I always know when I strike a chord (or a nerve) in one of my columns.  Last month’s column on layoffs got a couple of dozen emails, mainly in support of my position and a couple in opposition.  I’ll share some of that sentiment at the end of this column.

But I promised a much more uplifting message this month, so I picked innovation.  Why?  Because I believe that the American economy has fallen behind other countries – not just during this recent market downturn, but over several years (or longer).  And I also believe that innovation – making meaningful change to improve products, services, programs, processes, or operations to create new value for stakeholders – may be the only way find our way out.

Innovation is one of those buzzwords that has gained incredible popularity in business these days.  Last May, a Boston Consulting Group survey revealed that 66% of executives named innovation as one of their top three corporate priorities (“The World’s Most Innovative Companies,” Business Week, 5/4/07).  And probably for good reason: the top 10 most innovative companies in 2007 (companies like Apple, Toyota, 3M, Disney, and Sony) averaged about 10% annual revenue growth the last five years, and those same 10 companies averaged nearly 12% annual growth in stock over the same period (those numbers would be much higher if #2 Google had at least five years of existence).

So, innovation is hot because it drives results.  But here’s the paradox: systematic innovation is incredibly difficult to implement, especially as the economy begins to soften.  Here’s why…

A McKinsey survey of over 1400 executives finds that although 70% of executives named innovation as one of their top three priorities for driving growth (similar to the BSG study above), “…an equal number say their companies govern innovation in an ad hoc way”  (“Innovation of the Year,” Business Week, 12/19/07).  Business Week’s interpretation is that there is no consistent process to manage, or – presumably – to measure innovation efforts.  The bottom line: innovation drives growth and overall results, but isn’t as straightforward to implement as Lean, Six Sigma, or other corporate initiatives.  In essence, innovation is harder to do and harder to measure.

And sustaining innovation during times of recession makes the challenge even more daunting.  While 66% of the executives polled in the BCG study say it’s one of their top three priorities, only 23% say it’s THE top priority – and that’s down from 32% the year before.  Translation: during a time of tightening markets, companies may be moving onto other initiatives that focus more on efficiency and cost control.  That’s concerning, since innovation fuels long-term growth.

I believe that successful organizational innovation involves (no surprise) a systematic process by which creative ideas and knowledge are transformed into experimental action (a test or a pilot) to refine the idea before implementing a final application (see my column Nov 2006 “Innovation Imperative” at http://www.councilforquality.org/about_newsletter.cfm). 

I also believe that innovation is no longer strictly the purview of R&D departments as they tinker with new (or improved) products and services, but is important for all aspects of an organization’s operations – all works systems, and all work processes.  In fact, innovation can be applied in three different areas:

• Product, service, program innovation: to create new value for customers or stakeholders (probably the most common definition of innovation)
• Process and operational innovation: how work gets done (process, technology, systems, infrastructure, and so forth)
• Business model innovation: how your workforce and work systems are structured/managed to enhance workforce capability and engagement, to build organizational capacity, to manage supply chain and/or partners to maximize core competencies and organizational agility, and/or to better leverage workforce and organizational knowledge assets for driving change and introducing new value to the market.

High performing organizations are led and managed so that innovation is not the random identification of good, creative ideas.  Rather, innovation should become part of the learning culture of an organization, integrated into daily work and supported by an organization’s performance improvement system.

So what should organizations do to systematically innovate?  Some ideas:

• Create an environment that encourages innovation.  Leadership should make it safe to take risks, to experiment, to “ideate” (whatever that means).  Be patient…some ideas take time, and others fail altogether. 
• Reward employees for good ideas, regardless of whether those ideas eventually get implemented.  Reward them even more for ideas that DO get implemented.
• Invest in your people.  Train them, give them the benefits and support they need to be successful on the job, help them become – and continue to be – engaged in the organization’s purpose.  Respect and trust them to do their jobs, solve problems, and come up with new ways of doing things.
• Invest in technology, operations, and process.  Continue to improve your systems so that they are kept current with changing business needs.
• Learn.  Use data to make decisions, learn from mistakes, evaluate and improve everything you do.  New ideas will come from analyzing how things are done today.
• Make innovation systematic.  Develop a process for generating and collecting ideas, testing and refining those ideas, and implementing those that deliver against customer needs or organizational goals.  It’s not a “suggestion box,” but a way of transforming ideas into action (and some into full application).

