Mistakes happen, that’s to be expected. Some are more inexcusable than others, because they aren’t errors in execution, but rather a signal of a flawed process.

I had a great birthday, and it was a cap to a great week. The kids were eager to help me with my “party,” and took an active role in building a makeshift piñata for me and picking out their own birthday cards. Being on a long superhero kick, Ryan picked out a nice Justice League card for me.

Upon a closer look, something around Green Lantern’s leg caught my eye.

It doesn’t photograph well, but in the glare on the glass you can read “QA/PASS”. I’m certain that was a sign that an entire batch of these cards passed the printer’s Quality Assurance test. Unfortunately, it also was a sign the manufacturer was careless about letting internal messages spill outside.

Why mar a perfectly good card, when there are better ways to track stacks of objects? More importantly, how often do we really think about the things that we do and how we do them? Is it time to completely rethink a procedure? Is it necessary anymore? Is there a better way to achieve the same goal?

And most important… if you can’t focus on the first thing an end-user will see, then you’ve become your own worst enemy.

[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, quality, manufacturing, printing, greeting cards[/tags]