W. Edwards Deming

W. Edwards Deming

William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 - December 20, 1993) was an American statistician, college professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the latter through global markets) through various methods, including the application of statistical methods such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hypothesis testing. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan becoming renowned for producing innovative high-quality products. Deming is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage. Despite being considered something of a hero in Japan, he was only beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his death.

William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical physics, he helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the U.S. Department of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In his book The New Economics for Industry, Government, and Education, Deming championed the work of Walter Shewhart, including statistical process control, operational definitions, and what Deming called the "Shewhart Cycle" which had evolved into PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act). This was in response to the growing popularity of PDSA, which Deming viewed as tampering with the meaning of Shewhart's original work. Deming is best known for his work in Japan after WWII, particularly his work with the leaders of Japanese industry. That work began in August 1950 at the Hakone Convention Center in Tokyo when Deming delivered a speech on what he called "Statistical Product Quality Administration". Many in Japan credit Deming as the inspiration for what has become known as the Japanese post-war economic miracle of 1950 to 1960, when Japan rose from the ashes of war to start Japan on the road to becoming the second largest economy in the world through processes founded on the ideas Deming taught:

1. Better design of products to improve service
2. Higher level of uniform product quality
3. Improvement of product testing in the workplace and in research centers
4. Greater sales through side [global] markets

Deming is best known in the United States for his 14 Points (Out of the Crisis, by W. Edwards Deming, preface) and his system of thought he called the "System of Profound Knowledge". The system includes four components or "lenses" through which to view the world simultaneously:

1. Appreciating a system
2. Understanding variation
3. Psychology
4. Epistemology, the theory of knowledge

Deming made a significant contribution to Japan's reputation for innovative, high-quality products, and for its economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact on Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage. Despite being honored in Japan in 1951 with the establishment of the Deming Prize, he was only just beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his death in 1993. President Ronald Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Technology in 1987. The following year, the National Academy of Sciences gave Deming the Distinguished Career in Science award.

Overview

Deming received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming at Laramie (1921), an MS from the University of Colorado (1925), and a PhD from Yale University (1928). Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and physics. He had an internship at Western Electric's Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois while studying at Yale. He later worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Census Department. While working under Gen. Douglas MacArthur as a census consultant to the Japanese government, he was asked to teach a short seminar on statistical process control methods to members of the Radio Corps, at the invitation of Sarasohn. During this visit he was contacted by JUSE, the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers, to talk directly to Japanese business leaders, not about Statistical Process Control, but about his theories of management, returning to Japan for many years to consult. Later, he became a professor at New York University while engaged as an independent consultant in Washington, D.C.

Deming was the author of Quality Productivity and Competitive Position, Out of the Crisis (1982–1986) and The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993), and books on statistics and sampling. Deming played the flute and drums and composed music throughout his life, including sacred choral compositions and an arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner.

In 1993, he founded the W. Edwards Deming Institute in Washington, D.C., where the Deming Collection at the U.S. Library of Congress includes an extensive audiotape and videotape archive. The aim of the Institute is to foster understanding of the Deming System of Profound Knowledge to advance commerce, prosperity, and peace.

Deming's teachings and philosophy are clearly illustrated by examining the results they produced after they were adopted by Japanese industry, as the following example shows. Ford Motor Company was simultaneously manufacturing a car model with transmissions made in Japan and the United States. Soon after the car model was on the market, Ford customers were requesting the model with Japanese transmission over the US-made transmission, and they were willing to wait for the Japanese model. As both transmissions were made to the same specifications, Ford engineers could not understand the customer preference for the model with Japanese transmission. Finally, Ford engineers decided to take apart the two different transmissions. The American-made car parts were all within specified tolerance levels. On the other hand, the Japanese car parts were virtually identical to each other, and much closer to the nominal values for the parts—e.g., if a part was supposed to be one foot long, plus or minus 1/8 of an inch—then the Japanese parts were all within 1/16 of an inch, less variation. This made the Japanese cars run more smoothly and customers experienced fewer problems.

