[The following article appears in the April ,1995 edition of
_TQM_in_Higher_Education_, pages 2-4.]

                PERSONAL QUALITY: WALKING THE TALK

                     Priit Parmakson, Senior
                  Researcher, Tallinn Technical
                        U. (Estonia)

     Editors note: Parmakson is a researcher working on his Ph.D.
and an independent management consultant in Estonia.

     A quality consultant who doesn't apply the principles he or
she teaches will not be taken seriously. So for the past eight
months, I've attempted to apply quality principles to processes
in my personal work and my private life, striving for what might
be called a "Personal Quality System.
     Personal quality improvement differs from quality
improvement at team and company levels in several ways. First,
you have to be your own leader. This can be difficult because
sometimes one really fears to reflect. Others have the "tyranny
of urgency," of being too inclined to action. And in a team of
one, you can't get immediate feedback from other team members.
     In my personal quality system, since there's not much that's
routine in my work, process flowcharting and statistical analysis
aren't very useful. However, I've found that a number of TQM
concepts and principles could be scaled down to levels of a
one-person company and/or an individual.

RELIANCE ON DATA

     Effective quality management should rely on data. Research
has established that the mere recording of occurrences of a
positive behavior will usually enforce that behavior. Similarly,
if a person continuously records occurrences of a negative
behavior, then the behavior will diminish.
     To be effective, any system must make it easy to record the
data. I've designed a three-level paper system for doing so. This
is a low-tech system that relies heavily on Post-It [TM] notes.
     My system contains the following components and features: 
     * A small, personal organizer (notebook) that I always carry
     along with me.
     * A research logbook (an office file) that I usually carry
     with me.
     * An office file for archival material.
     
The notebook is structured as follows:
     * A "To Do" list for the current day and, if needed, for the
     following day.
     * A small two-month calendar  for recording appointments. 
     * Prioritized lists of suggestions for activities.
     
     The suggestions are grouped into a small number of areas
(projects, private, etc.). Since the transformation from an idea
to a concrete activity may take time, it's useful to have many
possible activities in your field of view even though you won't
necessarily implement all of these activities. Currently, I have
about 20 to 30 activities listed.
     * Critical incidents. 
          These include records of mistakes, and/or wrong or
     inefficient behaviors.
     * Problems.
          These are common, lasting issues that must be dealt
     with.
     * Ideas.
          In this section, I record both technical ideas for my
     professional study and work as well as ideas for quality
     improvement. Besides the principles section, it's the most
     important section of my notebook.
     * Principles.
          These are short guidelines that I try to follow.
     Currently, I have 10 to 20 principles recorded as well as a
     number that aren't entered in the notebook.
     
     I'm also testing the usefulness of the following sections:
     * Ideas that worked, a log of successes.
     * Ideas that haven't worked.
     * A record of improvement activities.
     * Rejected activities, ones in which the decision not to
     implement them needed longer consideration.
     * Risks.
     
     In the notebook, I write only on 3x5 Post-It [TM] notes,
which I attach to the leaves of my notebook.
     The office file, which I've labeled "Quest for Quality,"
contains the following information:
     * List of processes.
          Listing all of the important processes is a component
     of business process redesign. Since I have almost complete
     independence in my doctoral studies and at my work in my
     one-person company, these processes cover both my work and
     my private life.
     * Process analysis for almost each process.
          Typically, these sheets contain: process goals, process
     issues, process risks, improvement ideas, and principles.
     The format is free-flowing and I use elements of
     mind-mapping.
          In analyzing processes, I've used elements of cause and
     effect analysis and force field analysis as well as
     visioning- designing an ideal state or process. To record
     these analyses, I use tiny Post-It [TM] notes on 8 « x 11
     sheets of paper with handwritten text.
     * Archives.
          These are the full written Post-It [TM] sheets from the
     notebook.
     
     It's very important to record the right kind of data. What
data to record depends upon what traits you want to improve.     Data should be represented in graphical form wherever
possible. I haven't been successful using graphs or forms, so my
notes and records have a loose format.
     To counter this, I draw a small icon at the beginning of
each item in my notebook. This gives some structure to the notes
and also makes later search and review easier.
     Currently, I use the following icons, denoting different
types of quality records:
     * A jewel = an idea.
     * An arrow pointing to the right = a suggestion for action.
     Fulfilling the action can be indicated by filling in
     the arrow black.
     * An eye = an observation.
     * A question mark = a problem.
     * An arrow pointing up = success.
     * An arrow pointing down = failure.
     
REFLECTION LEADS
TO ANSWERS

     After some reflection, one of the things I realized in using
my personal quality system was that my output, both in the role
of researcher and consultant, depends critically on the number
and quality of ideas produced and implemented. Therefore, I
analyzed my creative process, concluding that generally I had no
lack of ideas, but that I spent too little time selecting,
developing, and testing them.
     To keep track of the ideas, I decided to always write up the
interesting ones. By browsing the notes later, I can see what
worked and what didn't.
     Since research and design processes are only partly
predictable by their nature, if I write down a suggestion for
action, then I mean a course of action worth considering, not a
firm "to do" item. It may take some time before enough additional
data becomes available and I can firmly decide whether or not to
implement the action.
     Observations can be about work matters or about my own
psychological status. Problems are often starting points for
ideas. It's important to record failures--mistakes, wrong or
inefficient behaviors--even when you don't apply any statistical
analysis to failure data.
     Two special classes of failures--being late to appointments
and not keeping promises--are especially important. It's also
useful to record some successes, to balance the tone of the
notebook and to learn to repeat the success.
     Recorded data must be analyzed. Though my quality effort is
months old, I still don't have any more systematic way to do that
than occasional thinking about reasons for failures.
     Processes should be analyzed to find inefficiencies. I've
made a list of my processes--18 up to now--which cover both my
work and my private life. Yet I'm still in the beginning of a
deeper analysis of these processes.
     Finding an optimal process may not be easy. For example, I
analyzed causes for my sub-optimal sleep and work patterns. I
discovered that the problem was my preference for working until
late at night and sleeping during the morning when much business
is done. The causal network I built is too complex to discuss
here, but the main understanding I got was that my innate ideal
work-sleep pattern is different from the 24-hour natural pattern,
and to be effective, I must adjust my pattern.
     Flexibility is the key to an effective personal quality
system. Humans aren't machines, and their processes shouldn't be
totally programmed. Personal productivity depends a lot upon
psychological mood. And some variability is necessary in all
types of creative work. When in a creative mood, rather than
stick to a fixed plan, it may be more effective to deviate from
the plan. I've also realized that my system should have an
ever-evolving structure.
     Results of quality analysis should be documented in some
way. Drawing a flowchart is often useless when analyzing a
personal process. But I write down principles--heuristics,
guidelines--for the process.
     Principles are simply short, more or less general statements
like, "Always check the lecture room a day before the class." I
try to follow the principles, without allowing them to constrain
the process too much. Writing down and systematizing them helps
to organize the base from which you move forward in making
decisions.
     Rarely could a personal improvement method be adapted by
another person without extensive modification. Because humans
differ, everybody has to build his/her own system. A rational way
seems to take and test features and techniques from various
methods. Unfortunately, it's much easier to consume uncritically
the self-improvement and quality literature than to think
independently.

For more information, contact: Priit Parmakson, Senior
Researcher, Institute of Informatics, Tallinn Technical U.,
Ehitajate tee 5, EE 0026. Tallinn, Estonia; Email: pp@cc.ttu.ee 

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