Posted by Christine Schaefer Speaking on themes and new directions evident during the recent 25th Annual Quest of Excellence® (Quest), Baldrige Program Director Harry Hertz talked about the future work of the program. That future, he said, includes building the Baldrige Enterprise, which is composed of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award; the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program; and program partners including ASQ and the Alliance for Performance Excellence programs. Hertz also said the Baldrige Program (which operates without federal funding) will continue enhancing fee-based, cost-recovery services that build on its core competencies. Those now include the Baldrige Executive Fellows program; best-practice-sharing conferences such as Quest; Baldrige Collaborative Assessments; paid (fee-based) examiner training (which the program has offered since 2012, alongside free training to prepare examiners for the annual award process); and Criteria for Performance Excellence licensing. The future of the program, Hertz added, also will include "communities of practice and other events with Enterprise and sector partners." Hertz noted that this year’s Quest conference was his last as director of the Baldrige Program. "It has been a thrill and a pleasure," he said. He again thanked the Baldrige Award recipients, Baldrige staff members, and conference sponsors, among others, and said he was looking forward to seeing examiners at annual training in April and May. Read his reflections on this year’s (and the past 20 years of) Quest conference themes in the April 2013 Insights on the Road to Performance Excellence column!  

Posted by Harry Hertz, the Baldrige Cheermudgeon I have been silent for a few weeks as we were very busy with the Baldrige Executive Fellows, the Quest for Excellence conference, and then a meeting we hosted of the GEM network of international quality award programs. That was followed by some travel and the kick-off of examiner training for 2013. I am out of exile and need to speak out about a troubling use of terminology. Baldrige is about sharing and learning of best practices. But somewhere that sharing and learning got expressed as "stealing", when there is no theft involved. As a matter of fact, the term has become widely adopted with almost a sense of pride in its use. However, the information is being freely and generously shared by role model organizations and others to improve the performance of all organizations. And then to make it sound even worse, "stealing" became "stealing shamelessly". It made Baldrige practices that are truly altruistic sound criminal. For years I have listened and winced. It reached a new level at the recent Quest for Excellence conference, where the three "s" concept was introduced, "start, steal, sustain." The pain was too much! I can’t be quiet any longer. Can we please use terminology that reflects the good that Baldrige offers our country and the world? No more stealing please! I propose we use the proper term: benchmarking. And if a three "b" concept is needed, "begin, benchmark, build." It’s simple, it’s honorable, and it accurately reflects what Baldrige is all about. I feel better for sharing the concern and thank you! How do you feel about it?    

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey What do you do when lightning strikes your organization’s industry not once but twice-when revenues rapidly decline, banking/financial institutions pull back, and there’s a national workforce decline? If you’re 2000 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient KARLEE, you utilize the Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria as part of your turnaround strategy.  JoAnn Brumit, CEO of KARLEE, a contract manufacturer of precision machining and sheet metal, said that the organization’s performance excellence journey started in 1989, when a customer brought her the Baldrige Criteria. The customer said, "If I could build a company based on this, I would build a successful company," she recounted. The year 2000 was KARLEE’s most profitable year, with $80 million in revenue. In its 20-year history of 30%+ annual growth, KARLEE had never experienced a decline, never had a losing quarter, never needed investors as it grew from returned earnings, and never had a workforce reduction; however, 90% of its concentration was in the telecom industry. In 2000, the telecom industry began collapsing. Wrote Paul Starr in 2002, "Out of the $7 trillion decline in the stock market since its peak, about $2 trillion have disappeared in the capitalization of telecom companies. Twenty-three telecom companies have gone bankrupt in a wave capped off by the July 21 collapse of WorldCom, the single largest bankruptcy in American history." Brumit said the Baldrige examiners who assessed KARLEE warned in its feedback report (a take-away from its application for the Baldrige Award) that the organization’s high telecom concentration was a weakness, but Brumit said she had pages of data as thick as a book that the telecom industry would remain strong. So, in 2001, Brumit said, "We decided to act like a turtle and simply let the storm blow over." In 2008, the competitive market crisis again hit KARLEE. This time, the global, economic recession occurred across all industries, and banks/financial institutions were pulling back in order to mitigate their own risks. Suddenly, KARLEE, which didn’t even have a sales force, relying on business  from word of mouth, needed to develop a new business plan fast. This time, Brumit said, being a turtle was not going to work, the organization decided to be like a fox. With the help of the Criteria, KARLEE had a roadmap to improve its strategic planning process, adding risk analysis, stakeholder and market input, operational performance metrics, and communication action plans. Metrics and their alignment with the strategic plan became a major focus. "I chose to take Baldrige as my business model," Brumit said. "My team does not distinguish that Baldrige says to do this or to do that. We do Baldrige because it’s the best way to run a business. [The KARLEE team] look at Baldrige as the foundation of its business model." Brumit said KARLEE eliminated multiple continuous improvement projects to focus on the vital few, and this included a major update to its communication system. "When the company was falling, it became even more important to keep employees encouraged," she said, and KARLEE emphasized state-of-the-union-type updates because what was happening to employees impacted families, too. KARLEE stayed focused to weather the storm, Brumit said. "We kept senior leadership focused on where we’re going and the team focused on issues. You don’t want the pilot to leave the cockpit to fix the plane," she said. Relationships with suppliers became a focus, and many extended terms to the organization; those same suppliers are still suppliers today. And, of course, a focus on customers was key. "When many companies are being torn up, overall performance falls, and customers hear this and fall off. We kept our customers intact," Brumit added. "Today, I can walk around and say, ‘I’m in manufacturing,’ and people say ‘I’m so glad you’re here. We need manufacturing in the U.S.,’" Brumit said. "We rode through [two economic crises] and came out a better company." As far as Baldrige, Brumit said, "It makes you think and assess different things." In fact, many KARLEE leadership team members have received Texas Award for Performance Excellence training. Brumit said she even encouraged her son to complete the Baldrige-based training so that he can be exposed to the big picture of performance excellence. Is your organization ready for a lightning strike in your industry?

Posted by Christine Schaefer The 2013 Baldrige case study features a fictitious, small, manufacturing business, Collin Technologies. The sample Baldrige Award application of Collin Technologies is being used in training for the 2013 Board of Examiners, for example, to learn about the 2013-2014 Criteria for Performance Excellence. Beyond Baldrige training objectives, however, the new case study may provide food for thought and an example for manufacturers considering potential benefits of growing in ways that add U.S. jobs. The shifting business model of this make-believe organization might be seen as reflecting developments in U.S. manufacturing today that could eventually benefit American workers and the economy at large. Collin Technologies depicts a Nashville, Tennessee-based manufacturer in the interconnect industry. Printed circuit boards and rigid-flex circuits constitute 35 percent and 40 percent, respectively, of its current product mix, which is necessarily changing as the company’s vision is to "lead circuitry innovation for the future." As the application states, "Multilayer printed circuit boards represented the major share of products until 2008, when the need for smaller, lighter solutions increased." Collin is also a growing provider of contract research and development services—now 25 percent of its business. Those new jobs are based in Nashville laboratories that expanded in 2006. Collin Technologies is considered a small business under Baldrige Award eligibility requirements because it has a workforce fewer than 500 strong. Like many real-life U.S. manufacturers, Collin decided to outsource some fabrication work to overseas plants years ago, evidently based on cost considerations. As the application states under strategy development, "the original business model was one focused on fabrication of circuitry, including assembly. The business model and work system were modified when it was no longer economically feasible to retain in-house assembly and it needed to be outsourced. That change led to the qualification of the two [overseas manufacturing] partners." However, in recent years, the organization—which has a mission component to "sustain society and the environment"—saw that it could benefit by shifting its strategy and innovating its business model. As stated in the case study, "As Collin grew in its understanding of environmental sustainability, it recognized an opportunity to change the business model to be more R&D-intensive and also to develop fabrication processes for sustainable manufacturing." And it states, "This long-term shift will reduce the potential unfavorable impact of manufacturing operations." Two Atlantic cover stories last year spotlighted reasons some U.S. manufacturers have decided to bring back or keep jobs in the United States. These included rising labor costs in some developing countries. In addition, as this December 2012 article illustrates, in-sourcing can reduce the difficulties and costs of communication among supervisors and engineers with plant workers, so that they can continually improve the design of high-tech manufacturing processes in order to enhance product quality or reduce costs. U.S. companies also need to protect valuable intellectual property in a competitive and sometimes hostile environment. And those whose products require advanced engineering, such as nanotechnology, may find it beneficial to locate manufacturing jobs in the United States in order to leverage highly skilled workers, as described in this January/February 2012 article. In light of some of these factors, it’s easy to see the potential benefits to Collin of its long-term shift to both expand R&D services and develop manufacturing processes that minimize environmental impacts. Perhaps such a company would find it in its best interests not only to continue growing its U.S. workforce in R&D laboratories but also to retain or expand its proportion of U.S-based factory jobs for producing increasingly sophisticated technologies. Collin may find it easier to ensure that high environmental standards are met and to manage complexities in "sustainable manufacturing" processes when those are not conducted abroad. So how has Collin Technologies been performing as it has added U.S. jobs? The company’s results data on product quality (its "primary indicator of process effectiveness") show current performance matching or surpassing that of its best competitor. Its customer survey results "indicate levels matching or exceeding benchmarks for overall and the Aerospace and Contract R&D business segments in recent years." Collin also shows sustained improvements in recent years on a key measure of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. And it reports beneficial trends in financial results for gross margin and return on net assets, described in the application as indicators of profitability and shareholder value, respectively.    Is Collin Technologies realistic? Much of what I’ve read lately inclines me to believe it is—and frankly, as an American, I want to believe it is. What do you think?

