Standards People
So we have just gone through
another very successful conference and Annual General Meeting for the Canadian
Standard Association (CSA). Canada is a
very large geography with a very small population, but CSA continues to
demonstrate its commitment to being a national (and international) organization
by ensuring that the AGM travels across the country, touching every province
through its cycle.
In my short
connection with CSA AGMs I have been to 3 different provinces and with the now
established plans there will be 5 different provinces over a 6 year
period.
The AGM is an interesting
mix of organizational information, standards oriented presentations, and
working committees, and a broad array of expert presenters, all put together to
bring together a very eclectic group of folks with interest or passion for national
and international standardization.
We standards people are indeed an interesting lot, who all approach
the field from our own perspectives.
There are some who are truly entrepreneurs with a commodity perspective,
some seeing income generating consultant opportunities. There are some who focus on the production of
standards with a purist point of view; create good standards for the sake of
making good standards, while there are others, who are passionately involved in
their work sector and approach documents as a way of improving service to their
own field of interest. Then there are
the regulator types who like rules creation; they are balanced by the educator
types who are mostly interested in standards mostly as valuable opportunities
for research and outreach through academia.
And then there are the “just curious” and the the rest who just like
being there for the sake of being there and having a good time. Motives for attendance and participation are
wide and varied, but it seems to me that there is something for everyone and
solid reasons for being there.
As for me, I see my
motivation as being a combination of many of the above. I am certainly committed to healthcare and
see one of my roles as a Quality leader and educator and standard developer,
and am not ashamed of finding opportunities to intermittently promote my
knowledge as a consultant and public speaker.
but I can honestly say that I am also at these meetings because I get to
meet interesting folks and have a good time.
This range of views
attitudes is actually very important for standards development. If we were all of one point of view, the
standards that get written would likely become very narrow, and very difficult
to use. Without diversity of opinion,
there is little need to seek out consensus.
I personally do not see
standards as black-or-white precision documents; you might say I have a more
nuanced, shades-of-grey perspective. In
most cases, at least in my area of interest, standards need to include a significant
sense of flexibility that is, within a certain range, open to
interpretation. If they are going to be
available on tablets, they have to be of the electronic kind and not Mount
Sinai stone.
But I also recognize that if
all standard people approached documents my way, the products would be too
fluffy to be of value. On the other
side, the precision-driver-obsessive-compulsive-kill every-loop-hole folks
without my counterbalance would create tomes that best belong in tombs.
So this is my point, folks
interested in being engaged in standards are always enhanced by attending conferences
with people with the broad range of views.
We get the opportunity to express our point of view and at the same time
experience tempering through competing ideas.
Working on standards in
isolation of diversity of opinion makes for bad standards.
Three cheers for AGMs
To learn more about Standards Development, visit www.polqm.ca and consider joining our Certificate Course in Laboratory Quality Management.