Innovation is extremely difficult to master in good times, and even more so in tough times.  But innovation is critically important to individual organization’s success as well as to the overall economy.  So resist the paradox of trimming those processes and activities that enable and indeed sustain innovation during the time you may need them most.

As William Pollard, former Chairman and CEO of The ServiceMaster Company, once said: “Learning and innovation go hand in hand.  The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.”

To learn how other organizations are embedding innovation in their culture and operations, consider attending our fall conference: “The Innovation Imperative: Best Practices in Innovating Business and Healthcare.”  The October 7-8 conference will feature organizations known for innovation (3M, Best Buy, Google, Allina, and others have been invited).  More information is in the article below and at www.councilforquality.org.

*******

Now, for the post-script on my last column.  For those of you who didn’t read it, the column was titled “Saying Goodbye: How to Avoid (or at Least Manage) Layoffs During These Tough Times” (you can download it at http://www.councilforquality.org/about_newsletter.cfm).  I talked about the wave of layoffs building (and now, a month later, we see that unemployment is at a 20+ year high; I’m sure they’re correlated), and how much of today’s downsizing is because of the soft economy.  But I went on to say that leadership should shoulder a great deal of the blame, because they own the systems that should help organizations avoid (or at least anticipate and respond to) changes in the economy and environment, so that downturns like this can be mitigated without having to resort to firing a company’s best people.  I outlined some thoughts on how to avoid layoffs, and then I listed some ways to manage through layoffs if your organization had to resort to them. 

Apparently, many of you were reading.  Here are some remarks:

   “I really appreciated your comments on management planning and communication…I think that we need to talk about these events and learn from them, so that we can minimize the effect on all of us.  Remember, if you are not on the edge, you are taking up too much space!  I appreciate your talking about tough subjects.”

   “OUTSTANDING article! Your advice/comments are right on.  I recently joined [company], after working 11 years at [company].  I had to say good-bye to a team of forty that had been with me for most of those years.  I was able to get some of them jobs with the vendor we outsourced the work to but it was still difficult. Your advice on communication, communication, communication and straight talk is what many told me they appreciated.  Thanks for talking the time to write this article.”
 

   “Very well-written article.  I can imagine that must have been difficult to write.  Initially it was difficult for me to read; but after I thought about it, I fully agree with your article, especially Top Management’s leadership responsibility to prevent layoffs from happening.”

   “…just read your latest letter ‘Saying Goodbye….’ and would like to briefly share my thoughts and comments.  1) You’re right on target   This is a failure of management and I notice you didn't say a failure of leaders.  The older I get (my wife calls it "perspective") I cringe at the lack of leadership as we take the easy way out to adjust to changes by replacing cogs (employees) as if they were metal slugs.  2) We…need to communicate and not just behind the faceless email process.  Maybe this sounds pessimistic, but from my perspective it seems we’re losing interpersonal skills…are relationships important anymore?  3)  Quality and process of the right metrics.  Let’s not lose focus as to why we’re here -- to serve customers.  Otherwise the customers will find someone else to satisfy their needs.  Oftentimes managers use financial budgets as the only metric.  It’s important, but there are two sides to every coin and long-term as well as short-term impacts.  4) Finally, I don't think you need to apologize if this message was not uplifting.  It was positive to me as I know there are others who have the same concerns as me.  I agree it probably was painful to write, but your points were very poignant and legitimate.  Life is hard and the business environment is not encouraging these days.  It’s easy to fall into a pity-party, but we’re called to make a difference in spite of our situation.  You encouraged those going through hell to keep going.”