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey What’s the key to managing and engaging literally a city of employees? 2012 Baldrige Award recipient and municipal role model the City of Irving, Texas, may have some ideas. "Say what you mean and do what you say," said City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. "Your employees need to understand the strategic plan and know what role they and their departments play in implementing changes that drive the plan’s desired results. You have to really connect the messaging, strategy, and meaning to inspire and motivate people." Speaking during the 25th Annual Quest for Excellence Conference©, Gonzalez said, "If you can engage your workforce and connect mind, heart, and touch, you can fuel rapid change in your organization." For example, Irving employees don’t just memorize the city’s vision to be "a model for safe and beautiful neighborhoods; vibrant economy; and exceptional recreational, cultural, and educational opportunities"; added Gonzalez, "They understand it. They know they’re part of its success and they know how that success is measured. They then can celebrate the progress and take part in continued improvement." The successes of the Irving employees were evident in remarks by President Barack Obama, conveyed via video at the Baldrige Award ceremony: "The City of Irving, Texas, is implementing new ideas that set an example of what a healthier, safer, more efficient city looks like." U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) added his congratulations, too: "The City of Irving prioritizes feedback from its residents, achieving high levels of citizen satisfaction, producing almost $45 million in cost savings over the past five years. I congratulate the City of Irving on the receipt of [the Baldrige Award], and I hope that the federal government of Washington, D.C., can learn from their example." So how did the leadership of the City of Irving guide employees to accomplish all of this? 1. Plan One of the first steps to employee engagement is a good, solid strategic plan, said Gonzalez. For example, Irving’s plan helped to position the city to renegotiate a contract to save money; in turn, the city was able to give raises and market adjustments to staff. "It helps to continue to motivate employees especially when we’re asking them to do more and challenging ourselves as executives," he said. Leadership focuses on following the vision statement and bringing that to life. One way leaders have done this is by creating 50+ cross-functional teams among departments. Each team member learns about the processes of other departments, and this feeds into a succession implementation plan. This is not just a succession plan, said Gonzalez, but a motivational tool to help city leaders identify the next layer of leadership/management. With a solid plan and with attrition reducing the staff by 11% during the recent, national economic crisis, the City of Irving didn’t lay anyone off or furlough employees, who were able to keep the market adjustments in their salaries. A focus on keeping employees inspired and motivated includes recognizing employees on the spot, said Gonzalez. For example, recently more than 600 employees received recognition for delivering outstanding service levels.  2. Give Them What They Need Another step to employee engagement: "Give employees what they need. If you don’t go out and work alongside them, you won’t see what they need," Gonzalez said. He cited examples of working alongside city employees picking up trash. That experience revealed that workers were coming into contact with needles and other hazardous waste during garbage collection. By providing needle stick-resistant gloves and stipends for steel-toed work boots, the City of Irving saved money because workman compensation costs went down. In addition, the City of Irving focuses on employees’ health and well-being with a "wellness program on steroids," said Gonzalez. Employees who participate in the program and improve their health status have the ability to earn up to $150 month. This effort to attack the national problem of obesity has resulted in a total loss of 4,000 pounds by employees and saved the city $26 million dollars in health insurance costs. Keeping employees engaged also requires solid, two-way communication through surveys, town halls, and e-mails, among other methods. "Doing something with the information and making proper changes is key," said Gonzalez. 3. Earn Their Respect Gonzalez cited his military experience, where "you have to win the hearts and minds of the people with whom you work." He told a story of serving in Desert Shield/Desert Storm as a young platoon lieutenant. To earn the respect of older soldiers in his command, he had to "let them know you’re for real and you mean it." To do this, he carried the heaviest loads during tasks and even volunteered for latrine duty, a rather unpleasant tasks that involved burning waste in the desert; it was to earn the respect of his solders and to demonstrate servant leadership. Management should be "working to earn [employees'] respect, and then they’ll tell you more. If you give employees great service, they’re going to give the customers great service," he added. Employees are similarly taught to respect each other, no matter what task the employee is accomplishing, whether filling pot holes or emptying the trash, for example. 4. Look at the Data Irving’s leadership model includes looking at the data and benchmarking other municipalities, with a focus on being proactive for the city’s customers. Gonzalez said a focus on metrics pointed out the seven most heavily travelled streets in the city; pot holes on these streets were fixed in advance rather than waiting for complaints to come in. "In the end," said Gonzalez, "if you can connect with [people] in their minds and hearts and have them touch their results, that’s how to have them engaged, [and this includes] not only employees and the organization but the customer." Added Gonzalez, "If you want to relocate, Irving is a great place to consider." (And for a special Baldrige bonus, check out the van in this clip from the LPGA.)

Posted by Harry Hertz, the Baldrige Cheermudgeon I always take away gems of wisdom from the Baldrige Program’s annual Quest for Excellence® conference. This year was no exception. The gem I will share today comes from Choe Peng Sum, the chief executive officer of Frasers Hospitality Pte Ltd in Singapore. He spoke at the international plenary session that we hosted on Monday afternoon of the conference, featuring speakers whose organizations had received their national quality award. Mr. Choe’s point that "Bottlenecks are always at the top of the bottle" has stuck with me because of its clear imagery and its frequent truth when it comes to organizations. While organizational bottlenecks are not always at the top, I can think of many examples that illustrate the point. I have found the statement to be particularly true in smaller organizations with a founder CEO, especially as the organization starts to grow beyond the bounds of a "small organization." But the syndrome is not limited to small organizations: consider some school systems or corporations with a particularly powerful board or some corporations where individual or family stockholders hold a controlling interest. What challenges could bottlenecks at the top consciously or subconsciously inflict on the organization: inability to commit resources, lack of employee empowerment to satisfy and engage customers or manage their complaints, unilateral strategic planning ignoring valuable input from employees and customers or inadequate consideration of outside contributors such as key suppliers and partners, or a stifling of innovation that goes beyond the senior leader’s ideas. Do you see signs of any of these or other bottlenecks in your organization? How do you avoid them? Consider implementing a systems framework like the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, and start by studying the questions in Category 1, Leadership.

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey Anyone can name his/her customers-whether they are the people who buy products and services from you or internal customers such as your boss or the next person in the supply chain. But does your organization have an absolute, integrated, razor-sharp focus on the end-users of your products and services and what they really need? 2012 Baldrige Award recipient Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) does. The manufacturer and defense contractor not only has staff embedded with its primary customer, the Department of Defense (DoD), but MFC literally has staff embedded in combat environments to learn exactly what Warfighters need. Speaking at the 25th Annual Quest for Excellence Conference®, Bart Davis, MFC’s vice president and general counsel, said the contractor’s main purpose is to protect the Warfighter by producing superior products and services. There’s simply no other choice, as MFC’s products must have life or death reliability, perform in extreme environments, have extended product life cycles, and incorporate leading-edge technology, he added. "For the Warfighter, marginal incremental differences in performance can truly be the difference between life and death," Davis said. MFC’s products must "work the first time, every time, even in extreme environments, whether they are in the Arctic Circle or the deserts of the Middle East. . . . It’s hard to imagine a more difficult operating environment that must be there or lives will be lost. Quality and performance become paramount." Davis said the customer requirements of the DoD, and especially of the Warfighter, dictate business priorities. But MFC goes beyond simply aligning its mission and principles to that of its customer. In a highly regulated industry with a small number of repeat customers, MFC has developed intensely integrated customer relationships that are based on total transparency; this includes embedding the customers’ personnel in MFC’s offices and on product teams where they work together on corrective action boards. Jeff Hall, MFC’s director of business planning, said that MFC’s staff members are also embedded in its customers’ locations, both at U.S. locations and overseas. "Field service reps. are embedded in Afghanistan with Warfighters," he said. "Developing these key intimate relationships helps us know their problems and issues. . . . This is all about customer intimacy for us because of the nature of what our customers do out there, putting themselves in harms way, using our missiles and sensors systems to complete their missions. For us, it’s all about meeting that mission with them." In addition, MFC works closely with Capitol Hill to help ensure funding to support the Warfighter, Hall said. MFC works with its customers from the very beginning of product development to help them understand technologies. It also works closely with customers before the enactment of a new defense budget to avoid surprises, and a competition debrief is always held, whether or not MFC was awarded the contract. This intense focus on customers can be accomplished by understanding their requirements, disseminating these requirements to employees, accepting universal accountability, and adapting as needed with mid-course corrections and feedback mechanisms, Davis said. He added, "The customer whom we disappoint today is the same person who is going to be evaluating our product next month, next year, ten years down the road." According to Hall, MFC has a multifaceted process to collect the voice of its customers; some processes are formal, such as program reviews, and some are informal, such as interacting with customers at trade shows and conferences. In addition, MFC’s president, vice presidents, program managers, multifunctional engineers, materials and procurement staff, and others all interact daily and in person with their customer counterparts. And the contractor has developed multiple ways (e.g., a customer relationship index and report card) to assess how well it is doing. Hall said one of the key pieces of the overall assessment is that the customer is required to say whether or not it will do business again with MFC. Over the last couple of years, 100% have said yes. Starting with its end-users, MFC’s focus on its customer is simple: "We never forget who we’re working for.®"  

