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Do you recall the story of Rip Van Winkle? In 1819, American author Washington Irving wrote a short story about a man who, while hunting in the Catskill Mountains, came across a group of men drinking moonshine and playing ninepin. Rip was invited to join them and after several drinks he fell asleep. When Rip woke up the men were gone, his rifle was rusted, and he had grown a long beard. Upon traveling back to his village, he eventually realizes he had been asleep for 20 years! Imagine his shock upon discovering his wife had died, his children had grown, and the British colonies were now an independent United States!
From 1996 through 2015, ASQ published results of seven futures studies they conducted roughly every three years in an effort to anticipate and predict the future of quality. Change and change management, especially advances in technology, was rapidly gaining momentum so long-term predictions were futile at best. However, ASQ’s senior leadership is to be applauded for repeating this exercise because these studies provide the quality practitioners a glimpse of the possible (probable?) future.