Top 5 Things Mom Said and How They Apply (or don't) to ISO 9001 Management Systems

 

It's almost Mother's Day in the USA so we thought we'd give a little honor to moms by talking about these 5 things you've probably heard your mother say (and ISO 9001 is not one of them, probably!)

1. “I don’t care who started it.”

Mom knew that getting caught up in the blame game is no way to engage a team in working together to get things done. Your ISO 9001 quality management system should help each team member do great work. Focus on improving the system and solving problems rather than blaming individuals or departments so team members will be more engaged and continue to improve the management system over time.

2. “Why? Because I said so, that’s why!”

This might work with small children, but it doesn’t work with teams. You want a highly engaged team, so your team needs to know the goal, as well as WIIFM (what’s in it for me) and they need a say in how to make things happen. Using the ISO 9001 approach leadership shares the vision and the benefits of working systematically to discover and meet requirements and allows the team to generate success. Just because we’ve always done it that way doesn’t mean that’s the best way. “Because I said so” just doesn’t work.

3. “I’m going to give you until the count of three!”

Mom knew that putting things off is usually a bad idea. What are you waiting for? When you find a nonconformity, the correction comes immediately followed by thorough corrective action so that you prevent this from occurring again. As our President/CEO, Dr. IJ Arora, says so often, "The only bad nonconformity is the one you do not know about."

4. “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”

It’s not fun and games when it comes to your safety or product quality for that matter. Your mother knew that too and was always looking to prevent accidents. Your ISO9001 quality management system should help your team work proactively to prevent non-conformities and risks.

5. “If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?”

There is a lot of pressure to follow the crowd, but your ISO 9001 quality management system is unique to your organization. It’s not a cookie cutter system and there’s no value in “buying” someone else’s quality manual and documentation and putting it in place for your organization. Rather, you need to take the time to develop and document your core process -- how you “get work, do work, get paid.” Your system is unique to your organization – be proud of it, as your mother would be of you, and keep working to improve it.