How Asking Right Questions Brought Dr. Sophronia Ward Unprecedented Success
Dr. Sophronia Ward, a statistician, specializes in Organizational Excellence and Continual Process Improvement. Building on the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, she integrates the techniques of Statistical Process Control (SPC) with Six Sigma and Lean to achieve stable processes that achieve the highest quality at the lowest cost. Since 1981, she has consulted, coached and offered training services with more than 50 companies across five different countries. The secret of her success with organizations is quite simple – she has learned to ask the right questions!
Dr. Ward’s academic credentials are strong with a B.S. in Statistics from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in Statistics from Virginia Tech. She was honored with outstanding teaching awards at Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her success in industry began in the Summer of 1981 when one of her University of Tennessee colleagues, Alan Lasater, ask her to join him in teaching SPC and other statistics techniques to people who worked in industry. Although new to this world, Frony was eager to apply her skills outside of the university classroom. Together with Al and two other faculty members, Gipsie Ranney and Richard Sanders, Sophronia helped launch The Institute for Productivity Through Quality. The initial class in the fall of 1981 led to a demand for additional classes at UTK in the spring of 1982 plus custom classes for five companies offered during the summer of 1982. It was evident early on that this was going to be something special.
In addition to teaching the classes herself, Sophronia observed those led by her colleagues. While she was already accomplished in teaching statistics, she still had a great deal to learn about applying such expertise within industry. She soon discovered the importance of asking questions; not just any questions – but the right ones!
In early 1982, one of the first companies to engage the services of The Institute for Productivity Through Quality, Mccord-Winn, invited a team to tour their plant in Cookeville, TN. The mission of the visit was to get to know the company and find examples to use in their custom classes. This being her first visit to a manufacturing plant, Sophronia admits to being mesmerized by the activity. There were so many machines making so many different products it was a wonder how everyone kept up with the pace. Meanwhile, Al Lasater was asking a steady stream of questions about many different aspects of the plant. How did he know what questions to ask? This was the start of a crucial lesson – while her skills and knowledge about statistics and analyzing data were essential, learning to ask the right questions could be even more valuable.
Over the next few years, Sophronia continued to partner with Al as they worked with clients in the steel, paint, glass and food industries. In particular, she learned what it meant to observe both processes and the people who ran them. She polished her skills in talking with people about their tasks, asking questions and listening carefully to their responses. Some years later Sophronia was working with a client and suddenly had that Eureka moment. She realized that she was now doing that same thing that she had seen Al do years earlier. She was asking the right questions, and it allowed her to engage with her clients on a whole new level.
Today, Frony continues to channel Al’s teachings as she partners with organizations to achieve superior results in quality, productivity and customer service. Her specialty is in integrating the many improvement methodologies into a customized experience for each client.
Frony’s Motto:
- Keep your eyes open and observe everything.
- Ask questions, particularly the ones that deal with something unusual.
- Talk to everyone about the tasks and how they are done.
- Watch the interactions between people.
- Listen to the conversations people have.
- Show your own interest.
- Offer compliments when you see something exceptional.
- Always remember that the expert is the one doing the work.
- Never lose sight of opportunities for improvement.