Posted by Christine Schaefer This post is about a concept that others have called leadership with heart. Ultimately, it’s about workforce engagement too, because I believe leading with heart supports and inspires such engagement. In particular, it’s about the kind of leadership modeled by the long-time and soon-to-retire director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, Harry Hertz. I don’t mean this to be merely a tribute (though everyone who knows Harry well knows he deserves the kudos). Rather, I want to start a discussion here about what may be key to effective leadership in relation to workforce engagement, particularly in organizations where large structures may weaken human ties and obscure a shared vision and sense of purpose among employees. To describe the leadership that has undergirded the Baldrige Program for many years, I will start with a personal example: I’ve been dealing with a deep sense of loss lately since my older sister was killed in a car accident. In the aftermath of the tragedy, I haven’t always found it easy to confine my experience of grief to my limited hours at home; yet I have managed to maintain a strong focus on my work while in the office. For this I credit an exceptionally supportive environment. And for that, I credit Harry for actively fostering a culture of kindness through his personal actions for years. In speaking of a supportive workplace environment, I’m referring in part (but not wholly) to workforce-focused policies and benefits. Those are important, of course, as affirmed by the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence’s inclusion of them among the questions that constitute "Workforce Climate" requirements within category 5. For instance, I’ve found it reassuring to know that my organization has an employee assistance program should I find myself distracted by acute grief. And I am fortunate to have family-friendly sick leave—and senior leaders and peer colleagues who would encourage me to use it—should I need to take time off to tend to my own or family needs. Above all, what has made my workplace environment supportive to my full engagement in my job in a time of deeper turbulence is the kindness of the people with whom I work. Each and every one of my coworkers has acknowledged and expressed condolences for my loss; they’ve written kind words in a group card, and individuals have offered hugs and tangible help in one-to-one exchanges since the tragedy. Is this extraordinary? Not here! If I were the only one—or one of just a group of people in the office—who’s received a compassionate response from supervisors and peers at my workplace in times of personal need, I wouldn’t have written this post. As one more among countless examples of office compassion I’ve observed, my coworker a cubicle away benefitted from an outpouring of support from the staff last month after her grandmother’s death. It may be worth noting that when she returned to work soon after her loved one’s funeral, she opted to work late to meet deadlines around several key events that our program hosts this time of year. (And had she not been able to do so, no one would have held it against her, of course.) This is what seems to happen where there is a culture of kindness. Under Harry’s leadership, compassionate communications, accommodations, and other forms of kindness have been offered to meet the needs of all who work for the program, including external volunteers. So I think it’s worth considering where such kindness starts (with leadership; in this case, with him)—and what good it does. I’m speaking of good on multiple levels. As suggested above, I see practical and economic benefits of boosting and ensuring workforce engagement and productivity. At a deeper level, I see such kindness as meeting the immeasurable but essential needs that human beings have to feel deeply connected to and fully acknowledged by each other. Lately—as grief can cause one to shed a skin, so to speak, increasing sensitivity to the transcendent, or fullness of reality—I recognize that the good that kindness does at all levels is of great importance to a high-performing organization. It transforms a workplace climate into one where all human beings can experience the personal respect that helps us thrive individually and collectively. Thus I see that it is as appropriate (and good) for kindness to permeate a culture in a business workplace as it is for it to undergird the social climate of places of prayer, of learning, and of play. And now I want to consider the question of how leaders can act to foster a culture of kindness, which (per the requirements in the first area to address of Baldrige Criteria category 1) starts with setting organizational values. Here I think it’s relevant to stress that the culture of kindness in my office is not a fluke—not the serendipitous result of chance hiring of nice people. Instead, this culture is seeded by and reinforced through the personal actions of our senior leader. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who will say Harry has been unkind in his personal interactions with them. Supported and inspired by the ethical and humane behavior that Harry regularly demonstrates, his employees are highly engaged in the work of the program despite any difficulties in or outside the office. We care about the work at a greater level than what might be ordinary, I believe, because we care about each other. In no small part, that is because Harry shows—has always shown—that he genuinely cares about the individuals who work for and with him. So I want to suggest an action or two. Harry has been the primary author of the Baldrige Criteria for years. In this role, he’s been a brilliant synthesizer of the input of many practitioners of performance excellence and other program stakeholders, as well as a perspicacious miner of a multitude of ideas and insights from business publications and academe. It’s early to suggest a revision for the next set of Criteria booklets (the latest editions were just published this year), but here’s one I’ll put forth anyway: add leadership with heart and/or a culture of kindness as the 12th of the Criteria core values and concepts. Or make specific reference to these concepts in the descriptions of the Criteria core values visionary leadership and valuing workforce members and partners, so that organizations striving for performance excellence can learn from Harry’s own effective leadership practices. Beyond that suggestion, whenever I read the leadership category, particularly item 1.1, I will think of Harry’s leadership of the Baldrige Program as an example of excellence. He has systematically set, deployed, and demonstrated in his personal actions his commitment to the organization’s (and his own) value of kindness. Thank you, Harry! Your legacy to the Baldrige Program is not limited to brilliant ideas; your kind leadership has brought out the best in many people behind the program for years. Serious work, with a side of laughter: As depicted in a birthday card, the Baldrige staff doesn’t take itself too seriously. And Harry doesn’t mind humor at his expense either.

Posted by Harry Hertz, the Baldrige Cheermudgeon This is a two-part blog, each about just one day. Part A Just one day…. after four weeks of examiner training ended for 2013 it happened. I had a customer service experience that would have made a great story for the customer service tales I usually recount at our Wednesday evening sessions. My wife and I frequently buy our poultry at a butcher that has fresh chicken and turkey products, naturally fed, etc. We went this past Saturday and made a purchase for $29.22. We gave the service person our credit card and wondered when she called the owner over to the credit card machine. He subsequently came over to us and apologized profusely that the "2 key" sticks on their machine and we had inadvertently been charged $22,292.22. The service person had not checked until the charge was accepted and the receipt printed. They immediately entered a credit for the same amount, but they thought we may want to call the credit card company while in the store, in case there were any questions they had to answer. One might first wonder why the charge was even accepted by the bank. People don’t generally spend $22,000 at the butcher; it certainly was an unusually high single purchase for us; and, as we later found out, put us over our credit limit. Nevertheless, when we called, after five minutes on hold, the first thing I was asked was why did I agree to the purchase. I countered that they have questioned less unusual purchases in the past before approving them and that I had never agreed to the purchase, that this all happened before the merchant ever told me about the error. I was informed by the bank that the purchase appears immediately, but that credits take two days to process and therefore I was being billed an "over limit" charge. After much complaining, I was transferred to the security department and then a supervisor in that department. The butcher got to talk to all of them as well. After an hour (including when they inadvertently disconnected us, so we had to start over) I believe all is finally resolved and we will supposedly not receive any over limit charge. I don’t have room here to tell all the gory details, but you would certainly be amused at our banking system foibles. The good news is that I now have the cell number (in case of any issues) of my new best friend, the butcher, and he was so embarrassed and concerned that the meat was given to us as a gift! Part B Just one day… a few days from now, I will sign the final papers and be retired after 40 years at NIST and 21 years with Baldrige. Just one day, like any other. But what a day of change…not a good-bye, just a change. After a mandatory (government rules) month away, pending government approval, I plan on returning to NIST on an intermittent appointment in the NIST Director’s office. In addition I would have the opportunity, as Director Emeritus, to help the new Baldrige Program Director in a support role. I also look forward to having the privilege of continuing to interact with all my friends and colleagues in the Baldrige community. In the interim, and after returning, I will spend more time with grandchildren and family, hopefully do some teaching, and relax a little more. The past 21 years have been a true delight and privilege. The privilege to work with and represent all of you is more than I could have ever dreamed. I am thankful for the most warm and supportive colleagues in the Baldrige staff. I have been amazed by the dedication and outpouring of love from the Baldrige volunteers and Award recipients. And I have been doubly blessed by a loving wife and family who have been  there for me at every turn. So, just for a day….I say good-bye, recognizing that saying good-bye is necessary before you can say hello again. And meeting again whether in a month or a year, is a certainty for friends. Bless you all!

Posted by Bob Fangmeyer It is obvious to most folks in the Baldrige community that the next director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program has a tough act to follow! Harry Hertz’s leadership ensured our program’s sustainability during his long tenure and, in particular, during the initially uncertain transition to a new business model in recent years. With Harry’s retirement this week, our staff has been feeling both appreciative of and inspired by the legacy he has left us. Since I am serving as acting director of the Baldrige Program until Harry’s successor is named later this month, I am taking this opportunity to briefly introduce myself to those who may not know me and reassure you that the Program is still going strong. Our fantastic team will continue to provide the service you have come to expect, and continue to implement our business plan as we transition to new leadership. With the completion of examiner training last month, we have over 400 examiners prepared to support program needs, including the annual Baldrige Award process, the new Baldrige Collaborative Assessments, and/or the development of the next Baldrige case study. In addition, the Baldrige Program will continue to offer the 2013-2014 Criteria for Performance Excellence booklets and online publications and tools to help organizations in every sector improve their performance. Now in its third year, the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program will continue to provide senior executives the opportunity to share best practices and problem-solving solutions applicable to their organizations developed in face-to-face meetings at award recipient sites and with other CEOs and executives. And we hope you’ll continue to visit this blog and our home page (at www.nist.gov/baldrige) to keep current with program news—as well as offering comments here and participating in the various LinkedIn discussion groups for the Baldrige community to share examples of and insights on performance excellence. We all look forward to the imminent announcement of the next director of the Baldrige Program. Until then, we continue our improvement journey and expect to serve you all better as we grow and learn together with the entire Baldrige Enterprise.

