What do you do? Explaining to those who have no idea what you do

[little__cee]

Serious question - how do you answer the question "What do you do?" when the person asking has no idea what quality is all about?

Example - The VP of a bank asked me recently "What do you do?" and I replied that I work with our ISO 9001 programs and procedures - bank VP did not know what that meant.

Now, when my 3 year old asks me what I do, I say "paperwork". But I'd never really answered the question for an educated person who just didn't know anything about manufacturing, quality, or quality standards. I explained that ISO was a system to ensure that we turn out quality product to our customers and that means I spend a lot of time with internal audits, procedures, quality manual information, etc. and I think I did okay. But it got me wondering what others say when asked.

P.S. -- had no clue where to post this but I am curious to see replies - please move it to whatever thread best suits this type of inquiry. Thank you.

[Bill Pflanz]

Originally Posted by little__cee

Serious question - how do you answer the question "What do you do?" when the person asking has no idea what quality is all about?

Now, when my 3 year old asks me what I do, I say "paperwork".

When my daughter was young, I overheard her describing my job as "going to meetings". She is now 23 and working for a living. Three weeks into the job, she complained that she spent the whole day in meetings and what a waste it was. By the way, she is a licensed social worker for elderly care and Alzheimer patients so it is not just our profession that can struggle describing what we do. Maybe your child is more observant than you think.

Most people understand the concept of product quality and customer service so I try to describe the work that way rather than talking about statistics and ISO standards.

Bill Pflanz

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by little__cee

Serious question - how do you answer the question "What do you do?" when the person asking has no idea what quality is all about?

Example - The VP of a bank asked me recently "What do you do?" and I replied that I work with our ISO 9001 programs and procedures - bank VP did not know what that meant.

Now, when my 3 year old asks me what I do, I say "paperwork". But I'd never really answered the question for an educated person who just didn't know anything about manufacturing, quality, or quality standards. I explained that ISO was a system to ensure that we turn out quality product to our customers and that means I spend a lot of time with internal audits, procedures, quality manual information, etc. and I think I did okay. But it got me wondering what others say when asked.

P.S. -- had no clue where to post this but I am curious to see replies - please move it to whatever thread best suits this type of inquiry. Thank you.

Good question. Of course when people ask ME about Quality and my role, they are in for a long haul. I explain how Quality fits with ANY type of organization. I frequently quote from my ASQ Profile:

Originally Posted by Wes Bucey

• I believe an effective Quality Management System (QMS) is a profit center, NOT a ‘cost item.’
• My entire career has been centered on the concept ‘Quality should be involved in every aspect of a company - including executive planning, administration, marketing, purchasing, design, production, shipping, and service.’
• This concept holds true whether the company is a manufacturer or service company (banking, insurance, communications, transportation, construction, janitorial, etc.) The major emphasis is on pleasing or delighting the customer while maintaining or increasing organizational profitability. (In the case of non-profits, does the organization's performance delight both recipients and the contributors? If so, the organization will continue to thrive.)
• I put more emphasis on ‘big picture’ and ‘company culture’ than on metrics. If all the members of the organization are indeed working together, metrics are a natural function of identifying areas to improve. If the organization is NOT working together, the imposition of metrics can be draconian and serve to divide the culture even more.
• I have a special interest in Document Management and Control, especially concerning Configuration Management (ensuring only the most recent revised version is available for production and assuring backward and forward compatibility between versions or withdrawing non-compatible versions.)
  

If it's a banker, I talk about how the principles of Quality can be applied to banking. I rarely miss an opportunity to "preach the Gospel of Quality."

[Rob Nix]

This is a great question/thread because it DOES come up from time to time. Years ago when I brought my young daughter to work, I was at the time creating control plans, with part sketches and flow diagrams. She told her class I drew pictures all day long.

Just yesterday an acquaintence asked, "what do you do?". I told him it is not as easy to explain as, say, a fireman or a teacher. Schools do not cover, even on "career day", Quality positions. So I described it as such (as I normally do): I help management make sure their systems run effectively and their products meet customer requirements.

If they're more familiar with manufacturing environments I give them more specifics (day to day activities). If they are not at all familiar with the business, I leave it at that (italicized above) and change the subject.

[Randy]

You help to define and manage organizational risk with regards to your product and operational quality.

Impressed?

[Steve Prevette]

I crunch numbers.

One thing that helps is I actually keep charts on myself. I have a chart of how many charts made, response time on special requests, and attendance at the internal training session I teach each month (Hanford Performance Indicator Forum).

I have fun with the statement "I make x number of charts per month, including the chart of the number of charts".

I do state that I "mess with business students minds" when I am teaching evening classes . . .

[RCBeyette]

I take steps to promote the success of my Customer, while managing the success of my Organization.

My tools include:

• An extensive vocabulary
• The ability to speak many languages from Sales to floor to Executive Management
• A love of learning
• Patience
• Willingness to help
• Open-minded
• The ability to calm those who fear what they feel the System represents
• An awareness that not everyone will believe in the System at first

[little__cee]

I just read my post again - I meant no offense to bankers or the banking industry! I didn't really mean that bankers had no idea what quality meant - actually my friend understood the concept of "ISO stuff" quite well since the bank obviously has procedures and rules that must be followed.

Yes, my standard answer was "I do the ISO stuff"...guess I need to tweak that a little bit.