‘Commitment to Quality’ and Organic Nature of Improvement
Tanmay Vora
We live in the world of instant gratification. Technology has made it easier for us to respond quickly, and rising competition/customer expectations has made it mandatory.
We lay out a strategy and look for quick execution. The moment it goes into execution, we start looking for results. We need ‘early signals’ about probability of success. We launch a blog and look for readers to start flowing in. We impart training and look for instant improvement in people’s abilities to do things. Everything in an instant, and if it doesn’t, drop it and jump on to the next.
Sure, instant actions are needed when business is at stake. When major flaws come to the fore and beg for correction. When a customer is pissed off. When your people are pissed off. Quick actions and quicker results are necessary.
The problem starts when instant gratification becomes a constant expectation.
We forget that process of evolution is slow. Sustainable change and improvement happens slowly. A tree grows organically, so do we. Culture building, process improvement, relationships and team building are slow and painstaking tasks. Gratification is delayed and hence the need for patience, persistence and focus over a long period of time. Key is to hold it on.
Improvement (in processes and culture) is always going to be work in progress because standards will keep going up.
Taking an organic view of improvement, following it through with patience, persistence and focus is what I would call ‘commitment to quality’.
Yes, this is true.
Everyone expects that whatever they do, the result should be quick and affirmative. People are always impatient.But we should understand that like a small plant which takes time to give fresh colorful flowers, it takes time to get back the results. The only thing that is important is constant focus and commitment on what we do. Any work done considering these parameters is going to be a quality work.
Have a wonderful day 🙂
Thanks for the comment Amit – and expressing yourself.
“Instant Gratification” versus having patience depends largely on task at hand. There are clearly two types of tasks we do at work – strategic and tactical. Strategic ones are executed with long term vision – which is where an organic approach helps. I still do not undermine the need for quick wins, but focus is long term and hence need to be patient till efforts start showing results.
For tactical tasks, we execute and we know the outcome. What we do in software testing is more of tactical task – you start testing and you have bugs identified. Instant result. But same is not true if you are trying to improve your testing processes across the company. It is strategic and takes time.
Have a great day!
Best,
Tanmay
Completely agree with you. I would say that the responsibility of cultivating the culture of patience, persistence and focus over a long period of time should start from the top management, and should instil the same through all. Quality is not like fast food take away, it should be as you said organic view of improvement.
Anand – Thanks for expressing yourself. I like the analogy you present – “Quality is not like fast food take away” – no strategic initiative is. Top management alignment to treat long term improvement initiatives is very crucial (and sets the tone of how initiatives are treated by others in the organization).
Best,
Tanmay
Great post, Tanmay. We preach the same idea in relation to our training programs. A one-day workshop, while the easiest of training “solutions”, isn’t going to produce a sustainable positive change in your people’s behaviour. Instead, to your point, you need that patient and persistent commitment to quality, with lots of practice, reinforcement and follow-up.
Hi Andy – I agree when you say that there are no short-cuts when we consider training and development. People take time to absorb learning, and that learning becomes long-term/sustainable when they effectively practice what they have learned. It all takes time.
In my previous engagements, I encountered a CEO who wanted to start training initiative but was looking for instant RoI of training initiative. Needless to say, he was disappointed and finally dropped training initiative. No patience, no persistence, no long term view = No ROI!
Thanks for commenting!
Best,
Tanmay
Nice post, I 100% agree with you. Short-cuts can be chosen when its needed but it should not be a practice
Thanks for the affirmation Shaival – I wish you a fantastic week ahead.
Best,
Tanmay