Quality is an experience. That’s the starting point.
What makes for an awesome dinner at some place nice?
The interior should have a nice design. Cozy. The type you see, appreciate, feel great about and then forget (for the rest of the evening). The furniture? Comfortable. Tables should be well spaced, not cramped, no need to overhear conversations (unless you’re an audio voyeur). Bathrooms? Neat and clean. Shiny. Well raytraced. Lights? Not too bright – this ain’t a stage, not too dim – this ain’t a coal mine.
Indoor temperature? As the lights – not too hot, not too cold. Neutral. Unsuitable for either lizards or penguins. Prices? Affordable. The staff, the service? Attentive, friendly. There when needed, invisible when not. The patrons? The cool kind. Not too loud, not mute either. Music? Like the patrons.
How about the food? Should be the one you really like. Prepared from fresh, good ingredients, by an awesome chef. Delivered in a clean dish with appealing arrangement. Awesome food in dingy plate sucks. Arrangement that looks like withered puke is not romantic.
What about the act of eating? The first taste should make you want to eat everything at once, then burp (discreetly), throw up (to free some space) and then order two of the same so you can get stuffed, then contemplate why you did that. Is this enough for an awesome dinner at some place nice?
It is not. This is just a shallow, superficial example of what could make for an awesome dinner in what could be qualified as a nice place. To have both – it takes time, effort, experience, learning, failures, know-how. Even if all is done “right” there would still be people who’d hate it – the place, the food, the design. Nobody can make everybody happy. Unlike Quality, perfection is an illusion. The strive is to offer a memorable experience to 90%+ of the visitors. Experience that will last. Why? Because this is what restaurants sell and offer > experience. Not the food, not the service, the design, the comfy chairs, clean bathrooms and the nice music. It’s the experience, the sum up of all that and more.
What does this have to do with Quality? A lot. Because Quality is what? 🙂 It is an experience. And just as any experience it could be (and is) subjective yet there’s certain objectivity to it. Go figure. Let’s visit the factory floor.
What makes for a Quality hammer?
What is a hammer? What is its purpose? Why it exists? Hammer is a tool. Something you can use to hammer some nails, rocks, meat, heads, knee caps, zombies. You can use it to satisfy sudden kinky desires too. Fortunately the hammer designers tend to focus on its primary purpose – hammer something (legal). Nails, blades, the rim of a wheel, red juicy meat. Something that won’t land you in non-romantic environments.
There are more than 30 different types of hammers. Each one designed to do a specific job. Why hammers exist? Because it is easier, safer and more productive to use a hammer than say a flat rock or your head. Have you ever tried nailing a nail using a hard rock… or your head? Hard-flat rocks are hard to come by, heads are easier, both are fragile. Easy to break. Hammering with a rock hurts. Hence it is good to have a hammer with a head and a handle. Two parts. Head could be fancy it could be non-fancy. So can be the handle. There’s some ratio between the handle and the head that needs to be adhered to. It’s weird to have a tiny handle for a big head. Big handle for small head is not good either. The hammer should be well balanced. Should be durable. You don’t want the handle or the head to crack after your first 300 nails. The handle? The handle should be comfortable. Maybe with some rubber coating, or cool fabric for better grip. To avoid “It slipped” situations. The hammer should feel like an extension of your masterful hand.
Why are we talking about hammers? Making hammers is somewhat deterministic, it is straightforward. You can know exactly what you wish to make and then make it. You can control the process, figure out the right shape and alloy for the head, the right wood (or alloy) for the handle. Then you can test it through and through.
A Quality hammer is one that does the job it was designed to. It lasts, does not hurt while using, is as heavy / light as it needs be. Does not cost a kidney to buy. Is this enough for a Quality hammer? Maybe. Some hammers, of the same type, are better, much better than others. Strange thing given that hammer making is as deterministic process as it gets.
Quality is a mindset
Set of values, desires, goals that enable you to tap into creativity and curiosity. To retain the adventures and pioneering spirit. To think “outside” the box, coffee shop, bar, house, room, next vacation or your ass. It’s nice for people to think outside their asses. Quality is a strive for the ephemeral “best”, and should always be more than just “good enough”. Why, we’ll see later.
Quality alters expectations
Remember the first ultra cool presented you wanted and got? Remember how you felt? Probably the emotion of happiness exceeded all previous ones. Can it happen again? No. There are those once in a lifetime emotions. When the first iPod and iPhone were released – lots of people were impressed and for good reason. Apple is one of the few companies that takes one aspect of Quality seriously (yes, that would be the Design). Afterwards? No more being impressed because Quality becomes the norm. That’s the sad fact of life – when things are done right, we stop appreciating how well they are done. What did change then? The expectations. The standards. It is a bit ironic that Quality done right kills it… but from the ashes trust is born.
Wait. Wasn’t Quality defined as something else?
Like “confirms with specification” or as ASQ (American Society for Quality) defines it “The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy given needs“. Wasn’t Quality, as Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum put it “The total composite product and service characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacturing and maintenance through which the product and service in use will meet expectations of the customer“? Sure. It is. Just like a beautiful piece of art is the sum up of colors, paint, canvas and the totality of features and characteristics of someone’s artistic bliss. That’s one of the reasons why Quality is not appreciated – because it has been mechanized by the still prevailing factory floor mentality. While the above definitions are true for a hammer, they tend to get very murky when applied to food….or software.
Is this Quality?
No. It is more. But enough for now. 🙂