2 Creating the perfect world

I want you to hold two images in your mind. First, imagine a community; it can be any community you like: your online forum, a town, squatters, just pick your favorite community. Keep that community in your mind. Now, think about ice cream. Just like with the community, you can think about any ice cream: a particular brand, flavor, or texture you like.

Next, let’s think about how quality applies to these separate things community and ice cream. Ask yourself these two questions:

You’re probably not going to answer those questions in the same way.

A quality community could be a community where everyone treats people with respect. It could also be a place where each community member contributes to the overall well-being or a group of people living off the land in a sustainable way.

Can these values be applied to ice cream? Would a quality ice cream treat people with respect? Is a quality ice cream all about contributing to the overall well-being of people? Would a quality ice cream live off the land in a sustainable way? Probably not. (I’d actually say that ice cream contributes to the overall well-being of people, but let’s not get sidetracked.)

2.1  TL;DR

2.2  What exactly is quality?

2.2.1  Quality is about answering needs

2.2.2  Quality dimensions

2.3  Finding out what people want

2.3.1  Quality levels

2.3.2  Quality attributes

2.4  Managing quality

2.4.1  The scientific method

2.4.2  The quality cycle

2.5  Working with the quality cycle

2.5.1  Planning and designing metrics

2.5.2  Implementing controls and changes

2.5.3  Analyzing the implementation

2.5.4  Establishing a new baseline

2.6  If you like data, you’ll also like quality management