Who Will Replace Alka Jarvis at US TAG to TC 176?

Alka Jarvis was elected the Chair of the US TAG to TC 176 in 2005, replacing Jack West who was forced to step down due to term limits. US TAG 176 rules limited the position to three 3-year terms, meaning Ms. Jarvis cannot run for re-election.

So who might take the position when Jarvis steps down? Let’s look at the top candidates.

JACK WEST

It was generally felt that Ms. Jarvis was a “placeholder” for former Chair Jack West, and certainly her near-invisible presence in the TAG for the past decade would indicate that West continued to act as functional leader, with Jarvis merely keeping the seat warm. There is nothing preventing West from taking the role back from Jarvis, and returning as the official leader. It’s not without precedence.

DIAGNOSIS: West is approaching advanced age, and his international cred has never been weaker. His “tough talkin’ Texan” routine just came off as xenophobic anti-European blather, and it has made our international partners wary of dealing with him. So taking the Chair’s seat again would benefit no one, other than West himself. That means he’s definitely considering it, of course.

LORRI HUNT

Lorri Hunt has been the right-hand woman of Jack West for most of his tenure, and has partnered with West on the stage of many US-based ISO events. Prior to the uncontested election of Alka Jarvis, when difficult questions were being posed to West, it was Hunt that provided cover by citing US TAG “bylaws.” She’s been a dutiful lieutenant to West and in return has been handed much of the responsibility of TAG management. Her election to Chair would be the final reward for her loyalty.

DIAGNOSIS: Hunt as TAG Chair would simply extend the West reign, and ensure another decade of ineffectual leadership and alienation of the US among other international players. Her priorities lie only with a blind allegiance to procedures which conveniently help maintain her authority (and that of West); she knows little of the insight of standards users, and has exhibited no interest whatsoever of learning them. Imagine that supervisor in the Department of Motor Vehicles running for mayor, and you pretty much get the entire scenario. Having said all that, it’s probably a foregone conclusion she is in the top two slot of potential candidates.

PAUL PALMES

Paul Palmes was groomed by the West/Hunt leadership for a position at the table since the very beginning. He was ostensibly one of the only TAG members who had, at the time, actually represented an end user organization, Northern Pipe, and it was such a novelty, the TAG made a big stink about it, giving Palmes some plum speaking slots and working group assignments. He soon quit Northern Pipe, though, and settled into the more traditional role of ISO messenger boy, book author and consultant. Like his fellows, Palmes has had no problem signing up for any event that will have him, including representing the TAG at an event hosted by a plagiarist who was discovered to have promoted his group posing as a woman on LinkedIn. Worse still, Palmes claims to be the group’s “ethics expert,” even as he displays questionable judgment on ethical issues.

DIAGNOSIS: Palmes is a bit more liked due to his personality, which comes off as a slightly befuddled newbie, despite his years inside the game. But his strength is in his ability to tow the line of others, not lead, and his “I don’t know anything about politics” shtick is tiresome. He would be a good replacement for Jarvis, if the intent was to have another placeholder for West and Hunt. But don’t expect any change with Palmes; he has a long history of declining to take any controversial position that wouldn’t pass muster with the BSI crowd in Geneva. Nevertheless, I suspect he’s in the top three candidates.

DENISE ROBITAILLE

A frequent Quality Digest columnist, Denise hits all the usual requirements: book author, conference speaker and general talking-point-workhorse for both ISO and the US TAG. That makes her a perfect candidate for leadership, except she has never exhibited much in the way of leadership ability. Rarely recognized by the current leaders, her work is usually relegated to promotion, and not much else.

DIAGNOSIS: Slim chance of even being nominated by the West/Hunt dominated nominating committee, she would probably do little damage to the TAG if elected, but wouldn’t bring any original thought to the position either.