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey Times U.S. recently ran a story "A Better Return On Investment" about Georgia’s Fort Stewart Army post’s Baldrige journey. Baldrige staff and stakeholders that I’ve heard from have varying opinions of whether the article has a negative or neutral spin. Regardless, in my opinion, what we need to continue to do is educate organizations on the return on investment inherent in Baldrige-the value proposition, if you will. And to borrow something I heard a Baldrige stakeholder say, "Government is spending money to save money-that sounds paradoxical." I contend that the military is saving money investing in Baldrige. Here’s the letter that we wrote to the editor: Thank you for your recognition of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and its value to military and other organizations. We’d like to share with your readers the heavy return on investment experienced by military and veterans’ affairs organizations that invest in the resources of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, including the Baldrige Award, in which each applicant receives an evaluation by up to 18 trained Baldrige examiners whose expertise spans the entire U.S. economy. Let me offer a shining example from within the military ranks. Through investment in the Baldrige Criteria and feedback gained through its application for the Baldrige Award, 2007 Baldrige Award recipient Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC): Increased overall revenue from $640 million in fiscal year (FY) 2001 to over $1 billion in FY2007, with an overall cost avoidance of $3.22 billion from 2001 to 2007. Furthermore, in the same period, ARDEC saw revenue from non-Army customers grow from $60 million to $140 million; Achieved overall improvements in quality (91 percent), cost reduction (70 percent), schedule (67 percent), and risk management (84 percent), with an overall cost avoidance of $3.22 billion since 2001; and Increased overall customer satisfaction ratings from 3.48 (on a 4-point scale) in FY2000 to 3.75 in FY2007, exceeding both government and industry benchmarks. Education and award programs based on Baldrige at all levels of the military also have reported significant returns on investment. These include the Army Communities of Excellence Program for all Army National Guard organizations and the Secretary’s Robert W. Carey Performance Excellence Awards for all U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) agencies. In fact, Carey Award-recipient hospitals have consistently outperformed other VA and non-VA hospitals. We invite you to contact us to follow up on ARDEC’s success, as well as the success of the Army, National Guard, VA, and other organizations across all sectors of the U.S. economy, including two city governments, on the savings achieved through investing in Baldrige. Said Dr. Joseph A. Lannon, ARDEC’s director, " [The men and women of ARDEC] have earned distinction for our organization, the new high-technology Army, and the Department of Defense by embracing the Baldrige Criteria. . . . We [adopted the Baldrige Criteria] in order to become the best organization we can possibly be and provide the best products and support we can to the U.S. Warfighter." What examples would you share on whether Baldrige is worth the investment?

Posted by Christine Schaefer This year’s "100 Most Influential People in Healthcare" nominees list draws from the senior leadership ranks of several Baldrige Award-winning organizations. Among the 300 nominees named in Modern Healthcare’s 12th annual competition are six leaders in organizations that have received Baldrige Awards in recent years. These are (in alphabetical order) Susan DeVore of Premier Inc., a 2006 Baldrige Award recipient in the service category; Mike Murphy of Sharp HealthCare, a 2007 recipient; Nancy Schlichting of Henry Ford Health System, a 2011 recipient; Quint Studer of the Studer Group, a 2010 recipient in the small business category; Rulon Stacey, who presided over Poudre Valley Health System when it won a Baldrige Award in 2008 and currently leads University of Colorado Health (of which Poudre Valley Health System is now a part); and William Thompson of SSM Health Care, the first Baldrige Award winner in the health care sector—in 2002. Stacey is also the chair of the Baldrige Program’s Board of Overseers. In addition, the "100 Most Influential" nominees include participants in the Baldrige Executive Fellows program: Deborah Bowen of the American College of Healthcare Executives and Peter Pronovost of Johns Hopkins Medicine and Johns Hopkins Hospital. Also named among nominees is former Baldrige Overseer Thomas Dolan, president emeritus of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Besides leaders of government, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations that oversee, study, provide, or otherwise support health care in the United States, the list names several political leaders on Capitol Hill who are in positions of great influence relative to health care legislation and policy. U.S. President Barack Obama and Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates are also named among nominees. Online voting for the finalists is open to all and will continue through June 14. The "100 Most Influential" final rankings will be published in the August 26 issue of Modern Healthcare and online at ModernHealthcare.com. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Posted by Jacqueline Calhoun As the season of commencements come to an end, many commencement speeches have been given across the nation at every academic level. These speeches thank and honor students for their many achievements and inspire and encourage them to use what they have learned to take it to the next level. For college graduates, they may hear that this is only the beginning of a life-long journey as responsible and productive citizens of our great nation.  Words of wisdom are imparted by many distinguished keynote speakers, examples including, (1) Oprah Winfrey, Harvard, 30 May 2013: "There is no such thing as failure"; (2) Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly, Bard College, 25 May 2013: "Starting tomorrow you can change the world"; and (3) President Obama, United States Naval Academy, 24 May 2013: "We need you to uphold the highest standards of integrity and character." Sometime after these momentous occasions, some students will trade one school for another—elementary school to middle school, middle school to high school, high school to college, and college at the undergraduate level to graduate school.  Others will make their way into the workforce. Of course, many students are already in the workforce, and they aspire to enhance their current knowledge and skills.  No matter what academic level, students who are a part of this graduation season should be commended.  It is all about progressing and improving in your personal journey toward excellence. Just like the graduates, organizations that apply the Baldrige Criteria to the way they run their businesses are taking their organizational performance to the next level, resulting in better financial results; satisfied, loyal customers; improved products and services; and an engaged workforce. In addition, applying the Baldrige Criteria has helped organizations align their improvement efforts and resources, achieving better coordination and consistency among plans, processes, information, resource decisions, actions, results, analysis, and learning. Good examples of this are demonstrated by our Baldrige Award recipients, who openly share their improvement strategies and best practices that have allowed them to make continuous progression to organizations that are role models for excellence.  Recently, the four 2012 Award recipient organizations were recognized during the 25th Quest for Excellence Conference… much like the outstanding classes of graduating students. Does your organization want to take things up a notch? Now is the time to learn—with the help of the Baldrige Criteria, Baldrige examiners, Baldrige Award recipients, and Baldrige-based state, local, and regional programs—what it takes to create a sustainable business model and enable your organization to be more successful than you ever imagined. Who knows? Maybe we will soon be celebrating the success of your organization.