As I said last month: layoffs are an unfortunate but real occurrence in today’s challenging economy.  My first advice is to do everything – and I mean everything – to avoid layoffs in the first place.  The intrinsic cost on your organization’s culture (including the cost of lost knowledge, lost goodwill, increased fear, etc.) will result in a negative impact far beyond the layoffs themselves.  But if you need to pull the trigger, fully consider the implications of the action and try hard to conduct the act in the most professional, civilized way possible.  Those receiving the news will appreciate it, and those left behind to pick up the pieces need all the re-assuring they can get.  For the full column, visit http://www.councilforquality.org/about_newsletter.cfm.

Yours in Improvement,

Brian S. Lassiter

President, Minnesota Council for Quality

The Minnesota Council for Quality and Minnesota Healthcare Quality Professionals are pleased to announce a two-day conference this fall that focuses on organizational innovation in business and healthcare.  The conference, entitled “The Innovation Imperative: Best Practices in Innovating Business and Healthcare,” will be Wednesday, October 8 at the Embassy Suites hotel downtown St. Paul.  One-day pre-conference workshops are Tuesday, October 7.

This conference will focus on one of the hottest – and most important – concepts in business and healthcare today: innovation.  We will hear from leaders and practitioners representing organizations that are known for systematically innovating some aspect of their enterprise – either product/service design and features, programs, processes, operations, workforce-related processes, and/or overall business model – to create new value for their customers and stakeholders.

Innovation is no longer strictly the purview of R&D departments, but is important for all aspects of an organization’s operations – all works systems, and all work processes.  High performing organizations are led and managed so that innovation is not the random identification of good, creative ideas.  Rather, innovation should become part of the learning culture of an organization, integrated into daily work and supported by an organization’s performance improvement system.

The October 8 conference will feature leaders from the following organizations:

• 3M (invited)
• Allina Hospitals & Clinics
• Best Buy (two speakers formerly of Best Buy, now with CultureRx)
• BlueCross Blue Shield of MN
• Cargill (invited)
• Google (invited)
• Hutchinson Technology (invited)
• Hudson Hospital (speaker formerly of Hudson, now with Moment of Truth)
• Institute of Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI)
• Minute Clinic

The October 7 pre-conference workshops will feature two leading experts on innovation: Rod Greder (of New Productivity Group, formerly of 3M) and Dennis Stauffer (of Insight Fusion, formerly of KARE11).  Both will lead concurrent sessions on how to systematically implement innovation in your organization.  The day will be filled with processes for innovation, hands-on tools, an innovation assessment, and other practical methods to build innovation into your organization.  The workshops set up a day full of seeing how innovation is working at many businesses and healthcare organizations.

The pre-conference workshops will be $150 for members of the MN Council for Quality or the MN Healthcare Quality Professionals ($250 for non-members), and the Oct 8 conference itself will also be $150 for members ($250 for non-members).  A 10% discount is offered for attending both (so $270 for members and $450 for non-members).  Partner rates (member of partner organizations (see http://www.councilforquality.org/alliances.cfm for a list) are $200/day.

Are you interested in learning more about what makes organizations successful?  Are you interested in helping other organizations -- such as schools, hospitals, non-profits, and businesses -- around the state improve their performance?  Would you be interested in networking, learning, and sharing with others who feel the same way?

The Minnesota Council for Quality is seeking candidates for the 2008 Minnesota Quality Award Board of Evaluators.  The third and final training session in 2008 is September 30-October in Roseville.

There are many benefits to becoming an Evaluator, such as:

• strengthening your understanding of what drives organizational excellence (the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence represent a validated set of best practices for organizational excellence, and can be useful for improving any organization’s performance),
• networking with influential leaders and professionals (this year’s Board of Evaluators will include about 150 leaders from around the state – executives, middle managers, surgeons and physicians, superintendents and school teachers, non-profit and public sector leaders, quality professionals, and consultants),
• seeing “best practices” deployed within another organization – knowledge that you could use back at your organization and/or in your career, helping organizations throughout the state – many of them schools, health care providers, non-profits, public sector agencies, and certainly businesses – improve their performance…simply get better at what they do, and
• developing a set of other professional skills that may help you advance your career – skills such as consensus- and team-building, written communication, verbal communication and interpersonal skills, interviewing, analysis, and systems thinking.

