Recognising those who made it happen. From experience I can confidently state that any aspect can be applied as an entry point into the quality system. Generally people like to do good work. Hence one may apply quality parameters and highlight processes or products that are already high on success. Recognize those who made it happen and then proceed further with the Quality Banner.
Improvements have to come from all areas - from upper management to the floor sweeper.
The quality dept. As the Quality Department is should not be immune to improvement, as an overhead it should have its very existence questioned. It is only because of the comparative disinterest of management generally that Quality has become a stand alone profession. Try to measure these deviations and then necessitate any kind of improvement initiative. As the people who execute are part of the initiative in a way it convinces them of their failure and brings out new methods for improvement.