Better quality for less cost. That’s what most organisations are being asked to deliver.
Quality means meeting or beating the expectations of the people you serve, delivering them a service or product they’ll pay for again and again and will be happy to recommend to others. Less cost is part of maximising the profit you make if you’re a commercial organisation and part of living within your means if you’re publicly funded.
Yet some argue you can’t have both. It’s one or the other. You can have better quality or less cost. You’re left with a dilemma in choosing one over the other.
It doesn’t have to like that though. Toyota led the way more than 50 years ago in discovering that the two go hand-in-hand. They did this by believing in better. Yes, they developed a whole production system, set of management practices and tools and techniques to improve the business over decades. But what made their achievements possible (and the success of many who have followed) was a belief that things could be done better by being done differently.
Resolving the quality/cost dilemma is partly an article of faith. You have to believe it is possible before you can start to make it happen.
