American statistician W. Edwards Deming (1900 - 1993) at the Hotel new Japan, where he presented the ... [+]
Where is W. Edwards Deming when we really need him? Does Deming still matter?
Deming (1900-1993) was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, and – most notably – management consultant. Educated as an electrical engineer, and specializing in mathematical physics, he was part of the team that developed the sampling techniques still used by the U.S. Department of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In 1927, he became inspired by the concepts of statistical control of processes, and quickly became highly regarded, holding positions of thought leadership in the private sector, government, and higher education. In 1982, he published Quality Productivity and Competitive Position, Out of the Crisis, in which he proclaimed his 14 principles for transforming business effectiveness into a transcendent force. It is legendary and has had such an enormous effect across Japanese industry, that the coveted annual Deming Prize still bears testament to his thinking. Deming is credited with launching the Total Quality Management movement, although he never used that term.
Since then, fads, styles, and modes of management have come and gone – along with the dominance of technology not even conceivable in Deming’s day – yet it remains a good idea not to lose sight of what Deming taught us. So here’s Deming – in his words.
14 Principles
1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive, to stay in business and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for massive inspection by building quality into the product in the first place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of a price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and usage that may be encountered with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and 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.
a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute with leadership.
b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.
11. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
12. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective.
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.
Beyond the 14 Principles: “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
And … “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"
5. The mistaken belief that management skills can be taught in classes
6. Reliance on quality control departments rather than management, supervisors, managers of purchasing, and production workers
7. Placing blame on workforces who are responsible for only 15% of mistakes while the system designed by management is responsible for 85% of the unintended consequences
8. Relying on quality inspection rather than improving product quality
Deming Still Matters.
I’ve given a copy of his book to many executives who have been clients of mine over the years.
Because Deming still matters.
