Previous Skill Categories have presented the concept that placing the Quality Control step
(Check Process) in line with the activity (Do Process) allows defects to be captured at the
earliest possible point in the process. The economics of this are described in more detail
below.
One outgrowth of this is the idea that there is a proper time and activity to catch defects.
Taking this concept one step further, these organizations are defining defects by their point of
capture.21 Problems that are captured in the phase where they were created, by the quality
control processes designed to capture them, are referred to as errors. Problems discovered at
the “wrong time”, after they have moved from the phase in which they were created, are
designated as defects.
The advantage of this nomenclature is that it recognizes and rewards the efforts to capture
defects promptly, when it is most cost-effective to do so. It also allows the organization better
insight into the effectiveness of the quality control activities being used, providing better
information for the process improvement activities.
The use of this nomenclature also helps to establish the trusting environment required to
support the self-reporting of problems (either errors or defects.) Only when self reporting is
fully functional does an organization have all of the information it needs about the quality of
the development processes. Until that time it has only information about problems discovered
and disclosed by others.