Life

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Deming was raised in Polk City, Iowa on his grandfather's chicken farm, then later in Powell, Wyoming. His father's name was also "William" so he was called "Edwards" (the maiden name of his mother, Pluma Irene Edwards). In 1917, he enrolled in the University of Wyoming at Laramie, graduating in 1921 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. In 1925, he received an M.S. from the University of Colorado, and in 1928, a Ph.D. from Yale University. Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and mathematical physics. Deming worked as a mathematical physicist at the United States Department of Agriculture (1927–39), and was a statistical adviser for the United States Census Bureau (1939–45). He was a professor of statistics at New York University's graduate school of business administration (1946-1993), and he taught at Columbia University's graduate School of business (1988-1993). He also was a consultant for private business.

Deming married Agnes Bell in 1922 in Wyoming, with whom he had a daughter, Dorothy. Agnes died in 1930. Deming later married Lola Elizabeth Shupe in 1932. They had two daughters, Diana and Linda. His oldest daughter, Dorothy died in 1984.

The Demings lived in Washington, D. C. for the remainder of their lives in the house that they bought in 1936. With her family at her side, Lola Deming died on 25 June 1986. Deming, surrounded by his family, died of cancer at his home on 20 December 1993.

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, William Edwards Deming was raised in Polk City, Iowa on his grandfather Henry Coffin Edwards's chicken farm, then later on a 40-acre (16 ha) farm purchased by his father in Powell, Wyoming. He was the son of William Albert Deming and Pluma Irene Edwards, His parents were well educated and emphasized the importance of education to their children. Pluma had studied in San Francisco and was a musician. William Albert had studied mathematics and law.

He was a direct descendant of John Deming, (1615–1705) an early Puritan settler and original patentee of the Connecticut Colony, and Honor Treat, the daughter of Richard Treat (1584–1669) an early New England settler, Deputy to the Connecticut Legislature and also a Patentee of the Royal Charter of Connecticut, 1662.

Deming married Agnes Bell in 1922, She died in 1930, a little more than a year after they had adopted a daughter, Dorothy. Deming made use of various private homes to help raise the infant, and following his marriage in 1932 to Lola Elizabeth Shupe, with whom he coauthored several papers, he brought her back home to stay. He and Lola had two more children, Diana and Linda. Diana and Linda survive, along with seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Dorothy died in 1984 and Lola in 1986.

Work

Deming was a professor of statistics at New York University's graduate school of business administration (1946–1993), and taught at Columbia University's graduate school of business (1988–1993). He also was a consultant for private business.

In 1927 Deming was introduced to Walter A. Shewhart of the Bell Telephone Laboratories by Dr. C.H. Kunsman of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Deming found great inspiration in the work of Shewhart, the originator of the concepts of statistical control of processes and the related technical tool of the control chart, as Deming began to move toward the application of statistical methods to industrial production and management. Shewhart's idea of common and special causes of variation led directly to Deming's theory of management. Deming saw that these ideas could be applied not only to manufacturing processes but also to the processes by which enterprises are led and managed. This key insight made possible his enormous influence on the economics of the industrialized world after 1950.

Deming edited a series of lectures delivered by Shewhart at USDA, Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, into a book published in 1939. One reason he learned so much from Shewhart, Deming remarked in a videotaped interview, was that, while brilliant, Shewhart had an "uncanny ability to make things difficult"; Deming thus spent a great deal of time both copying Shewhart's ideas and devising ways to present them with his own twist.

Deming developed the sampling techniques that were used for the first time during the 1940 U.S. Census. During World War II Deming was a member of the five-man Emergency Technical Committee. He worked with H. F. Dodge, A.G. Ashcroft, Leslie E. Simon, R.E. Wareham and John Gaillard in the compilation of the American War Standards (American Standards Association ZI.1-3 published in 1942) and taught statistical process control (SPC) techniques to workers engaged in wartime production. Statistical methods were widely applied during World War II, but faded into disuse a few years later in the face of huge overseas demand for American mass-produced product.