Most Evaluators consider the experience to be among the most valuable of their careers.  In fact, many have claimed that the experience and knowledge gained from this process rivals getting an MBA or advanced business degree.

Furthermore, Evaluators can earn college (undergrad and post-grad) credit for participating in training.  For interested Evaluators, the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Stout both offer three (3) hours of credit in partnership with the Minnesota Council for Quality.

If you are interested in joining the 2008 Board of Evaluators, training will be September 30-October 2 in the Twin Cities.  In addition to the full three-day training session, new Evaluators are also required to attend a one-day orientation (either September 11, 16, or 17 – all in the Twin Cities).

Applications for new Evaluators are due 9/5.  Applications for returning Evaluators (which only require updates from your most recent application) are due 9/19 (returning Evaluators: significant changes to the process will reduce the time required for pre-work/training and evaluation in 2008).

To thrive in challenging times requires rethinking assumptions, being inspired to adopt new approaches and being equipped to achieve new results.  That’s exactly what you get when you join us for two interactive and content-rich web-based seminars with author and top speaker, Robin Lawton:

• September 26, 10-noon CDT: 8 Dimensions of Excellence: Aligning Strategy and Measures with Customer Priorities
• October 3, 10-noon CDT: The 12 Voices of the Customer

If you’ve been reading the newspaper lately, it’s clear why these sessions should be on your “must attend” list.  Maybe you saw the story of the top executive of a major car company who listened to customers say they wanted more miles per fill-up.  Do you think his understanding lead to (a) improving fuel efficiency, (b) innovative engines, (c) lighter weight vehicles or (d) bigger gas tanks?  Our award-winning presenter, Robin Lawton, shows how easy it is confuse what you heard with what customers said.  The executive’s design team rushed to market with bigger gas tanks.  No kidding!  On the other hand, here’s a comment from one of Mr. Lawton’s clients:

“Excellent program! This is not ‘soft’ training but challenged me to make a mind shift to apply customer-centered thinking in my work.  The emphasis on creative, divergent thinking may be the key to our success in the next ten years.”  Steve McAlexander, AVP, American Honda

These two complimentary sessions help you avoid common mistakes of the first firm and find out how the success of the second was enhanced.  You get great insights, new tools you can apply tomorrow and examples of how others have used these principles to rapidly win market and Baldrige recognition.  You get the essence of full workshops and the core material from Mr. Lawton’s best-selling book, Creating a Customer-Centered Culture: Leadership in Quality, Innovation and Speed (5-star rated on Amazon). What you won’t get is travel expense and a talking head experience.   Mr. Lawton, recently ranked #1 of 88 presenters by an international organization, shows you how to:

• Use a new approach to create alignment between strategy, operations and customers
• Identify who your customers really are
• Use “word formulas” to uncover the unspoken mind of the customer
• Measure squishy customer perceptions
• Use new tools that have produced stunning business results and Baldrige recognition

Are you “full out” at work and in life, or simply showing up and playing it safe?  Do you consider yourself resilient and flexible to change?  Do you think you can get more of the results you say you want to achieve?

The Minnesota Council for Quality is pleased to welcome Karen Ford, Managing Partner with Pecos Consulting, to our September 11 (note date change) Minneapolis Performance Improvement Network session.  In her session, “Playing to Win! Go as far as you can, given all you’ve been given,” Karen will discuss how individuals sometimes have self-limiting beliefs that can drive ineffective behaviors.  By focusing on our “worldview,” we can begin to see patterns that may inadvertently limit our ability to flourish.

This session is an opportunity for you to discover a new way of thinking that can help you navigate through change and stay focused on attaining more of the results you want at work and in life.  You will learn an effective framework and unique language to help you focus on getting more of the results you say you want to achieve and tools to help you put this into practice.

The discussion is from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on August 11 (networking and continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m.) at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC), 1501 Hennepin (15th and Hennepin), downtown Minneapolis, Room L3000 (Wheelock-Whitney Library). 

Admission to PIN is FREE for Council members; $10 for partner organizations; $20 for the public.

For more information, please visit http://www.councilforquality.org/performance.cfm. 

