Kaizen: If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.

G. K. Chesterton. Credit

Just today, an old friend reminded me of this G. K. Chesterton saying that I used to quote more frequently and could profitably start using more frequently again. Our conversation was in the context of 'Kaizen' where I wrote: Even if it ain't broke, it can - and must - be improved. Imagine if the first wheel was never improved upon, or the first bicycle/car/plane... This, in turn, led me to do a search on the Chesterton quote and I found this excellent article, A Thing Worth Doing, on the American Chesterton Society web site.

What is the relationship between profit, cost and quality?

Cutting costs as an emergency measure to cut losses to get you through this financial period is one thing. Cutting costs in order to boost profits and take you beyond your next financial report period requires a different strategy, My hero, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, helped Japanese businesses tackle that question very effectively. Focussing purely on cutting costs when the root issue is questionable quality, you may end up sacrificing the family farm to the god of cost reduction.

Profit, Costs and Quality: what's the relationship?


(I discovered too late a typo with 'collateral'. My apologies.)