Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing... layout, processes, and procedures.

Now that gigabytes of accessible, malleable information can be carried in one's pocket, we probably will start to see some widespread shifts and trends in how and where people interact with digital documents.

Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.

In the great city of San Francisco, where I used to live, at 2 in the morning every other Victorian house has somebody who is writing the great American novel. And the city is not loaded with James Joyces or Virginia Woolfs. But entrepreneurship is about distorted views of reality.

'In Search of Excellence' - even the title - is a reminder that business isn't dry, dreary, boring, or by the numbers. Life at work can be cool - and work that's cool isn't confined to Tiger Woods, Yo-Yo Ma, or Tom Hanks. It's available to all of us and any of us.

Make an extensive table of project 'deliverables'. Label one column 'as requested'. Create another column labeled 'could be'. Make each 'could be' wild and woolly!

Have you thanked a front-line employee for carrying around a great attitude ... today?