Why is focusing on non-conformance missing the point?

Focusing on non-conformance is the first level of compliance. This involves meeting the prescriptive part of a regulation or industry standard. However, standards and regulations have changed and are now more performance-based focused on continuous improvement and risk.

Instead of asking the question, "did we follow the procedure?" Compliance has evolved to answering a different question which is, "how well are we at achieving outcomes such as: zero injuries, zero defects, zero violations, zero environmental impacts, zero ethical misconducts?"

The former is reactive, looking at the past. The latter is proactive, anticipating the future.