CRAIG WILLIAMS

Craig Williams has proven to be another dutiful servant to the current leadership, so no doubt is on their shortlist. Coming from the automotive industry, Williams has been the go-to guy to keep the US TAG up to date on automotive doings, at least when Bransky wasn’t available. But Williams’ loyalties are ultimately more aligned with automotive industry than ISO 9001’s generic user base. Williams once promoted an automotive-version of NADCAP special process accreditation, which would have doubled certification requirements for companies serving both aerospace and automotive, and dismissed the notion of working with NADCAP to create a single, universal certification scheme; he cared little for the devastating impact his proposal would have had on actual ISO 9001 companies. Fortunately, he failed spectacularly. Surprisingly, Williams has previous aerospace experience, and has ingratiated himself to the IAQG leaders too, but his heart remains with the auto crowd. He once defended the profiteering by West and other leaders who use their TAG position to sell books, and later jumped on that bandwagon himself, co-writing a book with Robitaille.

DIAGNOSIS: Williams would bring a little bit of youth to the table, but little else. His automotive experience would likely be a liability in this case, as it would ensure the US service sector remained utterly alienated by ISO 9001, and his willingness to join the “Barnes and Noble” gang of TAG leaders who use their role to sell books would raise questions about his intentions.

RANDY DOUGHERTY

Dougherty has key roles in ANAB, IAF, ISO/CASCO, IAAR, and (I’m pretty sure) the Dockworkers Union, so why not run the US TAG? As a key author of the ISO 17021 accreditation standards governing ISO 9001 registrars, it makes sense to just have him write the ISO 9001 standard and close the circle.

DIAGNOSIS: Never gonna happen. Simply put, it’s beneath him. Dougherty is an international player, and unlikely to ever be interested in the grubby domestic work of the US TAG. But I think it’s literally against the law to have any discussion about any role in ISO without mentioning Randy as a possible candidate, so I’m not taking chances.

SCOTT DAWSON

When he’s not banning people on LinkedIn for asking too many questions about the TAG, Scott Dawson is haunting the hotel lobbies at their conventions. A relative newcomer, he’s making up for lost time by promoting the TAG like mad, and carrying more water for them than a drowned premenstrual camel. It’s conceivable he could be rewarded with a position in leadership, but…

DIAGNOSIS: … it’s too soon. The likes of Palmes, Williams and Hunt only come about after a decade or more of toadying, not months. Besides, that whole “I can get you ISO 9001 certified for less than $5,000” is likely to hinder any chances he has at being taken seriously in the profession. There’s also the problem that no one knows who the hell he is, other than that he was just included in this list for padding, so the image of Randy didn’t bump into the image of Candidate X.

CANDIDATE X??

There exists the possibility of an entirely new player being nominated, either as another placeholder a la Alka Jarvis, or as a usurper from the aerospace industry’s AAQG. Neither option is ideal, since any placeholder will just maintain the status quo, and any AAQG rep will just doom the US TAG to become a de facto arm of Boeing.

DIAGNOSIS: Could be someone working in the shadows that we don’t know about. If so, I bet he smells like cinnamon.

CHRIS PARIS

Chris Paris has no friends in the current TAG leadership, doesn’t actually attend meetings, has been threatened with criminal prosecution by another ANSI TAG, marked for death by a former BSI executive, and has tackled the TC 176 leadership in Geneva head-on. While more likely to convince other nations to adopt US positions, and fiercely loyal to the cause of representing actual users of ISO 9001, the fact that he’s not actually a current member of the US TAG might hurt his chances at getting elected.

That, and if he ever stepped foot in the ISO HQ, it would burst into flames.

DIAGNOSIS: Rakishly handsome, blindingly smart and ethically pure, Paris is probably the only one who can save the US TAG from literally exploding into a fireball of irrelevance. He’s also probably the guy most qualified to actually get ISO 9001 improved for end users, and he’d finally bring some humor into the otherwise blindingly dull world of standards development.

But let’s face it, the only reason he’s being considered is because he’s the one writing this article.