I'm a Quality manager and auditor, so ISO 9001 is a major feature on my career landscape. This
means that of course I sure hope it's not a complete waste of time. And I don't think it has to be. But anything
can go off the rails, and ISO 9001 is no exception.
Take the emphasis on documentation. Seddon says that ISO 9001 encourages companies to create
useless reams of documentation. And certainly some companies have done exactly that. But the standard doesn't
force you to ... it's always up to you to determine what should be documented and what shouldn't. Creating documents
that nobody will ever use except your ISO auditor is just foolishness, and it is a sign that you are implementing ISO 9001
in the wrong way.
Likewise, Seddon says that ISO 9001 encourages an emphasis on process instead of results. And
again, while I agree that this is possible, the standard doesn't force you to do it. Losing a focus on results means
losing a focus on the bottom-line; for any organization that has to pay its own bills, this is suicide. To commit suicide
in the name of ISO 9001 doesn't make a lot of sense.
What all this means is that ISO 9001 is like anything else a company decides to do: you have to do
it intelligently. Stupid implementations of ISO 9001 are self-destructive, but so are stupid implementations of anything
else. The key is that you shouldn't do anything "for the auditor" that doesn't actually make sense for the business
too. But at the same time you can and should let the standard illuminate for you places where
the business could benefit from taking steps that you might not have thought of before now. Think about what you are
doing, and work with your auditor to build a relationship where he can serve more as coach or consultant than inquisitor,
and you will see genuine benefits from your ISO 9001 program.
