I love ice skating- for its elegance and for the sheer joy of doing it. It transformed my life at a time when there appeared to be nothing, helping greatly to overcome depression. I started to believe in myself again.
Gregory James Clark
I strive for continual improvement- in everything I do and advocate the application of Deming's Fourteen Points and Juran's Universal Sequence for Breakthrough. I have worked as a writer, publisher and trainer in the field of Quality Management and am keen to spread knowledge and understanding in this area.
I want to do something to make the world a better place- that is kinder and fairer. I do not believe that it is impossible to use creativity and vision to create it.
I believe we need an alternative to capitalism- because so many things that are quite obviously corrupt, unfair, inefficient and potentially dangerous can be traced to the operation of what I believe to be an outdated system. Having said that, I also believe that we need to learn from history and accept that communism is a worse, rather than a better, theory. Hence my phrases 'the world deserves a choice' and 'a completely new theory is needed'. I believe that such a theory must place Quality at its heart, and also that anti-capitalist protests are futile without such a theory.
I want to bring people together- because all too often people have to struggle by themselves, especially in such areas as finding employment, developing relationships and achieving pride in their work. The Set Formation Act developed in the story line is an attempt to create a framework designed to reduce the potential for relationships to break down through a failure of others to recognise responsibility, leaving others (e.g. taxpayers) to take responsibility and the individual (dumped partners) to pick up the pieces.
I want to pursue the search for Utopia- because I believe it has much in common with the discipline of Total Quality Management. Both concepts are never-ending journeys as is, for example, the pursuit of Zero Defects as advocated by Quality guru, the late Philip Crosby.
I want government to have constancy of purpose- because our system of 'democracy' encourages politicians to be trained in fighting for power by winning elections rather than focusing on the continual improvement of the system that is needed. Hence the exploration of the concept of 'One Party Democracy' that is introduced in the story.
I believe cooperation rather than competition should shape our future- because forcing people to compete sub-optimises resources. Hence my phrase 'competition has its place', for example in a football match where it clearly adds value, but not elsewhere where it can create destructive forces of demotivation. I therefore support the work and philosophy of American broadcaster Alfie Kohn, who has done much valuable research in this area.
I believe in promoting lateral thinking- as advocated by guru Edward de Bono. Thinking about possibilities rather than what is not possible is, I believe, very important, as is the ability to look at the same problem from different angles.
I will work to assure quality and equality in every field of life- so that everyone can develop a purpose, everyone will have fair opportunities to achieve their potential, and will be able to anticipate reliability from people and systems. Too many people are let down by others, some whom they know and some whom they don't. I want to work on the system to help to change this.
About the author: Born and raised in Lancashire, Gregory James Clark went on to graduate with a BSc Honours in Maritime Studies from the University of Wales followed by an MBA from Manchester Metropolitan University. In his professional life he has enjoyed working in the field of Quality Management and the design of programmes including; The Programme for Global Quality Promotion (PGQP) in Russia and the African Nations. Previous publications include Quality Matters: The Decade of Quality 1989 - 2000 (Spire City Publishing 2002) and Deming and Juran: Gift to the World (Spire City Publishing 2007). He is currently the editor of The Electron Newsletter for the Institution of Electronics. In his spare time he enjoys ice dancing, ballroom dancing, golf, chess and snooker and speaks numerous languages including; Dutch, German, Portuguese and Swedish. The Island of Dreams by Gregory James Clark (published by Clink Street Publishing RRP £9.99 paperback and RRP £3.99 ebook) is available to purchase from online retailers including amazon.co.uk and to order from all good bookstores.