Quality is Everywhere in Life
The most important feature that distinguishes human beings from other living things is always the urge to seek the better. In fact, quality is not the generally accepted definitions of durability, aesthetics, and above standards, but exceeding expectations. Therefore, quality is a dynamic concept and every expectation that is met takes the concept of quality to the next level. For example, the cars of the 1960s, which were described as high quality, began to be seen only as average in the 1970s, and in the 1980s, cars that would be produced in that standard no longer even had the opportunity to be sold. Today, it is unthinkable that anyone, except collectors, would want to buy a tube black and white television that was once considered excellent.
Therefore, quality is an effort to meet the human instinct to always seek better. So, what do people look for in life? The answer to this question is a question that has troubled philosophers, scientists and statesmen for thousands of years, that every person asks himself from time to time, but does not have a single answer. Even different religious beliefs have different definitions for 'nirvana'. There are many dimensions that define life: meeting the biological and physiological needs of people such as food, water, shelter, sleep, meeting the needs of security, protection from dangers, belonging to a group, having a family, establishing a relationship, meeting the needs of love, being able to act independently. To achieve a respected position in society, to meet the needs of being successful, to develop knowledge and experience, to meet mental needs such as finding meaning in life, to meet aesthetic needs such as beauty and artistic wealth, to meet motivations such as self-development, to have different experiences, to help others develop themselves. like satisfying their motives.
For this reason, when talking about the quality of life in a society, it is necessary to express not only the length of life or the high level of income, but also the diversity in all these dimensions and the level achieved. Moreover, when speaking of a society, it is necessary to consider not only the level reached by the best, but also the level reached by the average person and the situation of the most deprived. For example, it is clear that there is still a long way to go in terms of quality of life in one of the world's superpowers, such as the USA, where there are many hungry people and many deprived of social security. On the other hand, in Cuba, which can be ranked far behind in terms of wealth and people's independence, women who hitchhike to go home at midnight are not considered badly, everyone helps each other in this regard, and if it is perceived as a normal part of life, they are ahead of many countries in terms of security and social understanding. can be said to be.
While evaluating the quality of life from a social point of view, not only the situation in a certain period of time, but also the issue of what kind of environment is prepared for future generations should also be evaluated. Can it be said that the quality of life is good in societies that use their wealth only for pleasure and enjoyment, do not spare enough resources for the upbringing of future generations, or do not hesitate to pollute the environment for today's wealth and leave difficult problems for future generations to solve?
Therefore, increasing the quality of life requires a social movement that includes all areas of life. On the one hand, it is ensured that the necessary steps are taken by all segments of the society so that each day can be better than the previous one, on the other hand, giving importance to the creation of realistic but challenging expectations helps both to increase the speed of social development and to keep the level of social happiness and motivation high during this development process. .
From bingeing to having a pleasant meal; from covering up, creating fashion, sheltering, living in environments with high aesthetic values and harmony, enriching and sharing; from acquiring knowledge to producing knowledge; There is a common management approach that we need to adopt in order to enable the transition to see differences as wealth: Total Quality Management. This management approach is to be result and customer-oriented, to create a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, to adopt a sharing management approach based on data, to be consistent, fair, accountable, transparent, responsible for all stakeholders and the future in order to ensure the effective use of limited resources in line with common goals. requires commitment.
As we increase the number of those who adopt and implement this management approach, we will contribute to the formation of a society that will enable us to increase the speed of our development, no matter how we define the quality of life.
