As I write this, it is day 10—day 10 of a government shutdown in the United States. It is impossible to turn on the television, surf the Internet or open a newspaper without being bombarded with the latest accusations, roadblocks and seamingly endless parade of stories of frustration and alienation. If someone were to do research on the most uttered phrases of the last 10 days, terms like “refuse to compromise,” “Armageddon” and “this is their fault” would most likely top the list.
It’s enough to make me resign myself to listening to sports talk-radio. But that’s not exactly a cure for avoiding the blame game. Instead, I began to wonder how our politicians might benefit from the knowledge, experience and processes of the quality industry.