by Jamie Ambrosi With summer and family vacations coming up, I feel compelled to publicly reveal a vacation-related personality quirk of mine (one of many, to be completely honest) and then to invite you to play a fun, though slightly geeky, game that will reveal this quirk in action. Are you ready to play? First, the revelation: my name is Jamie, and I am a management geek. Sure, I might have realized this by my choice of masters’ degree or by casually observing my annual holiday wish list, which is littered with the latest leadership and management books. But the realization first hit me on a family vacation many summers ago. We were driving to Acadia National Park in Maine (one of our favorite places)—my wife driving, me in the passenger seat next to her, my three kids in the back. At my feet was my wife’s reading choice, the latest Michael Crichton book (isn’t she awesome?); in the back seats were our kids awash in iPods, DVDs, and all things electronic (who needs books anyway, especially on summer vacation, Dad? … Come on, really?). And then there’s me: head down … completely and utterly captivated by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman’s classic First Break All the Rules—simple, yet profound findings based on rock-solid Gallup research (more than 80,000 interviews) … rich insights, great stuff … but on vacation? Houston, we have a problem! I would like to say this was a one-off event, but it is actually a summertime ritual for me. Summer vacation means body surfing waves with my kids, hiking mountains with my family, and catching up on management books that have been in the "to read" pile for several months. This includes new releases as well as rereading a few classics, to rediscover the timeless insights. This brings us to the matching game (you were wondering when the game was coming? Sorry the revelation took so long, but I feel better now—thanks for listening). On my drive into the office today, with my windows down and music blaring and with summer and great management books on my mind, I started playing a game: the Criteria-Great Management Book matching game. The game is simple:  identify a book (or books) for each Criteria item. Here’s my list (some of which will be on my reading list this summer): Item 1.1, Senior Leadership:  The Extraordinary Leader, by John Zenger and Joseph Folkman Item 1.2, Governance and Societal Responsibilities:  The Triple Bottom Line, by Andrew Savitz (with Karl Weber); anything by Thomas J. Holland Item 2.1, Strategy Development: Competitive Advantage and Competitive Strategy, both by Michael Porter; Competing for the Future, by C. K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel (this book makes core competencies simple and relevant) Item 2.2, Strategy Implementation: Strategy Maps, by Robert Kaplan and David Norton Category 2 (overall): The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, by Henry Mintzberg Item 3.1, Voice of the Customer: The Ultimate Question, by Fred Reichheld, with Rob Markley (on understanding the meaning and importance of the Net Promoter Score);  Marketing Research, by A. Parasuraman, Dhruv Grewal, and R. Krishnan (not exactly a beach read, but it details the often-overlooked and critical analytical side of marketing; without it, you are throwing darts in the dark) Item 3.2, Customer Engagement: Positioning, by Jack Trout and Al Reis; The Customer Revolution, by Patricia Seybold; and The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson Item 4.1, Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance:  The Balanced Scorecard, by Robert Kaplan and David Norton Item 4.2, Knowledge Management, Information, and Information Technology:  The Fifth Discipline, by Peter Senge (some might first put this in item 5.2, but I personally believe it fits squarely with Criteria requirements on knowledge management and organizational learning) Item 5.1, Workforce Environment: I just realized that I have a learning gap: I have not read (or at least cannot cite) a great book on workforce capability and capacity planning overall and the related recruiting, hiring, training, and retention of the workforce. Please help me here, and I’ll add it to my summer reading list (seriously). For now, I propose Leading Change by John Kotter (or anything by Kotter) to cover workforce change management. Item 5.2, Workforce Engagement: First Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman ( a great car read, really—your wife and kids will love it too as you cite unsolicited facts and insights to them). Actually, all of the Gallup research-based books are worth the read, and they provide the research basis for the widely used Q-12 employee engagement survey. Item 6.1, Work Processes:  Anything by W. Edwards Demming and Joseph Juran (particularly Juran’s Quality Handbook). To be fair, I acknowledge that Deming’s and Juran’s writings go far beyond category 6, but I put them here because of their profound influence on operations. Also, I must give a nod to Walter Shewhart here, upon whose work Deming (and the statistical quality movement) stand. No books for Shewhart though … just a nod of appreciation. Item 6.2, Operational Effectiveness:  A New American TQM, by Shoji Shiba, Alan Graham, and David Walden—or again anything by Deming or Juran! Category 7, Results (all items together):  The Balanced Scorecard, by Robert Kaplan and David Norton (alright, so I listed this twice … am I cheating or just trying to show a connection?) Criteria Overall:  I couldn’t put this list together and not include a Jim Collins or Peter Drucker book, so let me suggest Good to Great by Collins and Peter Drucker’s The Profession of Management. However, as with several of the other great management thinkers listed here, you could pull any of their books off the shelf and be amazed by their insights. So, that’s my list; what books would you offer up for the different Criteria items? Let me know, and I will tip my hand on what I plan to read this summer. And then you can tip yours. Cheers and happy knowledge sharing!

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey Note: Although this blog doesn’t really have anything to do with the Fourth of July holiday, the burger image made us think of cookouts and barbeques. So we wanted to take a quick moment to wish you all a very happy Fourth of July! Picture in your mind the classic Texas burger-juicy, mouth-watering, topped with the perfect fixings (apologies to vegetarians). Now assume that your key products are hamburgers, and that a picture of the perfect burger is used consistently in your social media activities. It’s simple. It’s attractive to us carnivores. It allows for customers to contribute (they can post real photos; no need to enlist a professional studio). It’s an opportunity to show your product in a great light. And suddenly you have a social media theme-an image and its description. You also have us bloggers and others hungry and looking for the nearest Mighty Fine restaurant. In a Quest for Excellence© presentation, K&N Management Owner Ken Schiller said, "What’s interesting to me [in regards to social media] is how interested our customers are with engaging with the brand." K&N Management, a 2010 Baldrige Award recipient, is the licensed Austin,Texas-area developer for Rudy’s "Country Store" & Bar-B-Q and the creator of Mighty Fine Burgers, Fries and Shakes, two fast-casual restaurant concepts. Schiller said as an owner, he doesn’t personally have a lot of time for social media, but "it doesn’t mean it’s not important to me because it’s important to our customers. The menu is not designed around my personal preferences, it’s designed around what our customers desire. . . . Social media is no different. The bottom-line where the rubber meets the road for me and also for you is that it can impact our results and our profitability." K&N Human Resources and Brand Director Allyson Young explained the top reasons that organizations should build social media strategies: People do business on the road; Web sites are being more aligned with mobile applications. 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years old. If you are under 30, you grew up on the Internet, texting and using mobile devices. Each minute, 2 million queries are searched on Google. 25% of Facebook users access their pages 5 times or more each day. 175 million messages are tweeted each day. 50% of subscribers use Twitter to recommend products. 80% of social media users connect to their preferred brands on Facebook. Social media gives a consumer instant access to products and brands. K&N uses social media for three purposes: create brand interest, listen, and build relationships. Young said in creation of interest it’s important to align messages across all channels, so, for example, the same message is on Twitter and Facebook, and the same photo is used to promote a product. The 2013-2014 Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence have a focus on mastering social media to (1) reach customers and potential customers, (2) connect employees with each other and organizational leaders, (3) coordinate with suppliers and partners, and (4) gather data and perform research. So how does an organization get started with a social media strategy? Young outlined the basic steps: build a social media team, benchmark, develop internal and external messaging, decide how you will measure/monitor social media activities, identify your audience (e.g., the majority of Pinterest users are female), have a human voice, and know your platform. Some other tips from Young: Know how often to post. People don’t want you to clog up their inbox or Facebook page. Post something relevant about every other day. Anything more becomes a distraction/annoyance. Measure your reach; consider tools like HootSuite and Sprout Social. Create a process for promotions. For example, K&N gave away T-shirts to customers who provided feedback. Make sure everyone who needs to know is prepared to answer questions-and this includes the people on the frontline. The best time to post is 8 am. Train your employees on the appropriate use of social media when talking to guests, and monitor what customers are saying. Be polite. Send a thank you privately for each great review. Respond publicly to negative reviews; however, know when to respond, too. If a posting is incorrect, ask the poster to consider removing it, but consider that it may do more harm than good to respond if a person is angry and just looking for an audience, or if you are angry. Have a good social media policy in place that clearly outlines what can and can’t be shared. Social media also can be used for great benefits within an organization. Young suggests using it to engage with, communicate with, recognize, and recruit/promote employees. It also can be used to share best practices, brag about team members, introduce new team members, and share great reviews (e.g., "because-of-me stories"). At K&N, Young said a university marketing student helps the organization stay current with social media tools. Young and Schiller, who offer a learning session entitled "Cooking Up Excellence Using Baldrige Ingredients," ended with this advice: "Have fun but use good judgment. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want to show your mom." How does your organization’s social media strategy measure up? And can your organization be depicted in one clear image?

Posted by Christine Schaefer Who wants to know about how former Baldrige Award winners are continuing to blaze trails as exemplars of excellence? We do! In fact, a co-worker of mine in the Baldrige Program once suggested a Blogrige series under the name "Where BAR They Now?" (note: BAR = Baldrige Award Recipients). Perhaps this news is a good place to start: 2007 Baldrige Award-winning Sharp HealthCare recently earned recognition in the information technology field that honors its workforce focus. In the June 17 issue of Computerworld, the San Diego-based health care provider ranks sixth overall in the publication’s 2013 list of "100 Best Places to Work in IT," and it ranks third for diversity. "This group of hospitals and healthcare facilities in the San Diego area puts an emphasis on listening to employees, treating them well, and recognizing and rewarding their achievements," states the article. As the list details, the turnover rate among all of the organization’s IT employees in 2012 was 4 percent, and the employee promotion rate was 11 percent. What makes the 15,545-employee organization stand out for excellence in workforce diversity in the recent Computerworld rankings? Of the 426 information technology (IT) workers in Sharp HealthCare’s U.S. facilities, 39 percent were minorities in 2012. The proportion of IT managers of minority backgrounds was at 26 percent, with nonmanagerial IT staff members of minority backgrounds at 41 percent. When Sharp HealthCare received the Baldrige Award, we highlighted its outstanding practices and results in relation to category 5 of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. As described in the 2007 profile (PDF) on our Web site, "Sharp’s dedicated investment in its staff—in time, effort, and financial support—has paid off in a highly satisfied and productive workforce. Employee satisfaction rates best in class by national standards, and the organization’s annual turnover rate consistently outperforms the state benchmark—a significant achievement considering the intense competition for qualified staff in an undersupplied market." The Baldrige Award recipient profile also notes that more than 1,000 employees had voluntarily participated in action teams launched six years earlier. Those action teams reflected the organization’s charge to engage employees as "architects of change." The recent Computerworld article similarly notes the collaborative improvement efforts by Sharp HealthCare’s Employee Action Committee, as exemplified by "the installation of projectors and PCs in conference rooms to minimize delays caused by equipment setup and teardown for meetings." Kudos to Sharp HealthCare’s leadership and every workforce member for continuing to make your organization a great place to work!

