Too few people know this, these days. I hear lots of "PDCA," and when I bring up PDSA, I get a lot of weird looks. I can remember, though, someone asking Deming a question about "PDCA." He turned to someone next to him and asked "What was that he said?" a couple of times (Always a bad sign). Finally, he rose out of his chair and thundered, "It is P-D-S-A! Call it NOTHING else!" 

People who think he came up with it tell me to check my references, but it's PDSA in both Out of the Crisis and The New Economics. Maybe it was PDCA in earlier writing...

Hi Kevin,

I prefer to use the cycle starting from the A point where A = Act = Review, so APDS

A = Act = Review the evidence to understand the problem and identify the causal factors and risks exposed  (AD/ID, process performance info, Swiss Cheese Model as binary..BTW, my experience is that Ishikawa is useless..)

Plan = Design what to do to eliminate the causes and/or manage the risks

Do = Carry out the action plan, apply monitors,

S = In due course, study (analyse) the results of the monitoring vs the scope of the problem, then back to

A = Review the problem  again...Is the problem under control or do we have to go around again?

I find it's a universal failing, part of the human condition, even, to come up with solutions to undefined problems..and it never helps, Dr Deming called it tampering. 

Cheers

Ian