On my drive to O’Hare airport, I will now miss my favorite sign. Unlike the numerous billboards that are changed on a regular basis, this sign has stood the test of time … beyond even its own lifetime. I am not sure why I will miss it, because the sign itself was old and no longer maintained. But it wasn’t an eyesore either. And even if it had been an eyesore, I still would have liked it. Maybe because it touched a memory in my youth or maybe because it boasted one of the greatest and most memorable corporate tag lines ever. It was the Zenith sign boasting their famous line …. The Quality Goes In Before The Name Goes On! I like that line because it reeks of accountability. It sets a sense of priority … we create quality and then we claim it. I will miss that long-standing tall reminder about quality. Even as a nostalgic relic along the freeway, it still served us well as a silent alarm that begged the question of our own quality.