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey Not too long ago, I did some research into the publicly available award application summaries of Baldrige Award recipients in the health care category on how they built community health (that’s item 1.2c in the Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence). The research is inspiring. These health care organizations are able to provide role-model services and operations and care for their communities, too. Here are just some examples: 2009 Baldrige Award winner AtlantiCare partners with schools, businesses, and other stakeholders to counter drug use, gangs, and other harmful activities, and its Center for Community Health partners with schools, businesses, and other stakeholders to improve overall community well-being and to promote children’s nutrition and fitness. Examples include immunization of school-aged children, two federally designated Weed and Seed programs, gun buy-back programs, seminars, mobile health programs and services, screenings, and a program designed to address childhood obesity managed through the local school systems. As one of two safety net hospitals in its region, AtlantiCare’s medical center annually provides about 90 percent of the free medical care to people in need. Further, at the time it received the Baldrige Award, AtlantiCare provided nonhospital charity care through three Mission Healthcare facilities, with growth in patient visits from 8,277 in 2004 to 26,032 in 2008.   2007 Baldrige Award winner Mercy Health System founded the House of Mercy Homeless Center to help the growing number of emergency room patients who had been listing the family car as their primary address. The only shelter of its kind operated by a health system, the House of Mercy can shelter up to 25 women and children for 30 days at a time. Since its inception (through 2007), the center has provided shelter for more than 3,800 individuals, including 1,900 children. Further, at the time it received the Baldrige Award, Mercy annually provided more than $32 million in uncompensated care and free services to local communities; it also sponsors health screenings, community education classes, and other activities designed to meet community needs.   2011 Baldrige Award winner Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) supports and strengthens underserved communities through (1) its School-Based and Community Health Program, which takes primary and preventive care to Detroit classrooms; (2) the Institute on Multicultural Health, which provides research on health and health care ethnic and racial disparities, coordination of the Healthcare Equity Campaign, and community-based health screenings and education; (3) a partnership with the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority to facilitate care coordination and enhance efficiencies; and (4) SandCastles, which offers open-ended grief support for children and families suffering the loss of a loved one. In addition, HFHS supports more than 150 organizations that contribute to the overall health and wellness of its community, including YMCA’s school-based "Early Bird Fun and Fitness" program to provide Detroit Public School students with opportunities for physical exercise after the school system cut such programming. These are truly inspirational examples of how to build community health. What examples have you seen? Also, how might you use Baldrige application summaries to search for role-model practices in other areas?

Posted by Christine Schaefer Photo by Pat Hilton Anyone who is new to Baldrige—and takes a look inside a Criteria for Performance Excellence booklet for the first time—can see right away that there is a lot to learn! But Baldrige performance improvement practitioners around the world tell beginners that it will be worth the benefits to your organization’s performance to learn more. Here are seven ways to get started: 1. Scan the questions in the Organizational Profile (available online as a free download from our Web site and on page 4 in the 2013-2014 Criteria for Performance Excellence booklet), and see if you can answer them. Discussing the answers to these questions might be your first Baldrige self-assessment. 2. Study the 11 Criteria core values and concepts: visionary leadership, customer-driven excellence, organizational and personal learning, valuing workforce members and partners, agility, focus on the future, managing for innovation, management by fact, societal responsibility, focus on results and creating value, and systems perspective. (See page 37 in the 2013-2014 Criteria for Performance Excellence booklet for detailed descriptions). These beliefs and behaviors are embedded in the Baldrige Criteria and found in high-performing organizations. Consider how your organization measures up in relation to the core values. Are there any improvements you should be making? 3. Answer the questions in the titles of the 17 Criteria items to reach a basic understanding of the Criteria and your organization’s performance. 4. Look at the Criteria category titles, item titles, and area-to-address headings to see a simple outline of a holistic performance management system. See if you are considering all of these dimensions in establishing your leadership system and measuring performance. If you need more explanation, read the questions that follow the headings. 5. Use the Criteria and their supporting material as a general resource on organizational performance improvement. Use the content in this booklet and online as a source of ideas about improving your organization. The material may help you think in a different way or give you a fresh frame of reference. 6. Attend the Quest for Excellence® or a Baldrige regional conference. These events highlight the role-model approaches of Baldrige Award recipients, which have used the Criteria to improve performance, innovate, and achieve world-class results. Workshops on Baldrige self-assessment are often offered in conjunction with these conferences. 7. Consider becoming a Baldrige examiner. Examiners receive valuable training and gain experience in understanding and applying the Criteria that they can use within their own organizations. See the Alliance for Performance Excellence for contact information for your state, local, or sector-specific program and "Become an Examiner" for information on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners. Related blog posts to come: "Baldrige Self-Assessment: Seven Ways to Get Started" and "Baldrige Self-Assessment: Seven Steps for a Full Examination"

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey "Good people make us great; we cannot afford not to make that investment," said Jami Lummus, human resources manager at MESA, a 2012 Baldrige Award recipient. The small business, which designs, manufactures, and installs cathodic protection systems that control the corrosion of metal surfaces in underground and submerged structures,  considers being a great place to work a core competency-a strategically important capability that is central to fulfilling its mission and providing an advantage in the marketplace. So how does it find and invest in those good people and ensure that its workplace is one where people want to stay? Here are some ideas that I gleaned from MESA . (1) Recruit the right people. MESA is looking for people who are capable of learning and improving. "We want people who can see the possibilities and the problems. No whiners," said Lummus. "We want our environment to be happy and fun-a happy place to spend their time. We are looking for someone who comes to work with a smile and is ready to take on whatever comes." (2) Show employees how special they are to the company’s success. For all employees, MESA contributes 25% of pretaxed profits to a profit-sharing plan that is distributed once a year. In addition, an annual salary review for each position ensures that MESA is offering competitive salary and benefits. Each new employee, regardless of position, comes to MESA’s Tulsa, Oklahoma, headquarters for his/her initial orientation, going door-to-door to meet teammates. "We want people to know how excited we are to have them," said Lummus. As part of the orientation, new employees also meet with the organization’s president and the leadership team to learn about different areas of the business. Follow-up is done after 90 days and again after six months. "Orientation is not a one-day event," said Lummus, "but an ongoing process that needs facilitation." (3) Work as a team. It’s "one for all, all for one" at the small business, said Lummus, and the MESA team has a name: One MESA. Lummus added that the organization knows clearly that it is "not looking for lone rangers who want to take all the credit and make all the decisions. We want team players who want to come together and win as a team." The One MESA culture is defined with the words "honest, intelligent, positive attitude, appreciate team environments." (4) Encourage and guarantee learning and growth. The leadership team gives each employee a performance development plan that is continually revisited and revised as necessary, with established career paths so that everybody knows the next step on their path. This development plan also serves as a framework for training. All of MESA’s training links back to the corporate strategic plan and employees’ goals. Annually, $2,000 per employee is spent on training, and tuition is reimbursed at 100% if the training applies to the position, with the goal that MESA doesn’t just want to spend money on training but wants to develop employees’ capabilities, said Lummus. (5) Provide people with the right tools and training. CFO/COO Cary Hill said that some jobs within the pipeline industry are hard, in difficult conditions, with employees away from families for long lengths of time. "We do everything we can to provide people with the right tools and training, and integrate everyone into the One MESA culture as quickly as possible," he said. "Before we do anything, we make sure [the job] is safe," said Lummus. "This goes back to our people. We value them above all else." (6) Plan strategically. But sustaining a great place to work in an industry with hard conditions and retaining high performers are not always easy. "Our biggest challenge is people, quite simply," said Lummus. "We are pretty picky. We want someone who will be part of One MESA, who shares our beliefs and values." A shortage of talent and a  high turnover rate led MESA to develop a People Strategic Plan that covers sourcing, recruiting, and hiring; onboarding and indoctrination; strategic training; knowledge management; and talent management. In addition, succession planning is done for all leadership and key positions, and includes preparation for contingencies and cross training. "Our most effective resource for finding people is within our own walls," said Lummus. Some 20% of MESA’s employees are hired from within through mentoring and training. Employee referrals are solicited, and no nepotism policy exists. Lummus said recently MESA hired a set of brothers and the son of an employee. "A collection of families makes up the One MESA family," she added. Added Lummus, "I remember a time when people had one job and that’s where they retired. That idea of job security no longer exists in our environment. The idea of a stable job with no growth and no movement no longer exists, but at MESA we do everything possible to remove those fears [of job insecurity]. We treat people as if they were family, and at MESA they are. In 30 years, we have never laid off an employee." What type of environment have you created for your employees?

