The Reptilian always wins

Click on logo for details of imprinting sessions

The archetype study on quality in America was commissioned by AT&T in 1986. The breakthrough discoveries of this study were first reported on by the Foundation in its magazine, The Quality Review, in the summer 1988 issue. Two AT&T managers involved in that study, namely Marilyn Zuckerman and Lewis Hatala, have since written a book describing the discovery process and the results achieved when they applied the study's findings to the workplace.

AT&T's Network Systems wanted to improve the human side of its quality improvement efforts, so Dr. Rapaille was invited to apply his Archetype Discovery process to the concept of quality. Research findings uncovered many insights into how Americans unconsciously react to quality:

Quality has a strong negative connotation. For most Americans, quality is a negative word because they learn about it when something goes wrong. The study also found that the words "control" and "total" have negative associations. The former connotes inflexibility and lack of opportunity while the latter is associated with frightening concepts such as totalitarianism and total hysterectomy.....Then you have this program called " total quality control"! The intention is good but the wording is wrong!

Americans accept imperfection. Most americans believe that perfection isn't possible and view it as a situation that presents no new challenges. Thus a goal such as zero defects does not motivate most Americans.

Nurturing and caring are important traits. When someone fails at a task, Americans like to demonstrate that they care and have confidence in that person's ability.

Breakthrough are viewed positively. For most Americans, improving a little bit every day for the next 10 years is boring. Breakthroughs, on the other hand, are exciting and progressive

A challenge or crisis is exciting-the bigger, the better. Challenges and crises motivate Americans to achieve breakthroughs.

Americans view change positively if they control the change. Change promises improvment or new opportunities. If people don't control the change, however, they will view it negatively and might resist.

The process (effort) is more important than the product (outcome). Becoming the best at something motivates Americans; producing the best products or services does not. Thus, quality must be made personal, the focus must be on the individual and on his or her processes.