RE: words, words, words.......YES....a salute to definitions

[Worthington.Jeffrey@epamail.epa.gov]

Thank you for the responses to the "salute to definitions"

THE QUOTE
 "The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words.
If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use
the words."  Philip K. Dick 1928-1982

BACKGROUND
When I provided the above quote in an earlier contribution, I was wondering if
the rest of my quality colleagues also felt strongly that agreement on
definitions was a stumbling block to the basic ground work of starting a quality
program.  Certainly, even getting an understanding of what the term quality
means can be quite a challenge.  The discussion of the distinction between
"system" and "process" is another example and has been educational.  In the
past, I have struggled also with the distinction between "specification" and
"requirement."

AUDIT - AN UNCOMFORTABLE TERM
Managers are often uncomfortable with the terms "audit" and "assessment" because
they imply some level of accountability that may not be desired.  In response,
many quality professionals disguise audits with a term like "review" and feel a
need to "soft peddle" the quality system to make the medicine go down easier.

CONTROL ?
Apparently, the term "control" may be a sensitive term for use by quality
professionals.  Recently, ASQ removed the term for ASQC (this was not uniformly
greeted as progress by all quality professionals).  The use of the term in the
above quote is particlarly sensitive because it speaks to controlling people
(rather than systems).

I am curious to what extent quality professionals feel they should embrace the
concept of "control."  What do quality systems "control"?  Do they control
quality?  Do they control processes?  Or do they simply provide information
about to what extent a process is "in control"?

Jeff Worthington
=============================================================================