How outside the square is this? This is the most refreshing paper on quality I have read today in a very very longtime. Congratulations to the team at Geometrica for allowing the blood to flow. Usually when talking about Quality Systems there is fear and dread of the road ahead. The road is paved with documents. Soon we will rid the earth of these life giving creatures called trees and we will all have Quality Systems in name only and if examined really don't work.

One would ask why a Wiki works. Well it does because , using Geometrica as an example, management have devolved responsibility to everyone that is working there. In short they have demonstrated their trust in their staff in allowing them to design develop and manage a quality system that is a living breathing animated being. WOW. What is more it is their system not managements. Management have just rovide the tool.

How outside the box is this? A living organism, one that can be nurtured and fed and which will only grow to support the bottom line. What a great way to go for continuous improvement. Gives me goose bumps. What a great atmosphere there must be at Geometrica. In short a people drive company. The Wiki will allow the company to move and change to meet customer expectations a sure sign that they will survive these turbulent times. Executive management that sits aloof from its work force is doomed to failue. Death could be very sudden but may also be a long suffering process.

We here are on the verge of launching a new engine room. A database for the management of servicing of biomendical equipment. As we designed and developed our strategy we too have gone to WIKI and have setup our own WIKI within the help system. We have not launched the new software as yet but will later this year. Currently there is no emphasis on the WiKi link but we expect this to grow over time.

I forwarded this paper to our project leader he was blown away. As he sat in my office reading it, all i could get out of him was, YES; YES; YES!
Words fail to describe what you have achieved.

I can only say WELL DONE.

Rob Langdon
Quality Manager
Biomedical Technology Services
Brisbane
Queensland
Australia

Having had 24 hours to think over what has been achieved here I can only wonder at what must have been achieved. My first point is that based on our dear departed friend, Dr E. Deming who said if you cannot work with the CEO and that CEO does not take on board the role of project sponsor then walk away. Geometrica obviously have this commitment. To quote from the paper "The committee empowered all its members, and later the whole company, to edit any document." How powerful is this? This is management recognising that the "worker" is the major contributor to the success of the company. This single statement brought tears to my eyes as the realisation that here was a company really switched on to quality, the true mean of the word.
Lack of involvement of ALL staff is perhaps the single most common cause of quality systems costing an organisation more than what it is worth.
My catch cry is this, managers manage people and people manage the process. How many managers can manage people? Few I venture to add, most are subject matter experts. What madness is this? To loose your expertise in the product or service and create a marginal manager into the bargain. I don't understand this thinking and have witnessed this on a number of occasions.
Because the Wiki is open and can be changed at any given point in time it becomes a living breathing being. It becomes a real time quality system. It has been my experience that companies puting quality into their organisations never ask "What's in this for me?" It is usually a go away and do what you have to do in order to get the Certificate. There are many quality systems out there that serve no other purpose than to gain a tick in the box and so Certification is the end result, a tick yes but totally valueless.
The Geometrica continuous improvement example says it all. The quality system has become stable after the initial onslaught of change in order to "get it right." It is interesting to note the progression of change in this example. Initially there was a slow response as staff became familiar with the procedures existance. Then came a spurt where obviously the word had gone out and "everyone" wanted their say. The document has become a stable document requiring only minor changes over time which can be expected with any live Quality system documentation. This interaction proving the documents worth to be included in the quality system.
I would like to recommend a great video, The Leadership Alliance by Tom Peters. Dated yes but this 4 clip video demonstrates how a manager should manage. Powerful messages for CEOs and managers alike.
Congratulations once again Geometrica this is a job well done or should I say a work in progress.
Thank you to the authors of this paper as it demonstrates there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Yes the world is a different place thinking back to 1937 yet our thinking is still based on the past! We are part of the Golbal Village, hence i'm reading this case study on the other side of the planet from which it originated.
To quote the last sentence, "Isn't it the natural step to base our quality systems precisely on these technologies? YES IT IS.
I'm blown away.

Rob Langdon
Quality Manager
Biomedical Technology Services
Brisbane
Queensland
Australia