Work in Japan

After World War II (1947), Deming was involved in early planning for the 1951 Japanese Census. He was asked by the Department of the Army to assist in this census. While he was there, his expertise in quality control techniques, combined with his involvement in Japanese society, led to his receiving an invitation by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).

JUSE members had studied Shewhart's techniques, and as part of Japan's reconstruction efforts they sought an expert to teach statistical control. During June-August 1950, Deming trained hundreds of engineers, managers, and scholars in statistical process control (SPC) and concepts of quality. He also conducted at least one session for top management. Deming's message to Japan's chief executives: improving quality will reduce expenses while increasing productivity and market share. Perhaps the best known of these management lectures was delivered at the Mt. Hakone Conference Center in August of 1950.

A number of Japanese manufacturers applied his techniques widely, and experienced theretofore unheard of levels of quality and productivity. The improved quality combined with the lowered cost created new international demand for Japanese products.

Deming declined to receive royalties from the transcripts of his 1950 lectures, so JUSE's board of directors established the Deming Prize (December 1950) to repay him for his friendship and kindness. The Deming Prize, especially the Deming Application Prize that is given to companies, has exerted an immeasurable influence directly or indirectly on the development of quality control and quality management in Japan.

In 1960, the Prime Minister of Japan (Nobusuke Kishi), acting on behalf of Emperor Hirohito, awarded Deming Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasures, Second Class. The citation on the medal recognizes Deming's contributions to Japan’s industrial rebirth and its worldwide success.

The first section of the meritorious service record describes his work in Japan:

• 1947 Rice Statistics Mission member
• 1950 assistant to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
• instructor in sample survey methods in government statistics

The second half of the record lists his service to private enterprise through the introduction of epochal ideas, such as quality control and market survey techniques.

Later work in the U.S.

David Salsburg wrote:

"He was known for his kindness to and consideration for those he worked with, for his robust, if very subtle, humor, and for his interest in music. He sang in a choir, played drums and flute, and published several original pieces of sacred music." (page 254, The Lady Tasting Tea)

Later, from his home in Washington, D.C., Deming continued running his own consultancy business in the United States, largely unknown and unrecognized in his country of origin and work. In 1980, he was featured prominently in an NBC documentary titled If Japan can... Why can't we? about the increasing industrial competition the United States was facing from Japan. As a result of the broadcast, demand for his services increased dramatically, and Deming continued consulting for industry throughout the world until his death at the age of 93.

Ford Motor Company was one of the first American corporations to seek help from Deming. In 1981, Ford recruited Deming to help jump-start its quality movement. Ford's sales were falling. Between 1979 and 1982, Ford had incurred $3 billion in losses. Deming questioned their company's culture and the way its managers operated. To Ford's surprise, Deming talked not about quality but about management. He told Ford that management actions were responsible for 85% of all problems in developing better cars. After 1982, Ford came out with a profitable line of cars, the Taurus-Sable line. In a letter to Autoweek Magazine, Donald Petersen, then Ford Chairman said, "We are moving toward building a quality culture at Ford and the many changes that have been taking place here have their roots directly in Deming's teachings." By 1986, Ford had become the most profitable American auto company. Its earnings, for the first time since the 1920s had exceeded those of arch rivals General Motors (GM). Ford had come to lead the American automobile industry in improvements. Ford's following years' earnings confirmed that its success was not a fluke for its earnings had continued to exceed GM and Chrysler's.

In 1982, Deming, as author, had his book published by the MIT Center for Advanced Engineering as Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position, which was renamed to Out of the Crisis in 1986. Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. "Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment."

Over the course of his career, Deming received dozens of academic awards, including another, honorary, Ph.D. from Oregon State University. In 1987 he was awarded the National Medal of Technology: "For his forceful promotion of statistical methodology, for his contributions to sampling theory, and for his advocacy to corporations and nations of a general management philosophy that has resulted in improved product quality." In 1988, he received the Distinguished Career in Science award from the National Academy of Sciences.

In 1993, Deming published his final book The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education, which included the System of Profound Knowledge™ and the 14 Points for Management. It also contained educational concepts involving group-based teaching without grades, as well as management without individual merit or performance reviews.