Using the language and implementing the core values of the Baldrige Criteria is a way of doing business for Robert Ellison from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, FL.  As Chief of the Technical Management Division, Safety & Mission Assurance Directorate, he has been using terms like integration, partnerships, stakeholders, and strategic planning both as a Baldrige Examiner and a NASA civil servant. NASA Kennedy Space Center with Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and mobile launcher in view Rob has been involved with quality and safety in multiple capacities at KSC.  He was a Baldrige Examiner for three years (1999-2001), challenged by then-Center Director Roy Bridges to go above and beyond ISO 9000 by becoming a Baldrige Examiner.  Three and one half years ago Rob became a Division Chief of the Integration Division, Safety & Mission Assurance Directorate (S & MA) after serving as the KSC Quality Discipline lead for four years. Rob reports to Russell Romanella (S & MA Director) who reports to Robert Cabana, KSC Director. According to Russell, Rob has significantly helped influence the leadership and strategic structure that is in place today. It turns out that both Baldrige and NASA / KSC have experienced several major changes since FY 2011.  First, there was a huge drop in funding level.  Second, a decrease in workforce and staffing levels.  Third, there is an ongoing need for shifts in business strategic planning.  Fourth, tasks that were government-only have changed to partial, if not complete, cost recovery. Fifth, use of the Baldrige Criteria concepts to drive success despite the first four. Leadership: Vision, Values and Mission While I was at the 2013 CQSDI Conference, S & MA Director Russell Romanella talked about the changes in NASA; "A new way of doing business for a new generation of explorers". This "new way of doing business" sounded familiar to me with the recent changes in Baldrige, so I thought I would explore this topic more thoroughly by interviewing Rob who is another annual CQSDI attendee. Rob sees this "new way of doing business" at his level as a partnering with commercial companies to enable commercial space exploration and help maintain Center infrastructure. NASA leadership wants to get out of the business of low-Earth orbit and explore the farther reaches of solar system via Rover-type vehicles and satellites around Mars and Pluto and eventually human exploration. The President has challenged NASA to visit an asteroid past Mars or capture a small asteroid and put it in a cislunar (space between the earth and the moon) orbit and send a crew to visit it within the next 10 years and KSC will be a key part of these efforts. Mars Science Lab launch with Curiosity Rover ; November 26, 2011 Strategic Planning: Strategy Considerations Kennedy Space Center is a part of the "Similar—Smaller Agency" NASA strategy.   What are the program changes that are driving strategic planning and action plan deployment? Perhaps the most dramatic change to a program for KSC was ending of the Shuttle missions.  As Rob explains, now the challenge is to find new purposes for entities and take advantage of one of their organizational environment assets to enable commercial space enterprises.  For example, the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC is no longer needed by KSC but offers unique features such as an extra-wide runway and extra length, and its location at Cape Canaveral does not interfere with major air traffic.  So through a Request For Proposal (RFP), KSC selected Space Florida in a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the Shuttle Landing Facility.  This agreement will continue to expand Kennedy’s viability as a multi-user spaceport and strengthen the economic opportunities for Florida and the nation. Another challenge is the major funding uncertainty.  NASA’s budget is decided by Congress every fiscal year.  How do you plan and manage major projects in that dynamic environment?  Rob answers that this is a part of the space business and projects must have a base level of support or the program will be cancelled.  KSC always has to build in contingencies and alternatives based on the different levels of funding that may occur, and any project is subject to cancellation.  He stated as an example that the James Webb Space Telescope was almost cancelled a year ago, but the Maryland Congressional delegation interceded because it is being built at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD and Congress desires to continue astronomical science after the Hubble Telescope. Is there a challenge of other sites that are in the launch business?  Do you plan to compete for launches (such as Wallops, Vandenberg, Kazakhstan)? It goes back to knowing your mission. Rob reports that we are developing our own capability to launch our US crews to the International Space Station vs. using and paying for Russian launch vehicles but we don’t see it as a competition. Science and research are NASA’s mission not launches of commercial satellites, but KSC does help US commercial companies compete in the world market. Workforce Environment The ending of the Shuttle Program has had major impacts not only at Kennedy Space Center but also in the Brevard County, Florida area. Unemployment has approached 18%; restaurants and schools have closed and many people have left to pursue job opportunities.  However, he said that NASA "had done a phenomenal job to handle it ".  With a 3-year notice it was going to happen the fear was that too many people would begin to leave, and there would be insufficient support for the final Shuttle missions.  The problem was recognized by Congress and financial incentives were provided so that aerospace workers would stay with the United Space Alliance (contractor for Shuttle Support).  In Rob’s words, NASA KSC "not only were able to retain critical skills to the end of the Program but we also really helped and promoted their workforce" by bringing in companies and sponsoring job fairs for "this amazing workforce." Workers in front of Shuttle Endeavor before being placed on 747 to Los Angeles; September 14, 2012 Safety for KSC personnel is integrated into design considerations from the beginning.  It has to be, as Rob reports.  With 10 NASA centers; (Ames Research Center, Dryden Flight Research Center, Glenn Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Langley Research Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Stennis Space Center), payloads can come from many sources such as deep space probes from Goddard Space Flight Center and JPL.  By partnering with other NASA centers, KSC can learn the specifications (fuel type, for example) and can therefore ensure that any vehicle being sent to launch from their facility is safe for KSC employees to handle and prepare. GOES-P for NOAA launching on a Delta IV from KSC; March 4, 2010 Customer-Focused Results: Customer Engagement Rob sees that NASA’s customers are the American taxpayer and Congress.  Rob reports that outreach and Congressional reporting are the function of NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC; nevertheless KSC can claim its share of customer engagement with the recent retirement of the shuttles and each one traveling to its permanent home causing major sensations in the public and the media.  Photos of the shuttles passing by major landmarks (the Capitol, the Statue of Liberty) and videos of Endeavour’s travel through Los Angeles generated half a million views on YouTube alone. Thanks to Robert Ellison for his service as a Baldrige Examiner and for taking the time to answer questions for this interview. NASA Kennedy Space Center’s focus on the future, agility, and visionary leadership take advantage of its unique capabilities to continue its mission for many generations to come. Children waving flags as Shuttle Atlantis passes by on trip to KSC exhibit; November 2, 2012 Perhaps you are not in the rocket launch business, but have you used your Baldrige experience to manage major change in your organization?

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey The community is where we live, where we work, where we shop, where our kids go to school, where we seek health care, where we volunteer for or receive services from nonprofits. Who wouldn’t want community organizations to strive for excellence, even for general improvement? In Missouri, three communities are doing just that. They are learning together, in community-based groups, how to improve processes and customer service; increase innovation; and simply take their companies, hospitals, and schools to the next level of improvement. The foundation for the learning: the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. A few weeks ago, just under 100 people gathered for an inaugural event in Kansas City-the founding of a Missouri Baldrige Community of Excellence group to focus on how to improve community organizations through use of the Baldrige Criteria. But this community-based sharing for improvement was not the first of its kind in the state. According to Dr. Raina Knox, president of the Excellence in Missouri Foundation, the Kansas City group is building off the success of groups in Columbia and the Lake of the Ozarks, MO. So what’s in it for the community? What can the Baldrige Criteria and their associated tools and products do for community members? "Adopting Baldrige principles has helped our health system improve processes and customer service, build teams, and increase innovation. It just makes sense to encourage other area employers, including area school districts, to join us in this effort," said Mike Henze, chief executive officer of Lake Regional Health System. "Together, we are building a stronger community through the Baldrige Community of Excellence." Lake Regional Hospital is the founding member of the Community of Excellence group at the Lake of the Ozarks. The Community of Excellence concept in the state was formed in 2010 when the Excellence in Missouri Foundation issued the first charter for a community-based group to the Columbia chapter. The founding member for the first chapter was Midway USA, a 2009 Baldrige Award recipient. The concept, said Knox, is to form geographically related groups in a chapter format for the purpose of supporting Baldrige efforts and providing education and networking opportunities for organizations in all stages of their Baldrige journey. Membership to the chapter is provided via membership in the Excellence in Missouri Foundation. The groups meet monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly based on the needs of the chapter members. The foundation provides speakers on a quarterly basis; the chapters fill in with other events or speakers if they wish to meet more often than quarterly. A future planned enhancement to the program will be to form sector-based groups to address the unique needs of each sector. The purpose of the community-based groups is to provide an opportunity for organizations interested in Baldrige to meet with others with similar interests and to provide a community group with learning as a key component. The intended outcomes include increased adoption of the Baldrige Criteria and increased numbers of organizations applying at the state and national levels. The feedback received from these applications will allow the organizations to continue to improve their performance. Gary Rettman, president of Webco Manufacturing, Inc., the founding member of the Kansas City group, said, "Webco Manufacturing is beginning our Baldrige journey because we are ready to take our company to the next level. We selected Baldrige because it is the next step above ISO 9000 certification and encompasses more than product quality. It is organization-wide excellence. As we strive to be the best medium-sized company in America, we have selected Baldrige as the map for our journey. The national award is a great achievement for any organization, but our primary reason is to improve our company." Knox added, "We’ve seen a significant increase in and awareness of Baldrige through the formation of the Baldrige Community of Excellence Groups. Members have the opportunity to attend the meetings of their home group and to attend the meetings of other groups. The success of the Columbia, MO, chapter has served as a great example of the success of community-based events. I encourage anyone interested in the concept of forming a chapter in their community to call us. We can help those in our service areas, or can provide information and refer them to our peer state programs for assistance." Think your community’s organizations could benefit from Baldrige-based improvement?Knox said the Excellence in Missouri Foundation invites anyone interested to attend meetings in Columbia, Lake of the Ozarks, or Kansas City, MO. They also can email her at raina.knox@excellenceinmo.org or call the foundation offices at 573-659-1234 for more information on setting up their own Community of Excellence in their own state. The national Baldrige Program also has a wealth of information on getting started with the Baldrige Criteria. Could your community’s organizations use some improvement?

