I am a creature of habit. I have favorites (authors, foods, directors, friends, family members, books—not necessarily in that order) that I like to revisit every so often. This is particularly true when I’m stressed out. I reread The Hobbit and Siddhartha every few years, and, of course, I have my annual “So I Married an Axe Murderer” movie festival.

I have to admit that although I will willingly reread a novel or watch a movie several times, I’m not so good at rereading nonfiction works. I suspect most people are the same way. It’s easy to watch a fun movie every few months or years, but reread a business book or a textbook?

If you’re like me, your reading falls into two categories: want-to read and have-to read. I want to read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; I have to read Getting Things Done. Because I’m an editor and publisher (and I just love to read), I read a lot, and I read very fast.

I realized a few years ago that my want-to reading list was always a lot longer and had a lot more fiction on it than my have-to reading list, which really doesn’t have any fiction on it. I also realized that I was missing out on a lot of really good stuff that was not only “good for me” but also enjoyable on a different level than the latest murder mystery. So, I resolved to read one nonfiction book for every fiction book that I read.

I’ve read some really good stuff because of this: fun nonfiction stuff like Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods and A Short History of Nearly Everything, some good historical reads such as How the Irish Saved Civilization and The Professor and the Madman, and some good, more traditional business books like Freakonomics and the aforementioned Getting Things Done. I’ve also read some off-the-wall stuff like Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, which was actually quite good.

My rather roundabout review of my reading habits reminds me that there are a lot of good quality-related books out there that could stand rereading. Most quality professionals have read (or should have read) W. Edwards Deming’s Out of the Crisis, Joseph M. Juran’s Juran on Quality by Design (No, I haven’t read Juran’s Quality Handbook from cover to cover. At 1,872 pages, I doubt many people have.), and Philip C. Crosby’s Quality Is Free. I read all three quite some time ago. I read Out of the Crisis while attending Deming’s four-day seminar in 1992. I read Juran on Quality by Design prior to interviewing Juran back in 1993. I spent a great deal of time with Quality Is Free back in the 1980s when I was working on developing training materials for a large freight company.

I have to admit that I haven’t reread any of them recently, and I really should. There’s some good stuff in those books that’s just as important today as it was when they were written.

Deming’s 14 Points for Management , for example, are especially relevant. In fact, in these uncertain economic times I think our political leaders would do well to apply Deming’s thinking to our government. Deming’s exhortation to “drive out fear” strikes me as particularly important. We can’t hope to manage our financial system, automakers, or government through fear or intimidation. We can’t fix mismanagement or bad management by setting unreasonable expectations or demanding change of employees who have to work within a poorly designed process.

How do we tackle those poorly designed processes? Juran has some excellent thoughts on just that in Juran on Quality by Design. It’s always more cost-effective to design processes capable of producing high-quality products and services than it is to correct the process after the fact. Juran reminds us that we can’t fix problems without fixing the process.

Although he was criticized for sometimes being too simplistic, Philip Crosby had a similar message: Why design processes or build products or deliver services with anything less than perfection in mind? This is what Crosby called Zero Defects—a goal that is perhaps unattainable yet serves to keep everyone focused on doing their best.

I’ve only mentioned three books by three of the better-known quality thinkers. Of course, there are dozens of others that should be on every quality professional’s reading list and that should be periodically reread (or at least referenced). I won’t try to make a list of books here, but I will post one on my blog. I’m going to start posting my thoughts on new quality-related and business and economics books there as well.

What are your thoughts on the best quality-related books? What are you reading or rereading? How often do you turn to a trusted reference book for inspiration? Do you share your recommendations with your co-workers? What kind of book would you write?

I’ve been doing quite a bit of home improvement recently–installing new flooring, painting, etc. I’ve got a few sore muscles but the sense of pride in my achievement (plus the money I saved by doing it myself) makes it all worthwhile.

I have to admit that I’ve never been very handy, and I’ve never really gotten the thrill that some people do from “doing it myself.” My brother genuinely enjoys home improvement and could probably build an exact replica of the Taj Mahal given enough time. Usually my home improvements stem from the need to save money. 

This current project—replacing wall-to-wall carpeting with wood flooring—was something that I never thought I would (or could) do. But after some words of encouragement from some friends (thanks, Jeff) and getting quotes of $3,000 to install flooring in just one room, I thought it was worth the try. I researched the products, bought the necessary tools, watched a bunch of videos on installation (God bless, You Tube), and took the plunge. Three days later my room was done, it looks terrific, and I saved about $2,500.

I am unbelievably proud of myself. I’m so proud, in fact, that it gave me the confidence to tackle replacing the flooring in my T-shaped hallway with six doorways. I did that this weekend. The flooring is all in; I just have to install the molding.

Reflecting on my flooring accomplishments made me think of some other projects that I might try. It even made me think that maybe there are a few work-related projects that I’ve been putting off that might not be so bad once I got started on them.