In December 1993, W. Edwards Deming died in his sleep at his Washington home about 3 a.m. due to "natural causes." His family was by his side when he died.

Deming and his staff continued to advise businesses large and small. From 1985 through 1989, Deming served as a consultant to Vernay Laboratories, a rubber manufacturing firm in Yellow Springs, Ohio, with fewer than 1,000 employees. He held several week-long seminars for employees and suppliers of the small company where his infamous example "Workers on the Red Beads" spurred several major changes in Vernay's manufacturing processes.

Deming joined the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University in 1988. In 1990, during his last year, he founded the W. Edwards Deming Center for Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness at Columbia Business School to promote operational excellence in business through the development of research, best practices and strategic planning.

In 1990, Marshall Industries (NYSE:MI, 1984–1999) CEO Robert Rodin trained with the then 90-year-old Deming and his colleague Nida Backaitis. Marshall Industries' dramatic transformation and growth from $400 million to $1.8 billion in sales was chronicled in Deming's last book The New Economics, a Harvard Case Study, and Rodin's book, Free, Perfect and Now.

In 1993, Deming published his final book, The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education, which included the System of Profound Knowledge and the 14 Points for Management. It also contained educational concepts involving group-based teaching without grades, as well as management without individual merit or performance reviews.

Deming died in his sleep at the age of 93 in his Washington home from cancer on December 20, 1993. When asked, toward the end of his life, how he would wish to be remembered in the U.S., he replied, "I probably won't even be remembered." After a pause, he added, "Well, maybe ... as someone who spent his life trying to keep America from committing suicide."

Deming philosophy synopsis

The philosophy of W. Edwards Deming has been summarized as follows:

"Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations can increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs (by reducing waste, rework, staff attrition and litigation while increasing customer loyalty). The key is to practice continual improvement and think of manufacturing as a system, not as bits and pieces."

In the 1970s, Deming's philosophy was summarized by some of his Japanese proponents with the following 'a'-versus-'b' comparison:

(a) When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, quality defined by the following ratio:

${\mathit {Quality}}\ ={\frac {\mathit {Results\ of\ work\ efforts}}{\mathit {Total\ costs}}}$,

then quality tends to increase and costs fall over time.

(b) However, when people and organizations focus primarily on cost, (often dominant/typical human behavior) then costs (due to not minimizing waste, ignoring amount of rework occurring, taking staff for granted, not rapidly resolving disputes and failing to notice lack of product improvement plus, over time, loss of customer loyalty) tend to rise and quality declines over time.

The Deming System of Profound Knowledge

The System of Profound Knowledge comes from W. Edwards Deming. Dr Deming said that hard work is not enough. What is needed is a transformation of the prevailing style of management. The System of Profound Knowledge has four parts.

1. Appreciation of a system: understanding the overall processes involving suppliers, producers, and customers (or recipients) of goods and services;
2. Knowledge of variation: the range and causes of variation in quality, and use of statistical sampling in measurements;
3. Theory of knowledge: the concepts explaining knowledge and the limits of what can be known (see also: epistemology);
4. Knowledge of psychology: concepts of human nature.

Deming's "Profound Knowledge" is a system. This means that the four parts interact with one another. Real transformation will only start when there has been some progress in all parts.

For example, these days you can see Shewhart control charts in many manufacturing operations in Europe and America. But most of these companies get very little benefit from the charts because they do not know how to act as part of a system. The only way to get efficient stable processes is to have full co-operation across all departments and outside suppliers to control the variation. To get this co-operation managers need to understand enough psychology to know how to provide the leadership which will focus everyone's attention on getting the best results for the system as a whole.

A lot of mistakes are made during the 'Study' phase of the Plan Do Study Act cycle because results are misinterpreted due to a lack of understanding of the nature of variation.

