Most people have been taught to believe that all failure is negative. Quite often, however, disappointing results can provide the greatest opportunities for success.

John C. Maxwell, the noted author and lecturer, in his book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" asked, “Who is your legacy?” Essentially Maxwell was asking with whom are we working to prepare to take over when we are no longer leading?

When researching material for my thesis many years ago, I discovered there was no “silver bullet” for the organizational model for a continuous improvement effort. There is no single model that works for everyone; it varies from organization to organization.

Quality 4.0 integrates the features from Industry 4.0 with traditional quality tools to achieve operational excellence, improved overall performance, and innovation. Quality 4.0 combines people, processes, and technologies to accomplish these goals, along with complete digitalization of quality management systems theory. 

Continuous improvement activities might be more commonplace today, but how did it evolve? Though not prevalent in all industries, the concepts are widespread throughout many organizations. 

In a recent quality management class, group discussion centered on frustration in the workplace resulting from lack of appropriate employee recognition. Several people recounted how disappointing it was to go “above and beyond” only to find there was little appreciation for what was accomplished.

Even in a normal year, achieving high levels of quality is no small feat; it's a daily challenge that requires buy-in from everyone. This year, as COVID-19 wreaked havoc on supply chains, worker safety and consumer demand, maintaining high levels of quality became a nearly superhuman feat.

The pursuit of zero defects revolves around a defined mindset. You set up a direction to focus your employees. And when everyone is thinking about it and striving to make it happen, that focus enables breakthrough improvements to happen.