A Quality Standard Needs an Exception Path

A useful lesson in quality design: a standard that defines only the target can reward the wrong behavior.

Imagine a support team measured mainly on how quickly tickets are closed. The target is clear, but the intended outcome—resolving the customer’s issue—can get lost. People may close cases before the underlying problem is understood.

A stronger standard defines both the outcome and the exception path: what counts as resolved, when a case should stay open, who can make that call, and when the measure itself will be reviewed. That makes the trade-off visible without asking people to ignore the target or stretch it silently.

The lesson is to assign ownership not just for meeting a standard, but for noticing when the standard stops serving its purpose.