Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/26
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At 23:06 -0500 25/02/99, TEAShea@aol.com wrote:
> There are many areas where quality is an issue. [ . . . ]
> Tom Shea
Some people have to be TAUGHT about quality.
Example in point: I eventually persuaded my sexy
next door neighbour and friend to "indulge" a pair of
much better quality than usual high heel shoes.
To her, it was a revelation, as she had felt
she did not need, NOR DESERVE, all told,
such "expensive" shoes that "looked ALMOST the same",
even though her new Radio-Canada job income had become
almost double mine, after months of
freaked-out dead-end unemployment !
Quite obviously, she almost slept with these darn shoes on !
To the point she was ENTHUSIASTIC about ... "her" shoes ???
And then proceeded to decide the man she'd "get"
would be a quality decision:
she EVOLVED to marry an athletic young rich man, her "prince",
who very much shared her views and notions, values and attitudes.
[ I'll spare you the MOTIVATION background work
I did on her, which took months of almost daily "pep talks",
taking her out from a quite depressed state, [ ... yes ! ],
but *quality* has to be a DELIBERATE commitment and
affair, in ALL areas of Life, built from the ground up. ]
"Quality" can also be a bandwagon for bullshit.
Done responsibly, however, it's a reality
a whole lot of people simply don't register at first,
as strange as this may sound,
having been dealt the bullshit trip and merry-go-round.
Yet, there's no reason not to *go for* quality
at *any* given point. Almost like a spiritual "conversion" ...
Get a "decent" watch, audio system, car, vacation, consultant,
bike, running shoes, tennis racquet, golf clubs, underwear, pen,
dishwasher, hunting rifle, technical instrument, computer, education,
high performance tires, clothes, spectacles, hardbound books,
cameras, blue jeans, lunch hour meals, wines, beer, "whatever",
spending the required extra for the VALUE real quality
DELIVERS to the owner and start uncovering
WORTH, durability, an extra degree of usefulness, of excitement,
and the unspeakable thrill of SATISFACTION
peace of mind [read: DEPENDABILITY ] and quality of life,
if but as a very much earned and justified REWARD !
"We" take it for granted that others value quality,
but I'm 100% convinced it has to be *sold* at other
levels first so that the worker / professional
will not feel guilty [ ! ], allow oneself to enjoy [ ! ],
invest available marginal discretionary income [ ! ],
or work extra hard to eventually get at it [ ! ], to buy into
a SIGNIFICANT better level of craftsmanship, design, R & D,
materials technologies, measurable performance,
durability, brand identity and other related values
and numerous implicit built-in quality criteria,
even "who else" as personal identity and IDEAL PURSUIT(s)
in hope of eventually emulating the HERO FIGURE
through persistence and consistence of effort or talent,
just the same when you think about it.
So much so that, eventually, the aforementioned
satisfaction becomes PRESTIGE to the lesser
informed (and fakes...) ! Yet, QUALITY remains
as tangible fact, value enough for me.
The advertising industry feeds on this in very many ways:
why is it that a prestige blue jeans brand lasts
6 months, a year, more even, and another goes to trash
in three months time, not even discussing *fit* and COMFORT?
I think it's our responsibility, when so aware,
to "pass it on"... to people INTELLIGENT enough
to be capable of personally espousing such a notion
of quality and professionalism in their very own
work and motivations, who, by natural laws of association,
will eventually find themselves in a position
to LIVE BY objective / subjective
standards of quality and excellence, dedication and integrity,
to "go for" quality products that bespeak of such
a philosophy of life, expressed or implicit:
an ETHIC of QUALITY, a quality POLICY, no less.
A Porsche is a Porsche but what is it that makes it a Porsche ?
What is it that makes a Dassault Falcon jet a 'Falcon' ?
What is it that makes a LEICA such a PRIZED POSESSION?
And, to the lesser and the fakes, a STATUS SYMBOL or FETISH,
where a pirate *near* copy is "good enough"..., where STYLE
tries to IMITATE and MIMIC the blue blooded ORIGINAL.
Knowhow, corporate accumulated previous experience, personal
and by associated people of like mind, BRAND EQUITY,
of a quality product / brand's inbred, HISTORIC,
PREDICTABLE qualities and profile specifics:
GRIFF related C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-C-E !!!
LEICA's red dot is one such promise of quality,
A-W-A-R-D-E-D only to PROVEN products
worthy of the brand, a PROMISE of SATISFACTION.
The red dot is a "rest assured it's a LEICA" guarantee.
Pirate the red dot and see what sort of legal storm you'll rise.
Why is it YOU want an "expensive" LEICA that bad ?
It's because you darn well KNOW what goes into a LEICA.
Either it's a LEICA or it's not, red dot and all: that simple !
That's how far the QUALITY ETHIC has to go !
Nothing less does the trick nor fills the bill.
Quality either is real or it is not: no halfway deal here!
Obviously, I have sales experience... ;+>)
It even became a family joke:
Andre and his "quality products"...
My two cents' worth.
Andre Jean Quintal
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"Only when it's dark enough
can you see the stars."
Martin Luther King jr