Publisher's note: It is with great sadness that I must report that David Crosby passed away on Monday, November 15. This article nicely embodies and encapsulates David's life work, in which he always pressed for personal accountability through a creative yet realistic approach to process improvement. To David, "Zero Defects" wasn't a slogan or even a mantra... it was a goal, a career choice, a life choice. He will be missed. Look for more information on his life and career in an upcoming issue of Quality Digest Daily.

The other day my grandson asked me why people are all so different. The Grandpa Fairy whispered in my ear, “Because you all live in little boxes.” It took a few nanoseconds to figure that out. It’s like that wall of boxes at the post office. How you view the world depends on which box you’re in. Here are a few comments about quality cost as viewed from my box.

Quality cost or the cost of quality (you hear it both ways) first came to my attention back in 1959 when I read the quality system specification MIL-Q-9858A.

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