As the search continues for the latest techniques for organization and community effectiveness, it is easy to miss the Holy Grail in our midst. The age-old practice of collective problem-solving usually proves to be the key to transforming bold goals and impossible dreams into on-the-ground results in any human community. So why does it still tend to be the remedy of last resort rather than the tool of choice?

The MN Council for Quality is pleased to welcome author and consultant Mirja Hanson, Managing Partner, Millennia International Consulting Group, Inc. to our September 17 St. Paul PIN meeting.  In her talk, “Consensus Building: The Closest Thing to a Magic Pill for Performance Improvement,” Mirja will address the challenges and incredible opportunities for activating a culture of participation in any setting.  For over 30 years, Mirja has worked with hundreds of organizations and communities in the public and private sectors to build their ongoing capacity to create new capacities.  Mirja will share stories, clues, and methods for successfully shared awareness, agreements and action in order to implement desired outcomes.

The discussion is from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. on September 17 (networking and continental breakfast begin at 7:30 a.m.) at Metro State University's Great Hall in St. Paul. 

Admission to PIN is FREE for Council members; $10 for partner organizations; $20 for the public.

For more information, please visit http://www.councilforquality.org/performance.cfm. 

Performance excellence is difficult to achieve in any organization.  But consider the challenges of a governmental entity in balancing stakeholder needs, improving process performance, focusing on customer (resident) needs, using data to make decisions, and engaging its workforce.  One medium-sized city in Florida – Coral Springs – has accomplished what no other local government has in receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, proving that quality methods transfer to ANY organization.

The Rochester Area Quality Council, an affiliate of the Minnesota Council for Quality, is pleased to announce a special program in September: “A Slice of the Springs.”  The discussion will feature the City of Coral Springs FL, the first state or local government agency to receive the prestigious Baldrige National Quality Award for performance excellence.

The city is home to about 132,000 people, making it the 13th largest city in Florida with a workforce of about 770 full-time employees and about 300 part-time and temporary employees as well as a large pool of more than 800 people who volunteer as needed for emergencies, special events, or other activities.  This session will focus on Coral Spring Florida’s approaches for citizen and workforce engagement approaches, making it one of the nation’s premier communities in which to “live, work, and raise a family.”

The city’s organizational culture is reflected in its four core values: customer focus, leadership, empowered employees and continuous improvement—commit every day, in every way to getting better and better.  In this session, learn about Coral Springs’ approaches to build Citizen Involved Government through approaches like its neighborhood meetings (known as “Slice of the Springs”), City Hall in the Mall, and other mechanisms leading to resident and business satisfaction rates in the upper 90s.

Speaker: Ellen Liston, Deputy City Manager, City of Coral Springs, FL
Date: Thursday, September 25 (note date change)
Time: 7:30 Registration, networking, breakfast; 8:00-10:00 Program
Location: University Center, Coffman (CF) 206/208

The Baldrige National Quality Program, in cooperation with the Alliance for Performance Excellence, is pleased to announce the 2008 Baldrige Regional Conferences.  The first regional conference will be held September 16 in Denver and the second October 3 in New Orleans.

Both days will offer dynamic learning and networking with representatives of the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients as well as previous Award recipients.  Leaders from 15 Award-winning organizations will share their success stories, highlighting their best-in-class practices.  The conference will offer an opportunity to gather valuable tips on applying the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence to your organization…to improve your performance and strengthen your results.

Who Should Attend?  CEOs, senior managers, education and health care leaders and professionals, directors of staff functions, heads of operating units, and quality/performance improvement practitioners.

Attendees receive a conference bag containing Award recipient videos, presentation visuals, and other Baldrige materials.  Conference fees range from $445 to $545, depending on date of registration and other discounts (early bird Aug 22).

For more information or to register, visit http://www.quality.nist.gov/2008_Regionals/Regionals.htm.

