1:30 AM on Saturday morning I’m up working. Marking stats projects actually, feeling so so about it. I really would like to be finishing up my proposal, but need to complete this admin task first so I can upload a progress mark for my students. But admin is Oh So Boring, so I’m blogging instead.
So an update on the proposal is yet another change has come about. Prof told me that I need to substantiate why I want to study the Impact of Quality Culture on Quality Management Practice in the four pre-selected areas that I had in mind, namely Productivity, Compliance, Risk Management and IT (he also told me to refer to IT as systems). So he suggests, “just find a way to tie it together, google the terms in one line and see what comes up” and so I did.
And a repetitive concept that came up was GRC, or Governance, Risk and Compliance. Now that’s something! It’s something because those are buzz words that I’ve heard bandied around at company that I consult for. And I have an inkling that industry is jumping onto that band wagon. I could be wrong…but I’m gonna go with my gut instinct on this one. I’m modifying my focus areas to Governance, Risk, Compliance and Systems… The only thing that’s certain is that nothing is certain.
Then just on a consulting note, I love my job – I really do. I completely love going to work in the Quality Department. And the scope of the work I do is stimulating and fascinating. It’s a thrilling experience to see how the Quality Management System comes to life before my eyes. There’s just lots of work we still need to do, but the real bonus is I am part of an amazing team. My only issue is I sometimes really feel I waste time when I battle to find something because of my limited experience. That is the downside of working on a system that still needs a great deal of development. I find myself being asked to do tasks, and work on systems where nothing existed before. Many times it’s a critical requirement, eg. Supplier Approval, and it is not anyone’s job yet. Another two looming in the pipeline is Risk Management and Self Inspections. Daunting and challenging, I feel incredibly stupid and excited at the same time. In the land of the blind I guess the guy with one eye is king. I guess that’s what systems engineering is all about.