TITLE : BALDRIGE QUALITY SYSTEM: THE DO-IT-YOURSELF WAY TO TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS, THE.

I was first introduced to the notion of "do-it-yourself quality" by Curt Reimann, director of the Baldrige program. During a conversation at his offices in Gaithersburg, he referred to the Baldrige criteria as "more of a do-it-yourself kit than has previously been on the market."

I like the idea of do-it-yourself quality. It puts the responsibility for quality improvement in the hands of the people who want to improveand can improve-their organizations. It is the opposite of "delegate-to- someone-else quality," a common response when people do not understand what quality improvement means, or where to start, or what to do. Anxious to do something to improve quality, they delegate it to someone in their department, to the company's quality professional, or to outside quality consultants. They delegate quality, not just improvement, because the whole business seems too complex.

Well, it is complex, but it cannot be delegated. Each individual must take personal responsibility for quality, or efforts to improve it will flounder and fail. The Baldrige criteria stress driving an organization's quality values from senior executives to all managers and supervisors, and then to all employees. When every member of the organizations takes responsibility for quality, quality improves.

"Do-it-yourself quality" implies that quality improvement is a do-it- yourself effort. Of course it is. Study any quality leader anywhere in the world and you will discover that it made its own decisions about pursuing quality improvement, charted its own course, improved its own processes, trained and recognized its own people, identified and served its customers, and managed all the other tasks necessary to improve. The company, which is to say the people who are the company, did it themselves. You can, too.

But you can't do it alone. An essential part of the Baldrige "kit" is the desire and ability to learn from others, whether through benchmarking, making competitive comparisons, studying quality leaders, taking quality training, or hiring quality consultants.

Do-it-yourself quality does not mean do-it-all-by-yourself. If you decided to redecorate a bedroom, your list of tools and materials might range from measuring tapes and putty knives to paint and wallpaper, from "how-to" books to professional advice from your neighborhood hardware store manager. It is still a do-it-yourself project, however, because you decided to do it, you took responsibility for doing it, you determined a course of action, and you performed or supervised the steps in the process.

The same is true for do-it-yourself quality. Pick any Baldrige Award winner and you will find that it practices a distinct "house brand" of quality that is constantly challenged and improved by "stealing shamelessly" from every possible source. An innovate way of measuring? We can use that. A new problem-solving tool? We'll try it. A creative approach to planning? We'll borrow it. Ideas on benchmarking? We'll take them.

Neither the Baldrige criteria nor the do-it-yourself quality concept precludes popular quality philosophies, programs, solutions, or the teachings of our country's best-known quality gurus. Zytec, which won a Baldrige Award in 1991, was founded on and continues to be guided by W. Edward Demings' principles. J.M. Juran, who has been an advocate of the Baldrige program, is a member of the program's guiding body, the Board of Overseers. Milliken, which won a Baldrige Award in 1989, took advice and guidance from Philip Crosby in the early 1980s.

The Baldrige program is a do-it-yourself kit for transforming your organization. How you use the kit and the other quality resources available is up to you.

"For companies that have not invested in quality," Reimann said, "the Baldrige criteria represent a big bite, but instead of taking it piece by piece, some feel they need help. My judgment is that that's part of the mistake they're making. Chances are that 99.9 percent of these companies have within their ranks the people who could pick this apart and say, 'Here's what it means, boss. Let's go through it. Here are some things we can do now. Here are some things we can do six months from now. Here are some things we can do a year from now. Let's get on with it.'

That is a do-it-yourself's attitude: "Let's get on with it." I believe that The Baldrige Quality System: The Do-lt-Yourself Way to Transform Your Business is a good place to start.

Let's get on with it.

Stephen George June 3, 1992