Editorial
From Our Perspective
The following
conversation was overheard recently in the News for a
Change staff room.
DH: You know
I’m really excited about our new role editing
AQP’s publications.
JR: I am, too.
It’s a great opportunity to bring the latest
information and viewpoints on what’s happening with
quality and teams to AQP’s
members.
DH: So far
it’s been a great experience to pull this issue of
News for a Change together, but I am having some
qualms about the topic we selected this
time.
JR: Qualms?
Why? We’ve got some of the best thinkers in the
field sharing their views about the future. What more
could we want?
DH: Well,
don’t you think it’s a little risky to try to
predict the future?
JR: Predicting
the future sure would be risky! After all, I don’t
know about your crystal ball, but mine has cobwebs.
I’m having trouble seeing ahead to next month let
alone to the end of this decade.
DH: My
soothsaying skills aren’t any better than yours.
That’s why I’m a bit nervous about putting
our panel of experts on the
spot.
JR: OK, I
understand what you’re saying, but don’t you
remember what we promised we’d do when we took on
this assignment? We discussed what the name News for a
Change meant to us. We decided that we would focus on
publishing the latest ideas and let AQP members determine
how to put those ideas to use. In other words,
we’re supposed to “keep the pot
stirred.” AQP members are supposed to keep their
organizations from becoming stagnant; they’re
supposed to be change agents, leading their organizations
dynamically to higher levels of performance and secure
futures.
DH:
You’re right; that’s what we agreed. So I
guess it’s time to be brave, isn’t
it?
JR: Yes,
it’s time to take a risk. I’m sure the
readers of this issue won’t accept everything in it
as being absolutely, infallibly true,
but…
DH:
They’re sure to have a lot to think about
aren’t they?
JR: Yes, they
are. And, if they think, they’ll decide where they
need to change.
DH: And if
they decide they need to change, they’ll take
specific actions to prepare for the future, won’t
they?
JR: They sure
will, and that’s News for a
Change.
Quote for the
Month:
“The future is not some place we are going to, but
one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but
made, and the activity of making them, changes both the
maker and the destination.”—John Schaar,
futurist.
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