PACT and MNISPI, an alliance partner of the MN Council for Quality, are proud to co-sponsor Dr. Ruth Colvin Clark on September 11, as she introduces her newest workshop “Building Expertise: Scenario Based Learning,” coinciding with the release of the 3rd Edition of her book “Building Expertise”

The most valuable intellectual capital for the 21st century organization is human expertise. This unique seminar, developed for trainers and course developers with any experience level, summarizes the most recent psychological research for design and development of guided discovery training proven to accelerate expertise.  Known as problem-based learning, goal-based learning, or scenario-based learning, guided discovery designs represent the most significant change in instructional design in the last 20 years.

In this workshop, you will learn how to design scenario-based learning environments to support problem-solving, critical and creative thinking skills in a multimedia learning environment.  We will review both classroom and digital problem-based learning lessons, derive the key features and start a design on your own scenario-based lesson!  Although we will review instructor-led and digital forms of scenario-based learning, our emphasis will be on ways to accelerate expertise through multimedia applications.

The session is 8:30-4:30 at New Horizons of Minnesota in Edina.  Cost is $349 for non-members ($299 for members of the MN Council for Quality, as an affiliate).  Attendees receive a copy of Dr. Clark’s new book.

In our technologically driven world, we are increasingly aware of differences in communication styles at work, home and everywhere else. These differences often result in misunderstood messages, unresolved conflict, compromised achievement and other difficulties that have a profound impact upon each of us.  In an ideal world, communication would be dynamic and challenging, not difficult.  And we know it’s not an ideal world.

What can you do about it?  ASTD, an alliance partner of the Council, is hosting a high impact, interactive half-day course that provides practical, dynamic and SIMPLE solutions.  The course is led by Sue Lindgren, a best selling author, Certified Management Effectiveness Coach, internationally recognized seminar leader, speaker and entrepreneur with more than 16 years experience.  Her experience includes working across industries with all sizes of organizations. Sue specializes in the domains of communication, leadership, coaching and organizational effectiveness.

She will share ideas, insights and suggestions that will make a significant difference to your and your team!  This course is for you if:

• You interact with people
• You and your organization strive to maximize potential and achieve extraordinary results
• You want to be better at managing and leading people
• Your team or organization has (or has had) communication issues
• You’d like to discover what motivates you and others, and how to put that information into action
• You’d like to learn to be more flexible without compromising yourself

The session is 8AM-12PM on Tuesday, September 23 off of 280 in St. Paul.

Enterprise Minnesota, formerly Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) and a partner of the MN Council for Quality, is pleased to present nine events, all focused on using Lean or other methods to improve organizational performance:

• Sept 10: Strengthening Your Supply Chain Relationships, St. Cloud
• Oct 15: Revenue Generating Business Ideas, Mankato
• Nov 19: Creating Profit Through Lean, Twin Cities
• Dec 3: Lean 101 - Perfecting Efficiencies in Production, Duluth
• Dec 10: Doing Business Globally, Twin Cities
• Jan 21: The Talent Pipeline - Developing Business Leaders, Twin Cities
• Feb 18: Green Manufacturing, Twin Cities
• Mar 14: Improve Office Productivity through "Lean Office", Hutchinson
• Mar 18: Innovative Product Marketing, Twin Cities

For more information on these programs, visit  http://www.enterpriseminnesota.org/Training-Events.aspx. 

The American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (USETC), and University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs (UMN) are sponsoring the 2008 International Conference on Public Administration (ICPA).  The conference will be held at the University of Minnesota on September 24-26, 2008.

The conference theme, Building Bridges to the Future: Leadership and Collaboration in Public Administration focuses on creating stable bridges to the future to ensure that issues and challenges such as privatization and information communication are turned into opportunities, not obstacles.

Now in its fourth year, the International Conference on Public Administration seeks to bring academics, practitioners and business leaders together to discuss issues of leadership in this era of globalization. What emerging public issues and challenges should we focus on to ensure that sound, principled governance worldwide moves forward, not backward, in the twenty-first century? This is especially the case with leadership and collaboration in public administration. New styles, strategies, and approaches to leadership are necessary as public organizations function more like networks than hierarchies in a shared-power world.

