concept of learning colleges, I asked a number of college presidents,
deans, etc., about the shift to the new learning paradigm, i.e., the shift
in focus from teaching to learning. Almost to a person, they said that
many of their faculty were highly resistant to any mention of the "new
learning paradigm," even if fundamentally, they actually agreed with it.
Savvy administrators said that they almost never used the current jargon,
avoided corporate acronyms such as CQI and TQM, and just quietly went
about applying the principles without calling them by name. There is
something to be said for keeping new initiatives on the edge of the radar
screen, at least until you've laid the foundation for them.
Harriett J. Robles
hjrobles@aol.com
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