Everything is Process

The processes that should be continuously improved are not confined to the factory floor or school classroom. Everything should be open to improvement. This is especially true of the broad policies which come from senior management. Taking just one example, think about the large number of hours that supervisors spend on staff appraisal in most large companies. Maybe the huge costs involved in this exercise are justified, but maybe the same outcome (or better) could be achieved with a less formal system. We will never know until someone applies the Plan Do Study Act cycle - with experiments - to staff appraisal.

The System of Profound Knowledge™ is the basis for application of Deming's famous 14 Points for Management, described below.

Key principles

Deming offered fourteen key principles to managers for transforming business effectiveness. The points were first presented in his book Out of the Crisis. (p. 23–24) Although Deming does not use the term in his book, it is credited with launching the Total Quality Management movement.

Deming explained, "One need not be eminent in any part nor in all four parts in order to understand it and to apply it. The 14 points for management in industry, education, and government follow naturally as application of this outside knowledge, for transformation from the present style of Western management to one of optimization."

Deming offered fourteen key principles for management for transforming business effectiveness. In summary:

1. Create constancy of purpose for the improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, stay in business, and provide jobs.
2. Adopt a new philosophy of cooperation (win-win) in which everybody wins and put it into practice by teaching it to employees, customers and suppliers.
3. Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve quality. Instead, improve the process and build quality into the product in the first place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag alone. Instead, minimize total cost in the long run. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, based on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly, and forever, the system of production, service, planning, of any activity. This will improve quality and productivity and thus constantly decrease costs.
6. Institute training for skills.
7. Adopt and institute leadership for the management of people, recognizing their different abilities, capabilities, and aspiration. The aim of leadership should be to help people, machines, and gadgets do a better job. Leadership of management is in need of overhaul, as well as leadership of production workers.
8. Drive out fear and build trust so that everyone can work more effectively.
9. Break down barriers between departments. Abolish competition and build a win-win system of cooperation within the organization. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team to foresee problems of production and use that might be encountered with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets asking for zero defects or new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
11. Eliminate numerical goals, numerical quotas and management by objectives. Substitute leadership.
12. Remove barriers that rob people of joy in their work. This will mean abolishing the annual rating or merit system that ranks people and creates competition and conflict.
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

"Massive training is required to instill the courage to break with tradition. Every activity and every job is a part of the process."

Seven Deadly Diseases

The Seven Deadly Diseases:

1. Lack of constancy of purpose.
2. Emphasis on short-term profits.
3. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance.
4. Mobility of management.
5. Running a company on visible figures alone.
6. Excessive medical costs.
7. Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers who work for contingency fees.

A Lesser Category of Obstacles:

1. Neglecting long-range planning.
2. Relying on technology to solve problems.
3. Seeking examples to follow rather than developing solutions.
4. Excuses such as "Our problems are different."

Quotations and concepts

In his later years, Deming taught many concepts, which he emphasized by key sayings or quotations that he repeated. A number of these quotes have been recorded. Some of the concepts might seem to be oxymorons or contradictory to each other; however, the student is given each concept to ponder its meaning in the whole system, over time.

• "There is no substitute for knowledge": This statement emphasizes the need to know more, about everything in the system. It is considered as a contrast to the old statement, "There is no substitute for hard work" by Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931). Instead, a small amount of knowledge could save many hours of hard work, just as knowing a password could save hours trying to remember or getting the password re-authorized or reset.

• "The most important things cannot be measured": The issues that are most important, long term, cannot be measured in advance. However, they might be among the factors that an organization is measuring, just not understood as most important at the time.

• "The most important things are unknown or unknowable": The factors that have the greatest impact, long term, can be quite surprising. Analogous to an earthquake that disrupts service, other "earth-shattering" events that most affect an organization will be unknown or unknowable, in advance. Other examples of important things would be: a drastic change in technology, or new investment capital.

• "Experience by itself teaches nothing": This statement emphasizes the need to interpret and apply information against a theory or framework of concepts that is the basis for knowledge about a system. It is considered as a contrast to the old statement, "Experience is the best teacher" (Deming disagreed with that). To Deming, knowledge is best taught by a master who explains the overall system through which experience is judged; experience, without understanding the underlying system, is just raw data that can be misinterpreted against a flawed theory of reality. Deming's view of experience is related to Shewhart's concept, "Data has no meaning apart from its context" (see Walter A. Shewhart, "Later Work").

