You Can be Great If You Really Want To

Quality programs, such as QS 9000, common to the automotive industry, use the concept of root cause analysis in problem solving. The person new to the system is frequently tempted to quickly jump at the answer without depth of investigation. A quality review that discovers quick assumptions being made by management will uncover this weakness in company operations.

Quality programs have been the way of life for operations in the aviation manufacturing business since WWII, but it has spilled over into other industries in modern times. Quality companies seeking certification under quality programs such as ISO 9000 will have to learn the discipline of digging for the root cause. For example, an airliner crashes, and on the surface it appears to be pilot error, frequently the first assumption made by the FAA. The crash investigation team knows better. There is much digging to be done.

In industry, quality operations require a disciplined approach to root cause analysis. For example, a manufacturer of car seat actuators was challenged by an annual cost reduction challenge, which is common to automotive operations. The cost reduction challenge was passed down to the gear manufacturer, a subcontractor, and the gear manufacturer sought ways to reduce material cost. One common approach is to go offshore with material and/or manufacturing requirements. Since changing the source of material and manufacturing requires prequalifying the new source, samples of the offshore products need to be cycled through the engineering, manufacturing, and quality operations. Testing, similar to the original qualification testing, needs to be repeated. This is the normal course of events when developing alternate sources.

If the new parts perform like the original parts, then the new source can be qualified, and parts can now be sourced from off shore. The other possible outcome is that there are significant shortcomings in the new parts, and the offshore source needs to be sidelined until quality issues are cleared up. Proceeding without prequalifying testing could cause havoc in the field. The following illustrates a hypothetical situation caused by a lack of quality discipline.

The new source of gears is accepted without prequalification testing, and the new parts are built into the product. The seat actuators are shipped worldwide, and they are installed into sedans and vans representing the spectrum of vehicles all the way up to luxury cars. Then there is a rash of part failure across the board ‘ in some cases with serious injuries resulting. The sales outlet CEO is screaming; the parent organization officers are screaming; the domestic original product manufacturer is embarrassed, and they are eager to help.

Root cause analysis is the implemented. The new products are collected and sidelined for belated qualification testing. The original source production line is reactivated to produce qualified products, and the pipeline is filled with originally qualified products. At the same time, the new assemblies made from unqualified parts are cycled through the qualification testing series. Notable differences are found in the performance of new actuators, and the new source is condemned.

The chain of events can be summarized as follows: Seat failure BECAUSE OF actuator failure BECAUSE OF gear failure BECAUSE OF unqualified source BECAUSE OF failure to prequalify: ROOT CAUSE

This case is fairly transparent, but most of the time the root cause of failure is elusive, and it takes detective work to get to the source of the problem. It could require a cycle of analysis / testing / re-analysis, etc. In most real world situations it requires a team effort to clear up a problem. It’s worth every effort because the future of the company and jobs is at stake. It is not for the faint hearted.

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It’s often said that children learn from their parents and surrounding in which they are brought up. So if you’re looking for a place to start helping your child build positive self esteem and self value, then you should show them your positive sense of self and strong self esteem. Be positive when you speak about yourself and highlight your strengths and at the same time neglect your weaknesses. This will teach your child that it’s okay to be proud of their talents, skills and abilities and also helps in analyzing their interests by themselves.

Your child also gets benefited greatly by being honest and positive. Find something about them to praise each day and make them feel motivated. You could even give your child a task you know they can complete, and then praise them for a job well done, after they’re finished. Show your child that positive acts merit positive praise. This will help them to come out of hurdles in future.

When your child’s feeling sad, angry or depressed, communicate openly, honestly and patiently with them. Listen to them without judging or criticizing. They may not fully understand why they feel the way they do, so the opportunity to communicate with you about it may be what’s needed to help them sort through a difficult situation. Suggest positive behaviors and options as solutions, and make sure to leave that door of communication open so they know the next time they feel bad, they can come to you for help and know that you won’t judge or punish them for how they’re feeling.

Teach your child the importance of setting goals and developing a plan to meet that goal and complete that task. Small projects are the best to start off with in the beginning. Ensure that it’s an appropriate task for your child, and not too complex. Don’t only give praise at the end of the project, but praise their accomplishments during the project as well.

Most importantly, tell your child “I love you” each and every day – many times throughout the day, in fact. When they’ve behaved badly, tell yourself that it’s not them you don’t like, only their behavior. So don’t personalize and penalize their mere mistakes because in the future it may so happen that you want them to share some of the things but they deny. Send sweet notes in their lunchboxes or coat pockets, or even a card in the mail. Soon, they’ll learn to say “I love you” just as easily and honestly in return.