Erik Larson’s latest book begins with this quote. If you’ve ever read a book about a serial killer and the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, the last crossing of the Lusitania, an American family in Hitler’s Berlin, the inventor of wireless and Britain’s second most famous murderer, or the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, you may be familiar with Erik Larson.

Kelly Allan has seen many examples of continual improvement gone awry. He offers this cautionary tale from a client.

All quality professionals, regardless of educational background and/or experience, will at times find a need to consult their network of resources to get answers to questions, determine how best to collect and analyze data, or resolve different interpretations of a given analysis. Recognizing this need, Quality is launching a new column entitled “Ask the Expert: An Interactive Q&A Section” with topics that come from readers.

We need to carefully consider each commitment before making it. After deciding to make the commitment, create a plan and move toward the goal.  

Maybe it is not something you have thought much about, but a single action, taken now, can have significant consequences far into the future. This can be a blessing or a curse, depending of course on what the action is.

In some way, personal growth is almost always uncomfortable. However, refusing to grow is often, in the long run, much more uncomfortable.

As promised, we continue last month’s column with seven more principles for an organization to manage an important asset—their people.

With more people than ever beginning to read what’s actually printed on calibration reports these days, what was supposed to bring clarity to measurements seems to be providing more discussions and arguments.

With so much focus on customers, companies can lose sight of their most valued asset—their people—and the critical roles they play in the success of their organizations.  Organizations are the employees, and customer service and quality are dependent on these skilled, motivated people.

It was summer camp and I was 12 years old. The game was called “Capture the Flag.” The goal is for one of two teams to capture the enemy’s flag, and return it to their base. Our battlefield was spread over a huge forest with rolling hills.