Among the issues are privatization and the spirit of entrepreneurialism, the Information age driven by enormous advances in information communication technology, the global pursuit of economic well-being accompanied by the diminishment of traditional trade barriers, response to disaster, the pursuit of democratic governance in combination with the rise of new global institutions such as the European Union, and leadership and collaboration in an increasingly dense network of public, profit-making, and non-profit organizations. Developing effective leadership and leadership strategies to address critical issues of public management today is essential to Building Bridges to the Future.

The ASQ Customer Supplier Division, a partner of the Council, is pleased to present two one-day seminars in four locations in late September.

“Quality Audits for Improved Supplier Performance” is a one-day seminar designed for management, professional, and technical personnel who want to improve supplier relations.  It is a basic course; no previous knowledge of auditing or quality systems is required (or even assumed).  The instruction applies to any management system (ISO 9001, FDA, military, automotive, etc.).  Buyers and purchasing agents will find the information quite beneficial. Those preparing for the Certified Quality Auditor exam will enjoy the review.

The seminar begins by exploring how product and service requirements are defined and accepted. This becomes the basis for subsequent audits. Then, the process of an effective supplier audit is presented step by step. Upon completion of the seminar, you will understand the difference between inspection, compliance audit, and performance audit. This seminar emphasizes supplier partnerships and the performance (value-added) audit.

“Supplier Certification: The Quality Link in Supply Chain Management” is a one-day “hands-on” seminar designed for Quality & Materials management, along with professional and technical, personnel who want to improve Quality and customer supplier relationships in their companies.  It is a basic course; no previous knowledge of Supplier Certification is required (or even assumed).  The instruction can apply to Customer-Supplier relationships in any and all industries, large or small. Purchasing, commodity team members, and supply chain management professionals will also find the information quite beneficial and are encouraged to attend. Interactive exercises are used to reinforce the material being discussed.

The seminar begins by defining the supply chain and “certification”. It then explores how product and service requirements are defined and accepted as well as the impact of Quality Management System standards. Team members and their responsibilities in the supplier selection and certification process are discussed. Certification agreements and ongoing supplier performance measurements (supplier “report cards”) are covered.

Participants will receive techniques that they can put to use immediately in their company.

Both courses will be presented four times (once on Sept 22, 23, 24, and 25) in four locations: Minneapolis, Rochester, Madison, and Appleton. 

The cost is $400 per participant per class.  Deduct $75 per registration for registrations completed by August 22 or for three or more from the same company any time!  Register for both seminars and save $150 per registrant! (No more than one discount may be applied per registrant.) Fee includes lunch, course notes and a copy of Quality Audits for Improved Performance and/or Supplier Certification.

The Minnesota Section of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce its annual Minnesota Quality Conference October 27-28 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center: “Quality in Action: Delighting the Customer.” 

Increasing competition is forcing businesses to pay much more attention to satisfying customers.  Measuring the delight of the customer an ambiguous and abstract concept, but the Minnesota Quality Confernece is here to help!  Robin Lawton will present the Keynote: “8 Dimensions of Excellence: Aligning Strategy and Measures with Customer Priorities.”  In addition, several other notable speakers will present topics on quality:

• Rip Stauffer: Statistical thinking for Leaders,  New DMAIC Model.
• Lou Asher: Full Factorial Designs, fun with Statistics
• John Hehre: Measuring Customer Satisfaction in a Lean Environment
• Gary Floss: Voice-of-the-Customer is a 2-way Street, to be safe, you need to look both ways!
• Dilip Shah: Reading and Interpreting Calibration Reports, how the data should be interpreted and audited.
• Sudip Dinda & Dave Hurd - Black Belt project showcase – Application in Injection Molding

To learn more or register, visit http://www.mnasq.org/newspages/mqcpub.html.

In addition, The Education Committee of ASQ is proud to present Twin Cities speaker and consultant, Rip Stauffer of Woodside Quality Solutions, who will conduct a three-day workshop on Lean Principles: “Basic Data Analysis with Minitab™.”  The session will be November 12-14 at Century College from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

This workshop will focus on data analysis for Process Improvement. It will cover the basic principles and concepts related to data analysis, types of data and measurement scales, an introduction to Minitab software, and practical application and interpretation of several useful tools and techniques using Minitab. The course will include sections on Control Charting, Capability Analysis, Measurement Systems Analysis, Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis Testing, Regression and Multiple Regression. A third day will cover concepts related to basic DoE, and how to set up, run and analyze basic Full Factorial and Response Surface designs in Minitab. 

