Balancing quality and innovation

Like the term ‘quality’, innovation is often understood (or misunderstood!) depending which perspective you approach it from or opinion you adhere to. Anil Kumar argues that this can give rise to an undercurrent of contradiction and dichotomy in any debate on auditing innovation

It is generally agreed that the concept of quality is evolving from its traditional conformance and compliance status to one of 'customer success and delight'. Yes, conformance to stated and obligatory needs and expectations is essential for the success of the organization. But that is not the end in itself. As we move from conventional resources to knowledge assets and a knowledge economy, we need to migrate from inspection-dominated quality audits to inspirational quality management, embracing sustainable business excellence. In any case, can we continue to parrot 'do it right the first time and every time?', when getting fast to the market is becoming the essence of the game. Isn’t it true that almost all policies and procedures that we use are defence routines of past problems or constraints and that  they tend to last long after their purposes are over, causing compliance issues?

What is innovation?

The European foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) framework for innovation succinctly describes innovation as 'the practical transformation of ideas into new products, services, processes, systems and social interactions'. Innovation creates value and drives growth in businesses and the economy. Innovation – bringing ideas to life – should take place not only in technological areas but in all conceivable spheres of human activity, including hospitals, educational institutions and social care. Sustainable innovation needs to go beyond isolated pockets of excellence and replicate innovation successes across the value chain. What's more, we need to understand that innovation is different to creativity. Creativity is about coming up with new ideas; innovation is about practical transformation.   

Breakthrough management

Quality can do a wonderful job in breakthrough management. Firstly, by reviewing all those policies/procedures and making them innovation-friendly. This is also the case with measures and metrics, as they determine organizational behaviour and create an 'ambience' that fosters innovation. While an organization may be rigid with respect to its values and focus on the shared vision, all other things will be open for challenge and change. The design for six sigma, Define-Measure-Analyze-Design-Verify (DMADV) and theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) approaches all try to balance concepts of innovation with quality.

It is equally important for auditors and assessors to learn effectively about the breakthrough innovation process so that their audits do not choke innovation within a company and result in unmotivated staff and a stagnant creative environment. We need to avoid the temptation to develop auditor-friendly documentation and processes, rather than making them user-friendly and innovator-friendly, and accessible to all staff.

Holistic learning

The ultimate weapon in balancing quality and innovation is holistic learning; not quality tool mastery. From being mere observers and commentators, quality professionals need to become real facilitators and risk mitigators if they do not want to endanger the relevance of their profession over the coming years. For quality professionals, the greatest achievement will be to develop innovative changes in their roles and responsibilities so that they too add value. Being a storyteller, cross pollinator and care-giver are valuable roles. Hopefully, this era of hard-wired quality mindsets is over. What we need are dynamic, changeable auditors to keep up with the demand from the knowledge economy of the 21st century.

It is clear that quality management is relevant and essential even in the era of breakthrough management and innovation but it needs to innovate itself while retaining core principles, modifying the concepts and adopting new tools and techniques. Quality without innovation is stale while innovation without quality is unsustainable.        

About the author

Anil Kumar is the Deputy General Manager, Business Excellence of BHEL, Ranipet, India. He has over 24 years of professional experience in quality and is also the co-ordinator for Quality and Environment Management Systems at BHEL Ranipet.
He is a Certified Quality Manager/Organizational Excellence and Six Sigma black belt from ASQ. Anil is also an examiner for the Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Award. For his exemplary work in quality improvement, he was awarded the Qimpro Silver Standard in 2006. He is a core team member of QualityFirst e-Magazine.

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