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The following article was published in the Spring 2000 issue of ASQ's KoalaTymes newsletter. The Annual Quality Congress (AQC) was held in Indianapolis, IN May 8-10, 2000.

 

Koalaty Kid Needed to Build World-Class Communities
Indianapolis to Showcase Local Koalaty Kid Success Stories at AQC 2000

Timothy J. Clark

ASQ Section 903, Indianapolis, IN

The American Society for Quality's Indianapolis Section will be hosting the Annual Quality Congress May 8-10. To help raise the quality awareness of citizens throughout the Indianapolis community, the section will be sponsoring a "General Public Track" that will include free training and information sessions that will be marketed to the general public. Principal among these sessions will be presentations by teachers and students from Raymond Brandes Elementary on the success they've had with Koalaty Kid, with special emphasis on tools and storyboards. The Koalaty Kid program at Brandes Elementary is in its third year and is sponsored by the Indianapolis Section.

In ASQ's 1999 State of Society report, the leadership of ASQ challenged the quality profession to work toward building world-class communities. Koalaty Kid is one of the pillars needed in building the foundation for a quality community.

Koalaty Kid can be successful within a classroom and throughout a K-12 school system but optimal results require application throughout the entire community. You can't ignore the need to help educate parents and guardians and you certainly want the colleges, trade schools, universities, and business community to build upon the quality improvement skills of the students. Local government and realtors also need to be aware of the competitive advantage that quality schools provide a community. Businesses often chose to relocate in communities that have a strong school system and parents often consider the quality of school when deciding to remain in a community or when moving to a new one.

Japanese quality expert Kaoru Ishikawa in his book, What is Total Quality Control?, reinforced the need for all citizens to be proficient in the basic tools of quality. Ishikawa remarked that in Japan, top management down to the line workers can use the basic tools. He further noted 92 to 93 % graduate from high school with proficiency in the basic tools of quality.

In the United States, I would estimate that the majority of Americans have never heard of the basic tools of quality, let alone are proficient in their use. To support those who want to learn and apply the quality improvement principles, methods, and basic tools in support of a community transformation to quality, the Indianapolis Section has developed an approach to help reach every citizen. In addition to Koalaty Kid, the foundation for this approach includes the following "pillars":

bulletIndiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). The Total Quality Improvement (TQI) certificate program at IUPUI is the business equivalent of Koalaty Kid. It consists of five core courses that include 80 hours of instruction. An individual teacher or a team can enroll in the TQI Application Course which is a great opportunity not only to improve a process, but also to learn how the same methods are applied in manufacturing, service, health care, and the public sector. The course is conducted once a week for 12 weeks, three hours per session. The Indianapolis Section has also started a Koalaty Kid scholarship fund ensuring money will never be a barrier to enrollment. For more information and eligibility requirements on the TQI program and course descriptions, see: http://www.cln.iupui.edu .

bulletQuality Leadership Certificate Program. The Quality Leadership certificate program is currently offered two times a year at the Indianapolis-Marion Country Public Library and was recognized by ASQ in 1999 as a section "Best Practice." It consists of two courses: Success Through Quality (Q101) and Application of the Basic Tools of Quality (Q102). Follow-on support, when requested, is provided by section members. This is a general public version of "Koalaty Kid" that can be conducted at the school for parents, teachers, and administrators. Material costs are funded by the Indianapolis Section and training is conducted by section volunteers. For an example of an application success story, see Continuous Improvement on the Free-Throw Line by Timothy and Andrew Clark, Quality Progress, October 1997, p. 78. To learn more about the information covered in the courses, see: Success Through Quality: Support Guide for the Journey to Continuous Improvement by Timothy J. Clark, available from ASQ's Quality Press, item H1006.

bulletLibrary Book Donation. In addition to the Quality Leadership training conducted at the library, the Section provides a yearly $500 donation of quality-related books and materials that has resulted in one of the most extensive collections of reference material in Central Indiana.

bulletSection Training Programs. Each month from September to April, the section hosts a monthly meeting that includes a workshop on a quality tool or technique and a dinner speaker who covers a current quality-related topic. The meetings are open to the public and dinner is optional. The section also provides an extensive variety of courses that provide basic as well as advanced training on various quality disciplines to include professional certification preparation courses. For more information, see: http://www.indyasq.org.

bulletCommunity Quality. Section members are actively involved with the Central Indiana Regional Citizens League (CIRCL) in helping to build a quality of life index that will be used to provide feedback on community improvement initiatives. Section members are supporting a modified implementation of ASQ's Accelerated Change Collaborative Series (ACCS) see: http://www.asq.org/products/collaborativeseries.html) which is designed to accelerate improvements at the local, regional, or national level. For example, a Koalaty Kid success story documenting improvements in math or written composition could be shared with other schools that may be able to immediately implement solutions that took the team months to design, implement, and validate. Such an approach might result in quantum improvements in standardized test scores.

bulletPQ Systems - Total Quality Transformation (TQT). The materials used in Koalaty Kid and in the TQI Certificate Program at IUPUI were developed by PQ Systems of Dayton, OH (see: www.pqsystems.com). PQ Systems has a total quality transformation (TQT) train-the-trainer course and consultation support for individuals/organizations that want to support a quality transformation within their organizations.

The quality principles, methods, and basic tools represent a common language and set of skills that can be successfully taught and applied by children a well as by community, corporate, and world leaders.

Koalaty Kid is the first step in introducing quality to the next generation of leaders but optimal results will require that the common language of quality be shared and applied throughout the community.

ASQ sections can be a great resource to the community not only in promoting and supporting Koalaty Kid, but also in helping to educate other key stakeholders as well.

I hope you'll have the opportunity to attend the 54th Annual Quality Congress to be held in Indianapolis, May 8-10. It will be a great opportunity to exchange ideas on how we can work together in building world-class communities.

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