INCOMPETENCE  

Incompetence has always existed and always will...as will ardent lamentations about it. But today, incompetence is so prevalent in America that it is sapping our economy, hampering our ability to compete, threatening our well being, impinging on our quality of life, and eroding the social contract. Slowly, the bonds of mutual trust, so essential to survival and progress of any society are beginning to unravel.  

What's most terrifying is that incompetence is like a cancer; if left unchecked, it will metastasize, spreading from the individual to the organization, from one generation to the next, growing more virulent and inexorable, invading all parts of the body politic until our nation ceases to function!  

We must not be afraid to insist on quality, to assert and defend our standards of excellence, to condemn incompetence in all its manifestations.  

A sense of quality is essential to any company that aspires to progress. Put another way, a company afraid of excellence should not be surprised by incompetence.  

Detroit Free Press (compilation), 1991