All Posts Tagged With: "application"
Interpreting Criteria Questions
The questions in the Baldrige Criteria can be overwhelming for first-time responders. They are often complex. The language they use may be different than the language your organization uses. Questions may sound alike. The learning curve is steep and frustrating to climb.
Here are 10 Tips to make a difficult but rewarding journey a little easier.
- Become familiar with all of the Criteria. Each question is one part of a holistic management system. You need a general understanding of everything in that system to see where your Category, Item, Area to Address, and/or questions fit. Read the relevant Criteria booklet cover to cover before tackling your section.
- Read at least one Baldrige Award recipient’s responses. The application summaries of 44 recipients are available online through the Baldrige program. Pick one. If you have to do it fast, read a Category. You’ll get a sense of how to craft responses that answer the questions accurately, completely, and concisely.
- Start with the Organizational Profile. The Profile presents basic information about your organization upon which the Category responses are built. You’re flying blind if you start answering questions without the Profile to guide you and you’ll end up either revising your responses to align with the Profile or producing a section that sounds like a totally different organization.
- Break each question into pieces. How many questions are in this Criteria question from the Customer Focus Category: How do you listen to customers to obtain actionable information and to obtain feedback on your products and your customer support? The answer is four. And you’d better…
Baldrige Is the Enemy of Good
“Good is the enemy of great.”
I’ve used that line more than once when talking to senior leaders. It’s the first sentence of Jim Collins’ groundbreaking book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap (HarperCollins, 2001).
I then add, “Baldrige is the enemy of good.”
An organization that considers itself good at what it does is unlikely to score more than 300 points of a possible 1,000 on its first Baldrige assessment. Most organizations respond to this performance in one of three ways:
- They discount the validity of the score and walk away from the Baldrige process.
- They make the comfortable improvements and leave the basic systems untouched.
- They pursue performance excellence by transforming their management systems.
Those who choose “a” or “b” may continue to be good but they are unlikely to become great unless they are compelled to change. But then, not every organization has greatness in its future.
Jim Collins has recognized the impact Baldrige can have: “I see the Baldrige process as a powerful set of mechanisms for disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and taking disciplined action to create great organizations that produce exceptional results.”
Baldrige is the enemy of good.
Help grow our community: 