The workshop fee is $1095 for ASQ (and MCQ) Members and $1195 for nonmembers.  Recertification Units of 0.8 will be awarded.  All materials and lunch will be provided.  Participants will receive a certificate of attendance. 

The University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing Education, an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce their fall improvement and business day courses.  Council members receive a 10% discount on all CCE courses.

9/11           Problem Solving & Decision Making, $395

9/23-24      Increasing Your Organizational Savvy, $750

9/24           Building Teamwork and Commitment, $395

10/7-8        Process Mapping and Analysis, $995

10/14         Personal Influence and Leadership, $395

10/15         Delegating to Enhance Job Performance, $395

10/22         Improving Work Processes, $395

11/6-7        Measuring and Improving Work Processes, $995

11/11         Working Assertively, $395

12/4-5        Capstone in Supervision, $750

12/4-5        Process Innovation, $995

Normandale Community College, an alliance partner of the Council, is pleased to announce three upcoming programs.  Council members receive a 15% discount.  The programs are as follows:

9/16-17                 Intro to Six Sigma, $945

9/22-23                 ScrumMaster Certification, $1260 (15% off for MCQ)

10/7-2/9              Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate Class (19 sessions), $8950 (15% off for MCQ)

10/8                      Lean Systems Thinking, $390

10/28                   Introduction to Agile Methods, $225

10/29-30              Certified Scum Product Owner, $1260

12/15-16              ScrumMaster Certification, $1260 (15% off for MCQ)

1/15-2/6              Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate Class (8 sessions), $3355 (15% off for MCQ)

.

Century College, an alliance partner of the Council, e is pleased to announce their fall quality curriculum.  Council members are entitled to a discount (in parenthesis) for the following courses:

10/2-11/20           6-9PM     ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organization Excellence, $995 ($945)

10/1-11/12           6-9PM     ASQ's Certified Quality Auditor Program, $595 ($545)

10/8, 10/29          9-3PM     Lean Thinking for Process Improvement, $159

10/14                    8:30-12:30  Root Cause Analysis: Getting to the Bottom of the Problem, $89

10/29                    1:30-4:30PM        Robust Tools for Problem-Solving, $79

Inver Hills Community College recently announced its new Professional Writing Certificate program, which includes workshops on the topics listed below to help you master the skills needed in the business world today.  Council members receive a 15% discount on
all listed fees.

You will receive feedback on your writing, learn how to assemble a professional writing portfolio, and develop your ability to evaluate your writing according to clear criteria.  You may bring writing samples for discussion and feedback.   

The course (Eng 9000-01) is on Tuesdays beginning Oct 7 through Nov 18 from 6:00-9:30 PM.  The course is $320 (minus 15% for Council members).  The cost of the program includes an easy-reference grammar handbook and class materials.  Workshops and topics include:

• Effective Business Writing

Learn the techniques you need to write more efficiently and effectively, meet the needs of your audience, edit for clarity and conciseness, and improve the readability and formatting of your letters, e-mails, memos, and reports according to contemporary business writing standards.

• Effective Technical Writing

Learn to write about technical subjects in a way that is clear and concise, tailoring the content, vocabulary, and organization to various audiences, such as managers, experts, and novices.  Learn the standard formats for technical documents and make every document, including tables, graphics and charts, more readable and professional looking.   

• Writing for the Web

Learn the key differences between print and screen readers—and what that means for you as a writer.  Learn solutions to the common problems of usability and navigation, practice revising and reorganizing sample websites to keep the focus on what users want and expect, and learn how to edit your writing according to web-usability standards.  

• Writing for a Global Audience

Learn how to edit and format your writing for an ever-increasing global audience by using Plain English, avoiding stereotypes and local references, recognizing and avoiding idioms, adopting international conventions for data, and revising sentences and paragraphs to make them easier to read.