Debunking 5 Common Assumptions About Quality in Business and Life in General

The term “quality” can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. In its simplest form, it means following and maintaining a certain level of quality standard. In this sense, all of us practice quality principles in our personal lives.

When you buy organic vegetables because you don’t want pesticides in your food, you are adhering to a quality standard. Ditto when your best friend spends three months researching the best elementary schools for her kids before deciding on the house to buy.

Similar quality principles apply to business, only on a larger scale. In regulated environments, the burden of quality depends on the regulations and standards that apply to a company. A manufacturer of a combination product such as an auto injector will face the hurdles for both medical device (injection pen) and pharmaceutical (the drug that’s injected) requirements, as opposed to a company that manufacturers a simpler product.

Even so, there are basic concepts of quality applicable to most people in many situations. There are similarities between “personal” quality management, if you will, and quality management for the purpose of consistently producing an excellent product or service. People even make similar assumptions about both, such as the five things listed below. Unfortunately, most of these beliefs are wrong.