Quality Systems come in all sizes and shapes. My first quality system  was at the Cove and it consisted of:

1. Jack’s Vision Statement: I want this to be the best cooking school in the world.

2. The end result was defined and measured: “They come as strangers and leave as hugging friends.”

3. It was powered by continuous improvement which grew it into the Fantasy Island of cooking schools with people flying into Sea Ranch and greeted with iced sparkling wine, fresh cut wild flowers and soft classical music.  At it’s height Julia Child was our guest cooking instructor for three sessions.

There was no quality manual just checklists so we didn’t forget anything, the remote corner store had only one of everything. The passion of the owner and the like minded staff  focused to meet every guest’s need. “Oh you don’t drink wine, we will get what you want for the weekend”.  Guest’s cook but never washed a dish.

The grand dinner had 8-10 courses with the same number of wines and separate silverware and dishes for each course.  As the evening progressed to flaming dessert the dishes were carefully removed to end with a clean dining room just in time for the show.

Yes, the staff who served became the stars that performed.

The guests left after Sunday Brunch at Jack’s ocean side house and after a few hours break our continuous improvement session occurred at a dinner where we tested new recipes. We reviewed the weekend from the signup to the completion. Only two questions were asked ‘what happened’ and ‘what could we do to make it better’.

That experience was the beginning of my quality career, not a bad training program. What do you think?

1. It got my internal auditors auditing with or without existing procedures.

2. This audit process alone defined the process that was being audited.

3. Critical quality check points were easily identifies during the discussion.

4. Since an audit is only a sampling, at the end of the discussion the auditor picks the most critical quality function and asks to see the data. (objective evidence)

5. Then the hardest question: “Where is this process documented?”

Exact step by step process for doing this type of audit will be  available as an insider Club member.

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