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By Mihar Dias July 2025
Some people grow up with bedtime stories. I grew up with quality control lectures — specifically about toothpaste.
In my house, the toothpaste tube wasn’t just a household item; it was a symbol of moral character. If you squeezed from the middle, you weren’t just careless — you were a danger to society. The consequences were swift and memorable. My old man would thunder from across the house:
“Who squeezed the toothpaste like an idiot?!”
So, for the rest of the week, your crime would be brought up at every conceivable moment. Over breakfast, during your evening bath, while watching MacGyver.
“You see, this is what happens when you don’t follow instructions. The world descends into chaos.”
At the time, I thought it was just a weird family quirk. But it turns out, it was early training for life.
You see, years later — after tiptoeing through childhood and school by complying with everything humanly possible — I labeled myself a “quality kid.” Not smart, not brilliant, not adventurous. Just someone who knew how to avoid trouble by doing things exactly the way they were expected to be done. I was the human equivalent of following assembly instructions on an IKEA shelf.
Then in my adult life, I stumbled upon a book that felt oddly familiar: Quality Without Tears by Philip Crosby.
I even had the chance to meet Crosby in his Orlando office when I was 40. He was a straight-talking, no-fluff American business guru who basically told the corporate world what my old man told me about toothpaste:
Do it right the first time. Or suffer.
Crosby’s philosophy was simple — quality is conformance to requirements, not some mystical pursuit of perfection.
No need for overthinking or gold-plating. Just meet the agreed expectations, and life (and business) will run smoother.
I remember thinking — good grief, I’ve been living this philosophy since I was seven, armed with a Colgate tube.
The genius of Crosby’s message was in its simplicity. Corporations and governments had been tying themselves in knots, thinking quality meant overcomplicating everything with fancy slogans and impossible standards.
Crosby cut through that nonsense. He made CEOs realise that half their problems came from people doing things half-heartedly, or worse, creatively, when nobody asked them to be creative. A hint for Madani government to look at life differently now that it's the government.
Now, don’t get me wrong — I admire creativity. But I’ve also seen what happens when you give too much free rein to people who still don’t know how to squeeze a toothpaste tube properly.
They’ll redesign it, turn it into a toothpaste gun, and then complain when it explodes in their face.
Most of life, I’ve discovered, isn’t about being a genius or a maverick. It’s about doing the small, boring things right. Turning up on time. Reading the email properly. Meeting deadlines. Not squeezing toothpaste like a lunatic. You don’t need an MBA for this.
People who get ahead in life aren’t necessarily the smartest. They’re the ones who comply with requirements. That’s how you pass your exams, get hired, avoid workplace HR memos, and remain invited to family dinners.
Sure, my fear of getting it wrong probably made me overly cautious. I wasn’t the kid who colored outside the lines. I was the kid who double-checked which shade of blue to use for the sky, because I didn’t want my old man interrogating me about why the clouds were pink. But as Crosby proved, understanding the basics before you break the rules is crucial.
Even now, decades later, every time I squeeze a tube of toothpaste, I think of my father, Crosby, and the legions of bosses and clients I’ve avoided disappointing by simply paying attention to details.
Quality of life? It’s not a yacht or a bungalow with a koi pond. It’s not having to redo a job because you did it properly the first time. It’s not living in fear of the toothpaste police.
So, for what it’s worth — pay attention to the small stuff. Start with your toothpaste.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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