I finally had an opportunity to unpack all of the books I scored from the Quality Press booth at the World Conference on Quality & Improvement this past week. I’m hoping to include a master list of recommendations in the next newsletter but couldn’t resist posting something here about a little gem I found. For $5, I picked up a book called “Quality Improvement Made Simple & Fast”, written by Matthew J. Maio. I couldn’t resist spending $5 on something that claimed to “help ordinary people make extraordinary contributions to their organizations.” Right? With 44 pages, don’t let the length of the book fool you! In fact, I thought the KISS approach worked brilliantly here. I read the book on the flight back and have referenced it several times since. Even reading over material you’re knowledgable about can spark inspiration… certainly an indicator of a good book! Maio is no stranger to quality and knows his stuff… A bio full of ASQ certifications and industry experience that incorporates Honeywell and Raytheon is impressive. More impressive is that someone that could have very easily made the topic too technical or dare I say boring, instead produced a to-the-point and entertaining guidebook complete with comical illustrations and a chapter full of forms you can incorporate however you like! So, get a copy… Start understanding your customers, planing, doing, studying and acting now… “The learning will come from doing. If you follow this simple guide, you will know whether the changes you make, are, in fact, real improvements.”
