Just for Fun

A little enjoyment is always important. I recently read a blog post entitled 15 Facts That Will Make You Laugh. 

A few of those facts are:

• There is a Welch town with a 58-letter name, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
• You used to be able to send children by mail in the U.S.
• German chocolate cake originated in Dallas, Texas

Reading the blog caused me to think about some interesting facts about Baldrige. I’ll start with some about the Baldrige family and then some about the Baldrige Excellence Framework®/Criteria.

Baldrige Family

Malcolm “Mac” Baldrige, as most readers of this blog know, was the 26th Secretary of Commerce and the person honored in the name of the Baldrige Program. 

But did you know:

• That his full name was Howard Malcolm Baldrige, Jr
• That he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1988
• That his father was a U.S. Congressman from Nebraska
• That his brother, Robert Baldridge, changed the spelling of his last name because he was tired of people adding the extra “d”
• That his sister, Letitia “Tish” Baldrige,  was Jacqueline Kennedy’s Chief of Staff in the White House. She subsequently became an etiquette advisor and authored numerous books on etiquette. She was a member of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board and a friend of the Program until she passed away. (She was also quite irreverent when the opportunity presented itself.)
• That Mac Baldrige and his wife, Midge, had two daughters, Megan and Molly, who continue to be friends of the Program and support the Baldrige Foundation.

Baldrige Criteria

Again, as most readers of this blog know, the Baldrige Framework has undergone significant revision over its almost 40-year history to always remain at the leading edge of validated leadership and performance practice. 

But did you know:

• That the first set of criteria had 42 items (compared to 17 in 2022-2024)
• That the Baldrige Core Values and Concepts, although always embedded in the Baldrige criteria, were first introduced in 1992, five years after the program started
• That the Organizational Profile, defining the organization and its strategic environment, first appeared in 2001
• That the rubric for measuring process maturity – Approach, Deployment, Learning, Integration, or ADLI – was first introduced in 2004
• That the rubric for measuring results maturity – Levels, Trends, Comparisons, Integration, or LeTCI (let’s see) – was first introduced in 2008
• That the Award criteria were separated from the more educational Baldrige Excellence Framework® in 2024.

One Final Tidbit

Did you know that the Baldrige Program has only had three directors to date? The first two were chemists, who had analytical backgrounds but no business degrees. The third and current director has a business degree and small business experience!

2023-2024 Baldrige Excellence Framework®

The Baldrige Excellence Framework® has empowered organizations to accomplish their missions, improve results, and become more competitive. It includes the Criteria for Performance Excellence®, core values and concepts, and guidelines for evaluating your processes and results.

Purchase your copy today!

Available versions: Business/Nonprofit, Education, and Health Care