Task-Level Doom

How to Avoid the Pitfalls When Building a Quality Improvement Culture

By: Luc Blaquiere

Narrated by: Joshua Cearley

Fifteen years in the trenches. Five years at the helm. Countless lessons learned—some the hard way. And now, all the wisdom (and a good dose of humor) is here for you.

Task-Level Doom takes you on a journey through the highs and lows of quality improvement (QI), a world where facilitators walk the fine line between empowering teams and falling into the all-too-familiar trap of just doing the work for them. Drawing from over a decade of experience as a facilitator, leader, and strategist—plus five transformative years as a director building QI teams from scratch—this audiobook offers a candid look at the challenges and triumphs of creating a sustainable culture of improvement.

Through laugh-out-loud anecdotes and real-life lessons (like why a good QI facilitator is more Littlest Hobo than action hero), you’ll discover what it takes to nurture a thriving culture of QI.

Along the way, we’ll explore:

• The seductive dangers of “task-level doom”—how even the best QI teams can get caught in the quicksand of doing instead of guiding.
• The delicate tug-of-war between centralization and decentralization, and why finding balance is the ultimate act of leadership.
• Profiles of the personalities you’ll meet in QI (from the lovable overachiever to the eternal skeptic) and strategies to harness their strengths while mitigating their pitfalls.
• How to avoid the trap of quick wins that celebrate short-term fixes while leaving systemic problems unresolved.

This is not another dry manual of tools and techniques—this is QI unplugged, filled with wit, hard-won wisdom, and practical advice for anyone leading, facilitating, or simply surviving in the world of improvement. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been steering the ship for years, this audiobook will challenge and inspire you to embrace the messy, human side of QI.

©2024 Luc Blaquiere (P)2025 Luc Blaquiere