My Dinner With Andre, But It Wasn’t Dinner, It Was an Airplane, and It Wasn’t Andre, It was Gary Cort

The universe has plans for me, clearly. It works to manipulate events and time to suit its odd purposes, and I am at its center, apparently. At least that is what it feels like sometimes.

So I get on a plane to Lima Peru, and settle into my seat on Row 1 (yeah, first class, sue me) and I find I am sitting next to a white guy. On this trip, which I’ve made often, that’s not uncommon, but a bit unusual at least. So relishing in what will be the last time I get to speak English for a few months, I ask him, “are you heading for business or vacation?” because I am a friendly type of person like that, all warm and fuzzy like a baby panda.

“Business seminar,” he says politely.

“Nice, what type of business?” I ask.

“Management consulting,” he responds.

Interesting. “That’s my field, too. Ever heard of ISO 9000?” I ask.

“Yes, I was the chair of the ISO Technical Committee for ISO 9000,” he says.

Pause.

“You may want to change your seat,” I suggest.

I mean, come on, Universe! What is up with that? You put me next to Dr. Gary Cort on a 6 hour flight? Seriously? The poor guy whose pants I set afire with my Public Call for Temporary Cessation of Development of ISO 9001:2015? The one who actually had to issue a personal, public response? That I later lambasted? Which then resulted in a bogus lawsuit attempt by ISO because I used an editorial graphic of their logo on the Chinese flag, and they wanted to claim trademark on… the Chinese flag or something?

Dr. Cort — who recently stepped down as TC 176 Chair — was off to Lima for a seminar on The Tao of Quality, an interesting subject, to be presented to the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. Because I am at my nature empathetic, I immediately felt bad for him. He really didn’t deserve this seat assignment, next to me.

Now let me make something clear. We spent the rest of the flight in polite conversation, and I intentionally did not grill the guy or put any probing questions to him. It was just casual chat, polite and friendly, and I even helped him navigate the airport a bit when we arrived. He invited me to the seminar, but I couldn’t attend due to a scheduling conflict. We probably talked more about his work at Research in Motion than with TC 176. But it was a valuable opportunity for me to get inside the head, and heart, of a man I had previously chastised.

I will not post anything he told me, because he did not give me permission to do so, nor did I even ask. But my own interpretation of our conversation — again, my interpretation, not anything directly stated by him — revealed that as troublesome as the workings of the US TAG to TC 176 are, trying to get anything done at the international level of ISO’s TC 176 is outright mountain-moving. I do not envy Dr. Cort, or anyone in that position.

What I can say is that Dr. Cort’s views are more progressive than what we see in the ISO 9001:2015 drafts, so this clearly doesn’t reflect one man’s vision, nor should it. I am just troubled by the amount of dilution that appears to go on.

The problems within ISO are hardcoded into its DNA, through procedures, individual Old Guard members, antiquated thinking and corporate special interests. They are unlikely to change under anyone’s leadership, including current (interim?) TC 176 Chair Katie Altoft. (Although since her credentials are in environmental management, it’s a curious choice. My gut tells me this is a “safe” bet, since she’s unlikely to challenge the Nigel Crofts and BSI Gods on TC 176, but I am sure God will put me on an airplane with her soon enough, just to sort it all out.)

I do hope that now that he’s freed of his ISO shackles, Dr. Cort will talk more openly about the process, so we can all ask him the questions I was dying to that day on the airplane. Perhaps after the 9001:2015 standard is published.