ASQ 0511 — Section Process Improvement Committee

January 2025 Quality Progress Summary

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What’s the Worst That Could Happen?

This issue is about Prediction, Preparation, and Premortem — what you can do when disaster strikes a project? Cool checklist included!

• Fun poll! What books are you planning to read in 2025? Put down your answers in the chat.
• Expert Answers: What are alpha, beta, and omega risks? An alpha risk is a producer’s risk (type 1 error — false positive); beta risk (consumer’s risk — type 2 error — false negative occurs but is not detected); omega risk (from Bayesian statistics — evaluating decisions using the omega ratio and it compares favorable and unfavorable outcomes)
• Progress Report: SaferAI, a French non-profit organization, evaluated six AI companies and rated them to develop a clear standard of how they manage risk. Elon Musk’s xAI scored 0/5 and Anthropic led the group with a moderate 2.⅖ score. More info is here: ratings.safer-ai.org
• 2025 Workplace Trends to Track
  Reskilling, upskilling; 4 day work week; gig economy (side hustle to career path); human-machine synergy; rise of human centric leadership; immersive online working; AI’s growing role in HR; Hybrid is the new normal
• My Quality Story — From Therapy to Quality….”It was then I realized that knowing what I didn’t want to do was just as valuable—if not more—as knowing what I did want to do.”
• Fun Poll! Did you find Quality or did Quality find you?
• What’s the Worst That Could Happen?
  • Premortem analysis — structured process where a team has imagines that a project already has failed, and works backwards to identify what happened, challenges, roadblocks, etc.
    • This is similar to risk management but this approach creates a sense of urgency and to brainstorm causes of failure more thoroughly
    • Benefits include early risk identification, increases team buy—in, improves decision making, reduces stress and anxiety
• Service By Design — Using QFD to understand service and service quality
  • QFD is used to design and improve physical work product. It can also be used to increase customer satisfaction through process design in the service world.
• The Download: Needed Guardrails
  • There’s a rush now to capture AI—driven productivity but at a cost. Leaders may be tempted to sidestep quality to get product out the door.
  • Increased speed and volume does not mean accuracy and thoroughness(Samsung 7 2016 phone release was rushed and many phones had defective, exploding lithium batteries!)
  • There’s a fallacy that as quality increases, productivity decreases.
  • Usage of Kano’s Model helps as it covers 3 types of quality while listening to VOC: must be quality (quality that must be met to prevent dissatisfaction); one-dimensional quality (expectations that contribute to satisfaction), attractive quality (features that distinguish products and really attract the customer)
  • Renew our commitment to quality and improvement by balancing 'productivity with precision'
• Standard Issues: Unlock the Power
  • NIST has developed the AI Risk Management Framework, IEEE has developed standards that focus on AI and technological aspects
  • ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee (JTC) 1 Subcommittee (SC) 42 is responsible for standardization around AI. 30 standards have been developed and 37 more are in progress.
• If time permits, Maria will do another quick demo of Quality Progress in ASQ. They have a new digital format!
• Looking into 2025:
  • Lean And Six Sigma Conference is on February 23—25, 2025 in Phoenix, AZ
  • World Conference on Quality and Improvement (WCQI) is on May 4—7, 2025 in Denver, CO
    • Registration is now open. Early bird ends at the end of Jan 2025. Hotel block is also now open!
    • Theme: Take Quality to New Heights!

Best regards,
Maria Habib
Process Improvement Chair, Section 0511, Northern Virginia