Download - Quality MICHAEL J. KENDRICK PhD. People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not

QualityQuality

MICHAEL J. KENDRICK PhD

www.kendrickconsulting.org

People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.

Helen Keller 1880-1968

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/helenkelle387337.html


The Nature of Assumptions The Nature of Assumptions About PeopleAbout People

• They are always present whether explicated or not.

• They guide & conduct consciousness.

• They may take much effort to uncover, analyze & change.

• They are not always shared even when people presume they are.

• Culture shapes perceptions and assumptions, typically in a “taken for granted" manner.

• They underlie all acts of service and support.


The Nature of Assumptions The Nature of Assumptions About People About People Cont.Cont.

• They can be wrong, harmful and limiting as well as enriching, helpful and enabling depending upon their accuracy.

• Assumptions can bestow or diminish the value given to a person.

• Assumptions exist in hierarchies of premises with some being “core" or pivotal assumptions.

• The character of people does not always ensure that their assumptions about others will be correct i.e. good people with good intentions can be wrong.


The Nature of Assumptions The Nature of Assumptions About People About People Cont.Cont.

• Whether they are seen as valued/devalued.

• Whether they are presumed to be competent.

• Whether they deserve anything from others.

• Whether they are understood in terms of their sense of things.

• Whether they are included/excluded in key processes.

• Whether they are a priority for others.


Areas Where A Person’s Life Is Vulnerable Areas Where A Person’s Life Is Vulnerable To The Assumptions Of Others To The Assumptions Of Others cont.cont.

• Whether they are interpreted as good or bad.

• Whether others will relate to them or not.

• Whether their needs compete well (or not) with other competing interests.

• Whether they are seen as a unique person or seen through stereotypes.


Whose Service Is It Whose Service Is It Anyway? Anyway?

• The providers

• The staff

• The (expert) professionals

• The governing bodies

• The funder or purchaser

Some Common Claimants for Pre-eminence• The regulators

• Unions

• Families

• Service users

• Advocates

Etc


The Possible “Matters of Quality” That Some The Possible “Matters of Quality” That Some Stakeholders In Services May Emphasise As Stakeholders In Services May Emphasise As

Being Of Overriding ImportanceBeing Of Overriding Importance

• Absence of scandal

• Service image or reputation

• Good documentation

• Orderly procedures

• Standardized methods

• Participatory processes

• Staff morale

• Technological competence

• Absence of complaints

• Paperwork presence or completion


The Possible “Matters of Quality” That Some The Possible “Matters of Quality” That Some Stakeholders In Services May Emphasise As Stakeholders In Services May Emphasise As

Being Of Overriding Importance Being Of Overriding Importance cont.cont.

• Presence of written policy

• Service safety and security

• Dependability

• Balanced budget

• Legal compliance

• Mission statements

• Conformity to professional norms or opinion

• Adequate funding

• Certifications

• Administrative effectiveness


The Nature Of QualityThe Nature Of Quality• Quality gains are easiest where little has been

attempted before.

• Quality is more difficult to achieve where much has to be first undone.

• Quality is an ethic that needs internalization to become dependable.

• Quality can be learned and taught.

• Quality can be superficial or deep, i.e. It can be deepened or weakened.


The Nature of Quality The Nature of Quality cont.cont.

• The verbal referencing to quality, i.e. "quality talk" should not be confused with quality achievement.

• Quality is rare whereas mediocrity is more easily attained.

• Quality is costly to both attain and sustain.

• The effect of quality may not be immediate.

• From good comes good.

• Substance cannot derive from its absence.


The Nature Of Quality The Nature Of Quality cont.cont.

• Quality must be earned.

• Peak performance" can only be held briefly.

• Program excellence is not simply about performance but also the relevance of what's performed or provided.

• Many things can be said to constitute quality depending on one's values or premises.

• Quality, for many, is necessarily in the eyes of the beholder.



• Quality can nonetheless be specified and objectified.

• Quality, if well specified, can typically be operationalized sufficient for measurement.

• Quality typically needs constant attention and concern.

• Quality may be discernible for those who can appreciate it, i.e. Many may not correctly appreciate or recognize quality.



• Quality becomes progressively more difficult as excellence is approached.

• Shortcuts, quick fixes and insufficient investments always reveal themselves as inadequate.

• Quality generally is heightened and reinforced by contact with quality.

• Quality is intensified by responding to challenges, adversity and stress.



• Higher stages of quality cannot rest on inferior prior stages of quality, i.e. Ultimate quality rests upon a foundation of sound quality at prior stages.

• Quality cannot be expected before its time.

• Quality doesn't appear just because it's needed.

• In human action terms, the quality of one's essence suffuses one's efforts, i.e. Being precedes and shapes doing.

• Quality can be lost, destroyed or corrupted unless adequately safeguarded.



• Quality is enhanced, focused and safeguarded by high consciousness of it.

• Quality is multi-dimensional in that it has many aspects and these coalesce to form a whole.

• Elements of quality may exist in contexts that, in general, lack quality.

• Environments can suppress or enhance quality, but do not entirely predict it, particularly at the level of personal initiative.



• Quality normally competes with and is constrained by other purposes and intentions.

• Quality is always in tension with the "regression to the mean" principle.

• Quality must always be recreated continuously in order to endure.

• It appears that quality has its season and then passes.


Some Observations On Quality In Some Observations On Quality In Services As It Relates To The Needs Of Services As It Relates To The Needs Of

Those ServedThose Served• What is believed or assumed about people will shape

how they are treated and served.

