The Quality Industry Voices

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It’s called the principle of two weaknesses. It is a strategy in chess. It was developed by Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch and detailed in the book, “My System,” back in 1925 and still considered a core strategy in chess to this day.

Quality giants like Joseph M. Juran, W. Edwards Deming and Armand V. Feigenbaum ushered in the era of total quality management (TQM) movement about seven decades ago.

Like many professionals, my introduction to ASQ began with a very practical goal: certification. At the time, I was focused on strengthening my technical foundation and building credibility in the field of quality. 

I recently heard the phrase, "You can't fall off the middle." For me, it almost immediately fit into my advocacy for balance.

Before I get into the focus of this column, I’d venture to guess that many quality professionals reading this column’s title did an about take thinking this guy has lost his mind. To discover the real intent, read on…

Manufacturing has changed meaningfully over the past two decades. Once rare, women in technical, operational, and leadership roles are now increasingly visible across the industry. 

The final draft of ISO 2859-1 was approved in December 2025.

I have had numerous bosses over my 40+ year career. A few were great, most were good, and several were terrible. Coinciding with my career has been the opportunity to serve as a member leader (aka volunteer) for ASQ, something I have done continuously since 1992. 

You see it a lot with e-commerce. Online shopping is said to offer an advantage. An array of “reviews” posted by other shoppers of the product you are considering. Amazon and others have converted these comments on the worthiness of a product into tools that help browsers decide if they want to become purchasers.

I felt it might be of interest to continue the discussion from my previous column on organizational culture. It is not easy for some organizations to convert to a culture that is truly focused on establishing a robust culture of quality.