I know I’m not alone when it comes to putting off what I should do. Everyone procrastinates. We let fear keep us from trying new things and taking on new challenges. Fear of failure, fear of doing a mediocre job, or even fear of success can be a powerful force. However, I’ve found that when I do take the leap, I’m amazed at what I can do. Even if I fail, I’ve learned some new skills. Even if I’m really not that good at what I tried or I didn’t enjoy it, at least I made the effort and I can put it behind me.

Making that extra effort might be more than something we all want to do; it might be something we have to do. Times are tough right now. Companies and families are struggling. You might be asked to do a lot more at work than you ever had to before, and given the job market, you might not be able to say no. You could be given projects, processes, or responsibilities that you never considered before. How you approach those new and possibly scary tasks can make a difference. Do you intimidated by the challenge or do you view it as opportunity for growth?

In addition to having new challenges foisted on you, you might want to voluntarily take on some of the stuff that scared you before. When times are tough, it’s not a bad idea to be seen as a hard-working problem-solver who’s not afraid to take on new challenges and responsibilities. Plus taking on new responsibilities, learning new skills, and gaining new expertise might make the difference on your resume should you have to seek a new job.

Fortunately, quality professionals are (or should be) equipped with some skill sets that many others might not have. For example, as a quality professionals you should be well versed in data analysis, making it easier for you to sift through the options available to you. Also, skills such as preventive action, corrective action, root cause analysis, document control, and procedure writing can be invaluable when taking on new projects. If you’re not familiar with any of the aforementioned skills, learning to use them and implementing them in your organization might just a good first step in taking on new challenges.

When times are tight, it’s common for people to conserve their resources. They clip coupons, skip eating out, and put off vacations. Companies lay off workers, put expansion plans on hold, and cut back on training and travel. Don’t make the mistake of cutting back on your personal and professional growth during these times.  It’s more important than ever for you to learn new skills and have the courage to grow in order to survive.

Fortune magazine’s got yet another article on the end of print and what may replace it.

Money quote:

Can publishers abandon paper and still keep a big chunk of the subscription and advertising money? That won’t be easy. No one yet has figured out the perfect business model. Under one scenario publishers would license their content to an e-reader seller, such as Plastic Logic or Amazon, or to a wireless provider like AT&T (T, Fortune 500) or Verizon Wireless (VZ, Fortune 500). These companies would sell and manage the wireless e-readers and offer customers bundles of content the way a cable company does. You could buy subscriptions to individual magazines and newspapers or bundles of content on entertainment, sports, or business - or both.

Read the rest of the article here.

Stay tuned. It’s going to be a very interesting few years for publishers.

Wake up, America!

I'm a fat little piggy myself.

Barack Obama is only one month into his presidency and he’s facing some serious challenges, primarily the economy. What began as distant rumble early last year has hit like a tsunami. Banks are failing, millions of people have been laid off, GM and Chrysler are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, tens of millions of homeowners face foreclosure, and it looks like it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

It’s the kind of economy that most of us have never faced before. We’ve had recessions before, but this is getting awfully close to a depression. (According to a February 9 article in the Wall Street Journal, the world’s advanced economies—the United States, Western Europe, and Japan—are already in depression, says International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The “worst cannot be ruled out,” he said.)

Although most of us have never lived through this before, we’ve all heard the stories of the Great Depression from our parents or grandparents. My mother tells stories of wearing flour sack dresses that her mother sewed, tending a huge garden and canning vegetables, watching as her mother made extra plates of beans and cornbread to feed the poor folk who showed up on the back porch.

In the face of all of this gloom and doom, it’s tough not to be angry. “How did this happen?” we ask. “How did it happen so fast?” It seems like yesterday that we were all seeing ridiculous gains in our retirement funds, buying high-definition televisions, planning vacations, remodeling our kitchens, and watching the credit card balances balloon. Why worry? We can always refinance our house.

Who’s to blame? George W. Bush? Bill Clinton? Ronald Reagan? Damn Democrats? Rich Republicans? Litigious lawyers? Blood-sucking banks? Insidious insurance companies? Evil energy companies? Communist Chinese? Ugh!

It’s tough to hear this, but the people responsible for this mess aren’t any of the above, it’s you and me. We’re the ones who elected (and re-elected) the politicians, filed frivolous law suits, ran up the credit card debt, bought homes we couldn’t afford (and then refinanced them), didn’t save enough of our money, didn’t realize that all that paper money we were earning was too good to be true, bought all those Chinese products, drove the gas-guzzling SUVs, and generally just followed the herd.

“Wait,” you say, “Everyone was doing it. How were we to know?” Well, hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Except that we should have known better. We lost money in the dotcom boom and every other boom before because we were lustful, gluttonous, greedy, slothful, wrathful, envious, prideful pigs at the trough. (Yes, those are the seven deadly sins.) Harsh? Yes, but I’m a fat little piggy myself.

Now, we have a new president who’s charged with fixing all this mess. His first act was to force through an economic stimulus package that’s claimed to create jobs and jump-start the economy. Brilliant. Let’s borrow $800 billion to fix a problem that was caused primarily by excessive borrowing. It was amazing to see the politicians clamoring for airtime to blame one another for the “economic downturn” and then race back to Capitol Hill to stuff more pork into the bill.