• "By what method? ...Only the method counts": When information is obtained, or data is measured, the method, or process used to gather information, greatly affects the results. For example, the "Hawthorne effect" showed that people just asking frequently for opinions seemed to affect the resulting outcome, since some people felt better just being asked for their opinion. Deming warned that basing judgments on customer complaints, alone, ignored the general population of other opinions, which should be judged together, such as in a statistical sample of the whole, not just isolated complaints: survey the entire group about their likes and dislikes. The extreme complaints might not represent the attitudes of the whole group. Similarly, measuring or counting data depends on the instrument or method used.

• "You can expect what you inspect": Deming emphasized the importance of measuring and testing to predict typical results. If a phase consists of inputs + process + outputs, all 3 are inspected to some extent. Problems with inputs are a major source of trouble, but the process using those inputs can also have problems. By inspecting the inputs and the process more, the outputs can be better predicted, and inspected less. Rather than use mass inspection of every output product, the output can be statistically sampled in a cause-effect relationship through the process.

• "Special Causes and Common Causes": Deming considered anomalies in quality to be variations outside the control limits of a process. Such variations could be attributed to one-time events called "special causes" or to repeated events called "common causes" that hinder quality.

• Acceptable Defects: Rather than waste efforts on zero-defect goals, Deming stressed the importance of establishing a level of variation, or anomalies, acceptable to the recipient (or customer) in the next phase of a process. Oftentimes, some defects are quite acceptable, and efforts to remove all defects would be an excessive waste of time and money.

• The Deming Cycle (or Shewhart Cycle): As a repetitive process to determine the next action, the Deming Cycle describes a simple method to test information before making a major decision. The 4 steps in the Deming Cycle are: Plan-Do-Check-Act (or Plan-Do-Study-Act). Deming called the cycle the Shewhart Cycle, after Walter A. Shewhart. The cycle can be used in various ways, such as running an experiment: PLAN (design) the experiment; DO the experiment by performing the steps; CHECK the results by testing information; and ACT on the decisions based on those results.

• Semi-Automated, not Fully-Automated: Deming lamented the problem of automation gone awry ("robots painting robots"): instead, he advocated human-assisted semi-automation which allows people to change the semi-automated or computer-assisted processes, based on new knowledge. Compare to Japanese term 'jidoka' (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch").

• "The problem is at the top; management is the problem": Deming emphasized that the top-level management had to change to produce significant differences, in a long-term, continuous manner. As a consultant, Deming would offer advice to top-level managers, if asked repeatedly, in a continuous manner.

• "What is a system? A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system. The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgment. (We are of course talking here about a man-made system.)"

• "A system must be managed. It will not manage itself. Left to themselves in the Western world, components become selfish, competitive. We can not afford the destructive effect of competition."

• "To successfully respond to the myriad of changes that shake the world, transformation into a new style of management is required. The route to take is what I call profound knowledge - knowledge for leadership of transformation."

• "The worker is not the problem. The problem is at the top! Management!" Management’s job. It is management’s job to direct the efforts of all components toward the aim of the system. The first step is clarification: everyone in the organization must understand the aim of the system, and how to direct his efforts toward it. Everyone must understand the damage and loss to the whole organization from a team that seeks to become a selfish, independent, profit centre."

• "They realized that the gains that you get by statistical methods are gains that you get without new machinery, without new people. Anybody can produce quality if he lowers his production rate. That is not what I am talking about. Statistical thinking and statistical methods are to Japanese production workers, foremen, and all the way through the company, a second language. In statistical control you have a reproducible product hour after hour, day after day. And see how comforting that is to management, they now know what they can produce, they know what their costs are going to be."

• "I think that people here expect miracles. American management thinks that they can just copy from Japan—but they don't know what to copy!"

