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The worst part of a worthless meeting is not the wasted time in the meeting itself.  It’s the spawn of that meeting.  It’s the meetings that it will beget.

You know how it begins.  A problem comes up, usually at another meeting.  Of course it needs to be solved asap.  Everyone looks at you because it’s probably your fault.  Paralyzed with fear, your mouth blurts out, “Oh yeah.  We have a meeting scheduled on that.”

Well, now you have to set up a meeting.  You send out desperate, emails, slacks, texts to anyone who might know something about the subject.  Some of them actually do show up, bleary-eyed and confused about the topic of the meeting.  None of them have prepared for it.  Critical people are missing.  At best you are able to explain the problem to those who remain conscious through the meeting, and then you schedule another meeting.

There is another way.  We discovered it quite by accident.

If you are not innovating you are dying.  There’s always some magical new tool coming down the pike and you’d better start using it or you’re going to get beat.  The latest, of course, is AI.  Here at VCI we’ve heard from companies that top management has told everyone, “If you use a computer, you will be replaced by AI.”

Scary words,

QA departments can sometimes appear to resist innovation.  In Quality we want to reduce variation.  Any change in the process upsets our control charts and sends our OCD brains into a tizzy.  However…

We also know that if we are not innovating, we are dying.  In this sped up world, stagnation leads to strangulation.  Operational excellence is great, necessary even, but, by itself, it will not keep us in business long term.  So, we have a dilemma, right?  Well, NO.

It’s Monday morning.  You’re riding in the bike lane trying to get to work, checking over your shoulder for trucks coming up from behind.  Out of nowhere a car backs out of a driveway on the right.  Before you can think, you’ve already darted into the traffic lane and steered around the rampaging commuter.

Fortunately, there was nobody racing from behind and you didn’t get hit.  Now you can quickly swerve back into the bike lane.  Before you can collect your thoughts, your body has sweated though your clothes even on this cold morning.  “How did I survive that?” you think, after your heartrate returns to normal.

The perennial talk about privatizing FDA is in the air again.  What do they want to do?  ABOLISH THE FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION.  You need to be prepared for what’s coming.  Your health is at stake.

As you read this, keep in mind that ALL DRUGS HAVE SIDE EFFECTS.  Paracelsus said, “It is simply the dose that distinguishes between a poison and a remedy.”