It’s too early to blame Obama. And, after all, George W. Bush helped push through the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Package (TARP) that was supposed to prop up the ailing banks and get the credit flowing again. I think the only thing that flowed at the banks was the champagne in the executive suites.

Of course there was the equally brilliant automotive bailout of GM and Chrysler headed by the dynamic duo of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Despite howls of protest from the U.S. public, Congress gave the automakers nearly $18 billion. Now, the automakers are back asking for another $22 billion ($16.6 billion for GM and $5 billion for Chrysler) just three months later.

Let them fail. Nearly all U.S. airlines have filed for bankruptcy (Southwest and American are notable exceptions). Sure jobs were lost, but the U.S. public can still fly from point A to point B. Some airlines survived and are now in better shape. Some didn’t. The same is true for the automakers. I’m fairly certain GM would survive bankruptcy and emerge as a stronger and better company. Chrysler might not. Ford probably won’t have to. Will cars and trucks still be made in America? Yep.

It’s time for the government to let the market (i.e., the American public) decide what cars they want to buy, where they want to bank, and how they want to invest.

It’s also time for the American public to get the corrupt, career politicians out of Washington and the state houses. Vote them out. Vote in term limits. Wake up, America. Stop following the herd. Start thinking for yourself. Stop waiting for someone else to solve our problems.

If you’ve been paying attention, it’s probably no surprise to many of you that magazines and newspapers are struggling to survive. Daily newspapers are getting smaller and smaller; magazines are getting thinner and thinner. This issue of Quality Digest is the smallest we’ve ever produced. The long-predicted “end of print” seems to have finally materialized. The recession, the high price of fuel last year, and the popularity of the Internet have all radically changed the balance sheet for traditional print media.

U.S. News & World Report will cease publication this year and be available only online. The Christian Science Monitor and PC Week will do the same. Even Entertainment Weekly is mulling a move to a strictly online presence. Many daily newspapers, including both Detroit newspapers, are moving to a mostly online presence. The storied New York Times is rumored to be in serious financial condition and may run out of cash as early as May.

Trade magazines like Quality Digest are in the same boat. Our advertisers are much more interested in our online offerings than they are in our traditional display ads. Because we don’t charge our subscribers for receiving the magazine, we rely primarily on advertising for our revenue. Fortunately, we have a very robust web site, with a great deal of content from the magazine, our e-newsletters, streaming video, directories, and more. And we’ll be adding even more content and enhancements to our site.

Part of the appeal of online media for advertisers is that it’s currently much less expensive because publishers have traditionally viewed their online offerings as a secondary revenue stream, and it’s much less expensive to produce: no paper to buy; no postage to pay. Don’t expect this revenue model to continue. As print disappears, online advertising prices will rise and so will the cost to users to access the content. (Hey, editors have bills to pay, too.) Already the Wall Street Journal and Consumer Reports have very successful pay-to-access content revenue models in place. You might have to start paying to access some of the information that used to be available for free.

There’s another very important aspect to the end of print. Is it also the end of the “fourth estate”? The press has always been the unofficial fourth part of the traditional checks-and-balances form of democracy in the United States. The first three are: executive (i.e., the president and governors), judicial (i.e., the courts), and legislative (i.e., representative government such as the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, state assemblies, etc.).

Obviously, the kind of information that Quality Digest and most other trade magazines bring you is important but usually not life altering, certainly not the kind of investigative journalism that exposes corrupt politicians, bad investment schemes, or health and safety issues that’s found in major newspapers or mainstream magazines. These publications rely on hundreds of experienced reporters and editors to discover, vet, and accurately report the news. When the newspapers die, who will the public rely on to expose such issues? If a Watergate-type scandal were to occur again, who would reveal it? Bloggers? Who will vet these kinds of stories? Who will protect the falsely accused? A lot of the popular web sites such as the Drudge Report that have “late breaking news” get their information from traditional news outlets like the New York Times or the Associated Press. Where will they get their information when the traditional media outlets are gone?

I don’t want to seem like an old fuddy-duddy or a salmon swimming upstream. I know that many media companies will survive, new ones will be born, and new systems and processes will emerge to make such enterprises profitable and credible. It’s going to be a very interesting transition, and I believe that few people, if any, know what the digital publishing model will look like in three to five years.

Quality Digest will make the transition. For now, we’ll continue to print the magazine as long as it’s practical to do so. But I’m sure the day will come when we cease to publish the print version. It’s just a matter of when and how. The day will come, probably sooner than you think when you will only be able to read Quality Digest (and the New York Times, and every other newspaper and magazine) in a digital format such as on a Web page or on device such as Amazon.com’s Kindle. Whatever the format, we’ll be here to provide you with the most comprehensive coverage of the quality world.

I started the Quality Curmudgeon several years ago. Frankly, I haven’t done a very good job of keeping it current. I am relaunching the site with a fresh new look and promise to post A LOT more frequently. I hope you contribute too by posting your comments regularly.