• "What is the variation trying to tell us about a process, about the people in the process?" Dr. Shewhart created the basis for the control chart and the concept of a state of statistical control by carefully designed experiments. While Dr. Shewhart drew from pure mathematical statistical theories, he understood data from physical processes never produce a "normal distribution curve" (a Gaussian distribution, also commonly referred to as a "bell curve"). He discovered that observed variation in manufacturing data did not always behave the same way as data in nature (Brownian motion of particles). Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation, some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process, while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process causal system at all times. Deming renamed these distinctions "common cause" for chance causes and "special cause" for assignable causes. He did this so the focus would be placed on those responsible for doing something about the variation, rather than the source of the variation. It is top management’s responsibility to address "common cause" variation, and therefore it is management’s responsibility to make improvements to the whole system. Because ";;special cause" variation is assignable, workers, supervisors or middle managers that have direct knowledge of the assignable cause best address this type of specific intervention.

• (Deming on Quality Circles) "That's all window dressing. That's not fundamental. That's not getting at change and the transformation that must take place. Sure we have to solve problems. Certainly stamp out the fire. Stamp out the fire and get nowhere. Stamp out the fires puts us back to where we were in the first place. Taking action on the basis of results without theory of knowledge, without theory of variation, without knowledge about a system. Anything goes wrong, do something about it, overreacting; acting without knowledge, the effect is to make things worse. With the best of intentions and best efforts, managing by results is, in effect, exactly the same, as Dr. Myron Tribus put it, while driving your automobile, keeping your eye on the rear view mirror, what would happen? And that's what management by results is, keeping your eye on results."

• "Knowledge is theory. We should be thankful if action of management is based on theory. Knowledge has temporal spread. Information is not knowledge. The world is drowning in information but is slow in acquisition of knowledge. There is no substitute for knowledge." This statement emphasizes the need for theory of knowledge (see: epistemology, Shewhart cycle, C. I. Lewis).

• "Experience by itself teaches nothing." "Without theory, experience has no meaning. Without theory, one has no questions to ask. Hence without theory there is no learning." These statements emphasize the need to interpret information using a theory or framework of concepts for learning to take place, theory of knowledge. Deming's view of experience is related to Shewhart's concept, "Data has no meaning apart from its context" (see Walter A. Shewhart, "Later work").

• "The most important figures that one needs for management are unknown or unknowable (Lloyd S. Nelson, director of statistical methods for the Nashua corporation), but successful management must nevertheless take account of them." Deming realized that many important things, that must be managed, couldn’t be measured. Both points are important. One, not everything of importance to management can be measured. And two, you must still manage those important things. Spend $20,000 training 10 people in a special skill. What's the benefit? "You'll never know," answered Deming. "You'll never be able to measure it. Why did you do it? Because you believed it would pay off. Theory." Deming is often incorrectly quoted as saying: "you can't manage what you can't measure." In fact, he stated one of the seven deadly diseases of management is running a company on visible figures alone.

• "By what method?" When information is obtained, or data is measured, the method, or process used to gather information, affects the results. Deming warned that basing judgments on customer complaints, alone, ignored the general population of other opinions, which should be judged together, such as in a statistical sample of the whole (Sampling (statistics)). Changing the method changes the results. Aim and method are essential. An aim without a method is useless. A method without an aim is dangerous. It leads to action without direction, and without constancy of purpose. Deming used an illustration of washing a table to teach a lesson about the relationship between purpose and method. If you tell someone to wash a table, but not the reason for washing it, they cannot do the job properly. That does not mean just giving the explanation without an operational definition. The information about why the table needs to be washed, and what is to be done with it makes it possible to do the job intelligently.

Legacy

W. Edwards Deming developed the System of Profound Knowledge as a comprehensive theory for management. For more than 40 years, Deming served as a revered consultant in statistical studies with a worldwide practice. His clients included railways, telephone companies, carriers of motor freight, manufacturing companies, hospitals, legal firms, government agencies and research organizations.