Posted by Christine Schaefer "Remember, agility is one of our core values!" That’s how a co-worker wrapped up the news of our organization’s planned migration to a new software suite for e-mail and other communication systems. This is how some of us may have translated that message: "Turbulence ahead!" Sure enough, after the installation of the new computer programs, I hit a bump or two in navigating the different ways of communicating. But with the benefit of training resources and troubleshooting support, I soon made a successful migration. I suppose I would have been less comfortable learning to navigate the new systems if my view of the conversion wasn’t tempered by an appreciation of change as a constant in today’s organizations in every sector—and of employee flexibility as essential to high performance. Still, can any amount of emphasis on the value of agility—or any of the other ten Criteria core values—ever prepare employees to wholeheartedly, surefootedly embrace workplace changes that appear to be frontloaded with challenges? To be sure, I consider agility both a professional and a personal core value. It recently helped me survive until the end of my first 90-minute Bikram yoga class. "I’m building agility," I reminded myself, trying to pay scant attention to the indicators that I may have lost most of my body weight in sweat in the 105-degree room. "These people are agile," I mused, shaking the simultaneous observation that the rectangular mats hosting preternaturally stretched bodies around me were spaced in a grid precisely like graves. Still, my commitment to agility paid off: for after the point at which my pores became, in effect, broken water mains, my muscles stopped arguing against their limits and my bones ceased to press painfully into my organs. I had reached a new level of agility: I had melted into a puddle on my mat. And since the towel I brought was too small to absorb me, fortunately, I’m now reconstituted and more agile than ever. Such agility-testing experiences have led me to dream up some Dilbert-like scenarios in which the 11 performance-enhancing beliefs and behaviors that are foundational to the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence might be viewed in a new (unfavorable but humorous) light. Here are a few of those comical examples I consider safe enough to share publicly (you can test that assumption by coming back here to see if I’m ever allowed to blog again for the Baldrige Program): Criteria Core Value/Concept                           When to Invoke It Agility: When a manager expects that coming changes are going to rile the workforce Visionary leadership: When a CEO appears to have made a series of short-term blunders Customer-driven excellence: When a new policy is making employees’ jobs much harder (and at least one customer requested the change) Managing for innovation: When a supervisor needs to pry a process away from a change-resistant lead who has long ensured its inefficiency Management by fact: When the boss has solid data to support an unpopular decision I’ll save the other six Baldrige core values for anyone who wishes to continue in a similar light-hearted vein: organizational and personal learning, valuing workforce members and partners, focus on the future, societal responsibility, focus on results and creating value, and systems perspective. And to end this blog on a positive note—and one of the few completely serious things I’ve written so far—I remind you that these interrelated Baldrige core values are embedded in and demonstrated by high-performing organizations such as the Baldrige Award recipients. All kidding aside, these key concepts are, as described in the Criteria, "the foundation for integrating key performance and operational requirements within a results-oriented framework that creates a basis for action, feedback, and sustainability."

Posted by Dawn Marie Bailey What’s in a word? And I’m thinking of a particular word, of course, "Baldrige." If your organization has adopted the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and begun exploring their Core Values and items, do you say you do "Baldrige" or do you simply embed them in the way you do business? I learned that for the 2012 Baldrige Award recipients, the Baldrige Criteria and their concepts are embedded but not necessarily named outright. For example, at North Mississippi Health Services (NMHS), the Baldrige Criteria are weaved into the Physician Leadership Institute, which is designed to provide partner physicians with leadership training, personal development, and management/strategic planning skills, according to Mark Williams, NMHS’s chief medical officer. At every gathering of the institute physicians, the Baldrige Criteria are discussed through exploration of critical success factors to the physicians’ work. In addition, institute participants also discuss servant leadership, medical/legal issues, Lean, strategic planning, finance/operations, and other topics-all underpinned by the Baldrige Criteria, said Williams. The City of Irving utilizes a playbook outlining the values of the city, said Max Duplant, the city’s CFO; the playbook uses elements of the Baldrige Criteria, although the word "Baldrige" is not used. However, one city council member recently used the Baldrige Criteria to help explain to other council members where the city was trying to go in making operations more efficient and beneficial for city residents, said Duplant. In addition, city agendas are often focused on the seven different categories of the Criteria to reinforce the city’s continual improvement focus. The City of Irving also has been undergoing a cultural shift in order to be truly high performing, said Police Chief Larry Boyd. The distinctive characteristics of the desired culture can all be found in the Baldrige Criteria: daily practice of the leadership model and values; a focus on customers and the desire to serve them; a focus on the strategic plan, city’s mission, and results; a focus on creating value and improving work processes; and a team culture aligned with the strategic plan. Boyd said to achieve a shift in culture, the city had to overcome resistance. For staff resistance, the city’s leaders had to ensure transparency, open communication, and alignment, especially at the senior leader level. For resistance at the city council, it was important to present the facts; data-driven decisions; timely, transparent communications; and budget-aligned information and presentations. All of these elements, of course, are found in the Baldrige Criteria. At Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (LMMFC), the entire organization operates with scorecards and measurements, said Steve Sessions, LMMFC’s deputy and director, Supplier Quality Engineering. The scorecards represent a cultural shift that includes a focus on cultural optimization, an increase in business agility (including processes and resources), extensive efforts to mine new opportunities, and a focus on expanding and developing the talent base. MESA doesn’t use the term "Baldrige," said COO/CFO Cary Hill. "To do Baldrige implies something you do in addition to your business," he said. "That’s why we coined the term ‘the MESA Way,’ which is eerily similar to the Baldrige framework. We’ve spent decades weaving  Baldrige concepts into our business model." At NMHS and MESA, discussion of the Organizational Profile is incorporated into employee orientations and town hall meetings. How do you Baldrige?

Posted by Christine Schaefer As a young child, I spent most Sundays visiting my paternal grandmother in a declining inner-city neighborhood of Detroit. By then, the city had already seen large-scale losses of middle-class residents. Many had fled to suburbs that offered better public schools, more reliable services, and safer streets. Over the decade stretching into the 1980s, I watched my grandmother’s well-built bungalow become a virtual jail cell for her. Yet my grandmother met the continual erosion in city services (and correspondingly, in her quality of life) with a ferocious obstinacy. No matter what happened, she would not  abandon the city she had loved in better times—and the home that had witnessed her immigrant family’s years of striving to secure the American dream (through decades of steady earnings from a manufacturing job). So she stayed indoors nearly 24/7 throughout her seventh decade. Redundantly deadbolted doors alone protected her from the pervasive robberies in the area. As family members urged her to move during weekly visits, I became a sentinel in the barred window of the back porch, awaiting the regular backyard parades of ever-more-robust rats scampering to and from a nest down the block. Along their route, the ironically thriving rodents were seemingly cheered by unruly rose bushes—which my aunt had stopped pruning after she was robbed at gunpoint in the driveway. I sometimes wondered about symbols of lost life, such as a charred shoe decaying unburied near the burned-out house next door (which had been rendered uninhabitable by a suspicious fire years before). And I listened for sirens that might signal another movie-like spectacle like the dramatic chase my grandmother had watched. As the story went, an alleged drug dealer reached his home across the street moments before police to flush illegal commodities into the city’s sewer lines. My grandmother could describe the growing pathology of her neighborhood and the city at large with alarming details from her daily observations and reading of the news. But she had no solutions beyond prayer. She had seen enough evidence over several decades to doubt the city government would save any such street from a further descent into blight. Recalling these memories, I was saddened but not surprised by recent news of the impending bankruptcy of the once-prosperous city. I realize my experiences were limited, and that even now there are pockets of hope in the city, for example, in historic neighborhoods with thriving businesses. So I wonder what Detroit might be able to do to leverage strategic advantages it still possesses and make progress toward tackling its colossal challenges. In considering the latest news of Detroit, I have been thinking about the excellent budgetary and other results achieved by two other U.S. cities (Irving, Texas, a 2012 Baldrige Award winner; and Coral Springs, Florida, a 2007 Baldrige Award winner) that have used the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence to improve their performance and become national role models. The Criteria focused them on treating their city governments as businesses—forcing them to consider financial stewardship, strategic priorities, customer engagement, and all the other considerations that must be addressed to keep a business sustainable. While those cities are smaller than Detroit—and their current and past challenges are not necessarily similar—the Criteria for Performance Excellence have been used by organizations of wide-ranging sizes and sectors to improve performance and achieve sustainability. (For examples, see profiles of nonprofit, education, health care, and business organizations on our Web site here and case studies and results in our book Baldrige 20/20.) So I have dreamed recently of the great possibilities of a Baldrige-based transformation in Detroit. What if its leaders were to embark in earnest on a Baldrige journey of improvement? Perhaps the city could begin such a journey by considering how it could adopt and demonstrate the core values of the Baldrige framework for organization-wide performance: visionary leadership, customer-focused excellence, organizational and personal learning, valuing workforce members and partners, agility, a focus on the future, managing for innovation, management by fact, societal responsibility, a focus on results and creating value, and a systems perspective. Next, Detroit could begin using the Baldrige Criteria requirements (which are phrased as self-assessment questions) to consider and improve its approaches to leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce focus; and operations focus (also known as categories 1 through 6). And it could track its results (category 7) in measures of all key processes. While the Baldrige Criteria do not provide for a quick or easy fix, using this framework has helped organizations in every sector of the U.S. economy build management systems that enable them to better serve their customers and other stakeholders and become profitable and sustainable. This is why I believe the Baldrige Criteria can help Detroit remake itself into a steadily improving and higher-performing city. My grandmother, who would be over 100 years old today, is long gone. But in my lifetime, I sure hope to see a Detroit commitment to major change and continuous improvement draw large numbers of new settlers and businesses to help rebuild and diversify the foundations of the municipal economy. And of pressing importance: to see the city be able to improve the quality of education and services for all Detroit residents. Note: Michigan organizations can look to the Michigan Quality Council for expertise and support in improving their performance using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence (most other states are similarly served by local Baldrige-based programs that are part of the nonprofit Alliance for Performance Excellence network); Detroit also is fortunate to be home to a high-performing role model and national Baldrige Award recipient, Henry Ford Health System.