• If people are not thought of as being people like all others then they are at risk of being treated as less than or other than human.

• If people are valued less than others they will be treated less well.

• Even where people clearly have needs like other people these may still be overlooked if they are seen as not deserving of valued treatment.


Quality And Needs Quality And Needs Cont.Cont.

• The neglect of people cannot flourish where there is resolve to treat people normatively, i.e. from a social role valorizing standard.

• Even where individuals have needs which are unique or specific to them these are necessarily embedded amongst their ordinary (universal) needs, i.e. Address of specific needs should not pre-empt the address of formative needs.



• The logic of the array of a persons needs should normally be ordered from the fundamental to the insignificant even when all such needs have validity.

• Addressing needs well should mean focusing on what is fundamental rather than valid but superficial.

• High relevance in the address of needs will require targeted content that matches what is needed, i.e. the right thing.



• How needs are addressed can affect whether the need or needs get dealt with appropriately, i.e. process may be content.

• Quality in the address of the (actual) needs of those served will require discrimination between what the service prefers to impose and what the people might actually need.

• What people might actually need may not be what many service were established to provide.



• Addressing what people need may not be the actual purpose of many services.

• Addressing people’s actual needs competes with and is constrained by other strong vested interests at work in or around the service.

• If people are to be considered people like all others then it must be recognized that they have the same universal needs of all people.


Some Considerations Concerning Some Considerations Concerning “Wants” And "Needs"“Wants” And "Needs"

• Not all appetites, preferences and cravings are essential for living.

• The pursuit of wants may compete with or hamper the address of needs.

• The pursuit of some wants may actually be harmful.

• Wants can often be portrayed as "necessities" such that their voluntariness and optionality is no longer recognized.


Some Considerations Concerning Some Considerations Concerning “Wants” And "Needs“ “Wants” And "Needs“ cont.cont.

• Needs may exceed basic necessities e.g. children need love as well as shelter.

• Needs are not equivalent - some may be more fundamental and urgent than others.

• The denial or deprivation of wants rarely will have the same existential consequences as might be true with needs.

• The satisfaction of needs may assist the address of wants.

• Consciousness and clarity about wants and needs may facilitate decisions concerning both.


Some Compelling Reasons Why Minimal Some Compelling Reasons Why Minimal Standards, Measures, Or Systems Ought Not Standards, Measures, Or Systems Ought Not

To Be Considered As Assuring QualityTo Be Considered As Assuring Quality

• They are awarded at too low a threshold (i.e. minimality, barely adequate etc).

• They are typically riddled with bureaucratic and other non consumer quality related agendas e.g. legitimation.

• They are typically compliance and conformity oriented rather than to optimality, exceptionality and excellence.

• They only partially focus on consumer well being as a core focus relative to other organizational matters.


Some Compelling Reasons Why Minimal Some Compelling Reasons Why Minimal Standards, Measures, Or Systems Ought Not Standards, Measures, Or Systems Ought Not

To Be Considered As Assuring Quality To Be Considered As Assuring Quality cont.cont.

• They are usually devised to satisfy the demands of multiple constituencies and are based on a lowest common denomination consensus.

• They are of little help to the actualization of quality by competent leaders.

• They can divert attention and priority from other more powerful vehicles for quality enhancement.

• Minimal expectancies do not bring out the best in people.


Some Reasons Why Simply Spending Some Reasons Why Simply Spending More Does Not Inexorably Improve More Does Not Inexorably Improve

Service QualityService Quality• Having unlimited choices and resources is in all likelihood not a

normal need or feasible reality for human beings/systems.

• If what is being done is inherently flawed it will only make the mistake(s) more expensive one(s).

• Money is rarely the primary or sufficient motivator to do the right thing.

• If the people involved lack the needed capacities adding more of them or paying them more will not overcome this lack.

• It is a fundamental axiom that the crucial question is whether one is spending money on the right things.



Service Quality Service Quality Cont.Cont.

• Money does not itself solve problems - people do.

• Increasing money does not correlate with improved character i.e. good character can not be bought.

• Additional money will bring additional matters to be managed by managers who have, admittedly, not managed.

• The actual purposes & loyalties of the service may remain unrelated to consumer quality.



Service Quality Service Quality Cont.Cont.

• The belief that money solves/ runs everything already indicates a failure to grasp what makes human beings work.

• It is evident that quality may be amply present in any number of instances of poorly funded but otherwise effective services.

• Too much money may actually distract from or dilute quality i.e. Money can corrupt.

• Excellence is paid for in many more ways than just money.

• Money doesn't think.


Some Examples Of More Powerful Some Examples Of More Powerful Contributors To Quality Than Minimal Contributors To Quality Than Minimal

Standards StrategiesStandards Strategies • Selecting the right people for the task.

• Adoption of coherent theories.

• Leadership...especially moral & positive values based.

• Engendering of loyalty & commitment to consumers.

• Cultivating the will & priority to excel.

• Deep listening & attentiveness to the lives of those needing assistance.


Some Examples Of More Powerful Some Examples Of More Powerful Contributors To Quality Than Minimal Contributors To Quality Than Minimal

Standards Strategies Standards Strategies contcont

• Choosing & nourishing positive values, principles & philosophies.

• Inspiring people towards a realistic idealism.

• Eschewing quick fixes, gimmicks, trendiness etc in favor of paying ones dues.

• Setting challenging goals.

• Investing in people so that they might be enabled to excel.

• Exposure to excellence with a commitment to be guided by it.

Download - Quality MICHAEL J. KENDRICK PhD. People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not

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