If we are to deal with our rapidly changing environment in positive ways, we must all be externally focused on our customer's needs. We must learn to work in teams to solve problems and improve processes. We must learn to communicate openly in all directions. We must all become perpetual learners, realizing that no individual is knowledgeable about all problems. The opposite of total involvement is the assumption that quality is someone else's problem.
Leaders assume that bad quality is a result of bad employees.
Close controls and lots of rules result. Employees assume that they are powerless to suggest changes, that process partners don't do it right. Communication is kept at a minimum due to lack of trust between leaders and staff.