Quality Professionals: The Happy Group of People

It is great to learn that 'Software Quality Assurance Engineers" have the most happiest job (per Forbes magazine) in the US.  In most software companies, Software Quality Assurance Engineers' (QA Engineers) primary job is to test the software delivered by developers/programmers.  The work load of these QA Engineers increase exponentially few days before the final software delivery and implementation period.  Testing and Re-testing is very common in the software development world and can be a tiresome exercise for many.  But these QA Engineers are happy, as their hard work is to ensure a quality product and, therefore, a delighted customer.  It is said that 'Hard work and regular Practice  brings Perfection and Happiness for successful people. 

Paul asks a good question though - Are quality professionals happy?   Yes, I believe they are.  Here, I would share my experience.  During 2006, I got an opportunity to participate in a workshop  at ASQ headquarters in Milwaukee.  I met an awesome team comprising of ASQ employees and members.  The entire 2 days of workshop was fun with an opportunity to learn about and work with a happy group of quality professionals, who basically were entrepreneurs, NASA employees, IT professionals, Teachers and what not.  Over the last decade, through ASQ and in the professional world, I have interacted with many happy Quality professionals.  The message is that Quality professionals across the world are happy. 

I invite you to read about the 'Quality First' commitment of TVS Motor Company (TVS).  Total Quality Management is the strength of companies like TVS.  The QA team at TVS does a great job.  The beauty here is that all their employees, not only QA professionals, are high quality conscious and passionate about quality.  I know some of these employees who honestly practice quality techniques such as 5S and Kaizen at home.  Bottom-line, quality is in their blood and keep them happy.

Every year, during the QQuest conference conducted by Anna University in Chennai, quality professionals from various companies and schools participate in various competitions related to quality and, also, present technical papers.  I have been to these conferences and, trust me, it is great to see a happy group of quality professionals from varied industries.  

How to sell Quality: Some Success Stories

I invite you to read the "Amazing Infosys Story", the story of a company that changed the way world looks at India.  This company gave a new dimension to Information Technology (IT). Today, it delivers high quality software products and services.  How are they continuing to sell high quality?  The answer is straight - the company, its founders and their employees believed in and, always, practised ethics, hard work and dedication in what they do.

While Infosys is a remarkable story, I can not resist talking about Steve Jobs and his real leadership lessons.  What did Steve do to make Apple as one of the best companies world has ever seen?  How he could produce high quality and innovative Apple products. Simple - his success mantras to sell quality were: 1) Focus on just few priorities, 2) Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, 3) Be end-to-end responsible, 4) Products are important than profits, and, 5) Practice Perfection.
 
Maruti Suzuki, the car manufacturer based out of India, recently (during Feb 2012) achieved the 10 million domestic sales record.  This is a great achievement and its worthwhile to look at what they did to achieve success.  While Maruti focussed on producing high quality cars, they really sold quality through their top class "After Sales Service".  Service focus is Maruti's success.

Now, how did Wii outperform Xbox and Playstation? If you analyze closely, Nintendo focussed on two key factors: 1) bringing change to their game controllers - wireless, motion-sensitive controllers and, 2) the real user experience - to feel reality.  Strategy along with strong consumer focus played a key role in the success of Wii.  Yes, a clever strategy helps sell quality.

Can somebody sell quality.  If yes, how?  This was the topic set by Paul Borawski for discussion.  The above success stories are real-life examples of how companies and their leaders achieved and sold quality.   The take away message is clear: simplicity, hard work, ethics, passion, dedication and focus help sell quality.

It will not be apt if I conclude this blog article without mentioning the Facebook success story.  What did Mark Zukerberg do different?  It was Mark's passion, right from his childhood days, that gave birth to the ever popular social networking platform - Facebook.  Yes, passion also helps create and sell quality !

Understand, Use and Love Science and Technology (STEM)

Let me start by welcoming the 16 new Influential Voices bloggers of ASQ. Interestingly, Paul refers to us, the continuing 13 bloggers, as ‘digitally active quality professionals’. While the length of influential voices blogroll has grown big this year, Paul has selected a relatively bigger topic for this month’s discussion – How to understand, use and love STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

United States may be number 1 when it comes to technology and innovation, but was ranked 24th (out of 29 countries) in math literacy, falling behind countries such as Czech Republic and New Zealand. The worrying point, to be noted here, is that if future American workers are not as educated as in Europe and Asia, the US won’t be able to compete in the world economy. The whole standard of living might come down as people will struggle to get good and high paying jobs.

On the other hand, Indian undergraduate universities are said to be producing about 600,000 Engineers every year when compared to the 84,000 in the US. About 70 per cent of US PhD students are foreign born and are often hired in the US, who then join a Silicon Valley company or government agencies such as NASA, says, a Gartner analyst. US universities produce fewer engineers to meet the industry demand, thus having the need to hire foreign skilled workers to fill jobs in the US.

The topic, STEM has gained much importance when President Obama recently hosted the White House Science Fair and spoke to students, parents and teachers on – “How America should increase its investment in the science, technology, engineering and math fields”. Now, comes the big question, how to improve STEM education. Here, I would like to share some of my thoughts on the factors that may help:

1. The Teacher – The teacher and his/her involvement is one of the most important factors. The involvement shown by the teacher brings a lot of confidence and interest in the student. The teacher must create a learning atmosphere that is calm and joyful.

2. The School – The school should make science education simple and as practical as possible. While teaching theory, students also should be motivated to do practical examples and puzzles. Laboratories should be well equipped for the students to try out experiments.  This way, learning becomes more effective. Scoring system should also be designed to properly evaluate the students and, in turn, help them improve as well.

3. The Curriculum –The teaching methodology and course curriculum should go hand-on-hand. As a student moves from one class to another bigger class, the curriculum should be connected properly to ensure smooth transition. This will make the student more comfortable to learn advanced topics. Curriculum must have the right mixture of theory, practicals and examinations.

4. The Parent – At home, the parents must watch, guide and motivate their children (students). Mother and Father are, most times, the first and best teachers.  Parent must meet the Teacher regularly to obtain feedback about the student's studies and progress.  

5. The Government – Government must make STEM education mandatory at various school levels. Adequate focus and funding should be allocated to develop necessary infrastructure to impart STEM education and create excellent faculty.  Parents who can not afford STEM education should be provided with stimulus or appropriate financial support.

6. The Industry – Academia and industry must work together such that the student gets to see and understand real life scenarios and examples. It is always better to learn by doing than seeing.  Teachers should be provided with opportunities to work in the industry and learn.

7. The Student – Last but not the least, students should put their best self. The student should focus to develop his emotional intelligence and ability to plan and learn. With the above listed factors, if applied properly, students can be motivated to learn and, also, love STEM.