Although Deming passed away in December 1993 at the age of 93, his core principles are enduring - from quality-centric management to business process reengineering to revenue optimization. Deming believed passionately that leaders should aim for constant improvement in the product or service they offer, and that they should have a long term, not short term orientation.

Major publications

• Deming, W. Edwards. 1986. Out of the Crisis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0911379010.
• Deming, W. Edwards. 2000. The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0262541165.
• Deming, W. Edwards. 1966. Some Theory of Sampling. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 048664684X.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Aguayo, Rafael. 1991. Dr. Deming: The American Who Taught the Japanese About Quality. Wichita, KS: Fireside edition. ISBN 0671746219.
• Baker, Edward M. 1999. Scoring a Whole in One: People in Enterprise Playing in Concert. Mississauga, Ontario: Crisp Learning. ISBN 1560525495.
• Delavigne, Kenneth T., and J. Daniel Robertson. 1994. Deming's Profound Changes: When Will the Sleeping Giant Awaken? Upper Saddle River, NJ: PTR Prentice Hall. ISBN 0132926903.
• Gabor, Andrea. 1992. The Man Who Discovered Quality: How W. Edwards Deming Brought the Quality Revolution to America. New York, NY: Penguin. ISBN 0140165282.
• Gitlow, Howard S., and Shelly J. Gitlow. 1987. The Deming Guide to Quality and Competitive Position. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0131984411.
• Gluckman, Perry, and Diana Reynolds Roome. 1990. Everyday Heroes: From Taylor to Deming: The Journey to Higher Productivity. Knoxville, TN: SPC Press Inc. ISBN 0945320078.
• Haller, Harold S. 1993. Managing with profound knowledge: A management process based on the Deming management theory. Cleveland, OH: Harold S. Haller & Company. OCLC 40764811.
• Joiner, Brian L. 1994. Fourth Generation Management: The New Business Consciousness. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0070327157.
• Kilian, Cecelia S. 1992. The World of W. Edwards Deming. 2nd ed. Knoxville, TN: SPC Press, Inc. ISBN 0945320299.
• Kohn, Alfie. 1992. No Contest: The Case Against Competition. Wilmington, MA: Mariner Books. ISBN 0395631254.
• Kohn, Alfie. 1999. Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes. Wilmington, MA: Mariner Books. ISBN 0618001816.
• Latzko, William J., and David M. Saunders. 1995. Four Days with Dr. Deming: A Strategy for Modern Methods of Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR. ISBN 0201633663.
• Langley, Gerald J., and Kevin M. Nolan, and Clifford L. Norman, and Lloyd P. Provost, and Thomas W. Nolan. 1996. The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0787902578.
• Mann, Nancy. 1989. Keys to Excellence: The Story of the Deming Philosophy. 3rd ed. Clayton, DE: Prestwick Books. ISBN 1852510978.
• Neave, Henry R. 1990. The Deming Dimension. Knoxville, TN: SPC Press, Inc. ISBN 0945320086.
• Scherkenbach, William W. 1991. Demings Road to Continual Improvement. Knoxville, TN: SPC Press, Inc. ISBN 0945320108.
• Scholtes, Peter R. 1997. The Leader's Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0070580286.
• Shewhart, Walter A. 1939. Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 0486652327.
• Shewhart, Walter A. 1930. Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured Product/50th Anniversary Commemorative Issue. Milwaukee, WI: American Society for Quality. ISBN 0873890760.
• Tribus, Myron. 1992. Quality First: Selected Papers on Quality and Productivity Improvement. 4th ed. Alexandria, VA: National Society of Professional Engineers. ISBN 9993853232.
• Walton, Mary. 1986. The Deming Management Method. New York, NY: The Putnam Publishing Group. ISBN 0399550003.
• Wheeler, Donald J. 1999. Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos. 2nd ed. Knoxville, TN: SPC Press Inc. ISBN 0945320531.

External links

• deming.org W. Edwards Deming Institute. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
• "Quality As Defined By Deming": Lecture by Newt Gingrich. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
• Obituary from Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 1993. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
• Deming.org The W. Edwards Deming Institute
• W. Edwards Deming: A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

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