An Introduction to Radical Quality
Welcome to this web site devoted to the concept of Radical Quality. The concept of Radical Quality is based on how our interpretation of the world around us is organized in various cognitive systems – mental frameworks that combine beliefs and patterns of thinking, shaping how we perceive situations and how we act.
The field of radical quality comprises one of these cognitive systems. Radical quality consists of a set of facts and beliefs about the nature of organizations, systematic approaches to thinking about events and organizations, and methodologies grounded in research and practice. It begins with the philosophy of process thinking and the nature of change advanced by Alfred North Whitehead. (1) The elements of the radical quality cognitive system have emerged over many decades of refining theory and practice by contributors from four different disciplines.
First, radical quality draw from the thinking of quality practitioners, including Dr. Walter Shewhart, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Dr. Joseph Juran, Dr. Myron Tribus, Philip Crosby, Dr. Armand Figenbaum, and hundreds of other quality practitioners from around the world, who have brought together an understanding of variation in processes through the application of statistical and industrial engineering methods.
Second, and equally important, are the contributions regarding how organizations and systems change and are sustained over time developed by the pioneers of Organizational Development such as Kurt Lewin, Leland Bradford, Rensis Likert, Chris Argyris, Donald Schon, Eric Trist, Marvin Weisbord, and many others. As a cognitive system, radical quality intertwines quality concepts and methods with the understanding of how change occurs in human systems, building on ideas promoted at the National Training Laboratories and the Tavistock Institute.
Third, the radical quality cognitive system draws on the adult education discipline, including its work on reflective practice and transformational learning, with contributions from theorists and practitioners such as Eduard Lindeman, Malcolm Knowles, Paulo Friere, Myles Horton, Jack Mezirow, Stephen Brookfield, John Peters, John Gaventa, and many others. Radical quality engages people in transformational learning,
Fourth, this cognitive system incorporates concepts from the body of knowledge related to creative thinking, including the work of Alex Osborn, William J. Gordon, Edward de Bono, and Geinrich Altshuller, where we learn how to think beyond pre-conceived boundaries that restrict us from finding innovative ideas and inventive solutions to problems.
In most organizational settings the quality cognitive system competes with other cognitive systems which construct meaning in the world differently – often in a dysfunctional manner – causing organizations to fail in their purpose, leading to waste in resources and effort, poor products and performance, and even in tragedy.
The practice of radical quality describes the quality cognitive system from the meaning of the word radical as “the root.” Radical Quality practitioners embrace a value orientation built upon the realization that the quality cognitive system must be their sine qua non – that with which one cannot do without. They do not consider quality to be merely a useful function that an organization may employ at its convenience. Rather, the radical quality practitioner sees the quality cognitive system as the fundamental guiding principle for an organization, a community, and for society. To be successful, organizations must embrace this cognitive system. It is the root of an organization, without which an organization cannot thrive. It is only by emersion within the quality cognitive system that individuals and organizations can think and act clearly to achieve their missions in a sustainable manner.
As a cognitive system, quality is universal in its application. This cognitive system empowers people to achieve success in all forms of organizations. Its principles and methods set the stage for success in for-profit businesses, not-for-profit organizations, production organizations, and service organizations, as well as education, research, government, and military organizations. Its guiding principles are drawn from knowledge in all of these areas of endeavor that combine together to provide a system of thinking and actions that must be applied in any and every organizational setting.
This web site offers an impressionistic view of radical quality. Like all systems, it is non-linear, but seeks to accomplish three things. First, it will seek to clarify the components of the quality cognitive system by examining key cognitive functions that comprise the beliefs, thinking processes, and behavior of radical quality, organized on this web site under the heading of About Radical Quality.
Second, this web site will compare and contrast radical quality with other, competing, cognitive systems that lead to dysfunctional organizational performance. While other cognitive systems may produce short-term results, the radical quality practitioner recognizes the fallacies inherent in these competing belief systems, often through first-hand experience of organizational failures brought on by dysfunctional, or diseased, belief systems. These flawed belief systems are organized on this web site under the heading of A Taxonomy of Root Causes.
Third, the content on this web site will explore some of the implications of radical quality as a cognitive system and how this impacts quality-centered tactical and strategic planning, the teaching of quality concepts, the application of radical quality in the education sector, and the need for an appreciation of metacognition among quality practitioners. These reflections are organized under the heading of The Implications of Quality as Cognition.
Embracing the quality cognitive system as a practitioner of radical quality should not be thought of as being limited to those whose career titles and certifications carry the name of quality director or black belt, but should first and foremost include those who consider themselves to be leaders in their organizational or community setting. All of the great thinkers who developed the quality discipline repeatedly made this same assertion. The quality cognitive system is not about a support role in an organization. It is about the root of the organization. It is radical in that it must be embraced and championed by the leadership, for without the right thinking, leadership will not take the right actions.
If we want to see different results in organizations, we must change the way we act. If we want to change the way we act, we must examine and adjust the way we think. Radical Quality is all about cognition. This web site is about thinking about the way we think and how that shapes our perceptions, beliefs, and actions.
(1) Gregory H. Watson and John Robert Dew. “The Reality of Process: The Influence of Alfred North Whitehead on Quality Thinking.” Quality Progress.