Quality Transformation With David Schwinn

Professor of Management

Lansing Community College

David Schwinn, an associate of PQ Systems, is a full-time professor of management at Lansing Community College and a part-time consultant in the college’s Small Business and Technology Development Center. He is also a consultant in systems and organizational development with InGenius and INTERACT Associates.

Schwinn worked at Ford’s corporate quality office and worked with W. Edwards Deming beginning in the early 1980s until Deming’s death.  Schwinn is a professional engineer with an MBA from Wright State University. You can reach him at support@pqsystems.com.  

 

Tue, 07/18/2006 - 22:00
Profound KnowledgeFour elements of Deming’s worldview we often overlook
Wed, 06/05/2019 - 12:02
As some of you already know, I was in Ford Motor Co.’s corporate quality office during the early 1980s when, just after “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We” aired on NBC, we pleaded with W. Edwards Deming to help us out of a very bad place. One of the…
Quality Transformation: It’s Still the SystemThe power of systems thinking in organizational life and customer satisfaction
Mon, 04/09/2018 - 12:02
After my recent extended illness, I was surprisingly shocked to reemerge into organizational life in its broadest terms. Frequently, I engaged in the organizational lives of my students, my friends, my colleagues, and my own workplace. Everywhere I…
Quality Transformation: It’s the System!System-caused problems can affect returns to hospital, increase potential for more pain
Tue, 01/09/2018 - 11:03
I was recently reminded of a fundamental statement about continual improvement. In Out of the Crisis (Massachusetts Institute Center for Advanced Engineering, 1986), W. Edwards Deming stated, “I should estimate that in my experience, most troubles…
A History of StatisticsIncluding the dangers of some contemporary applications of big data
Thu, 04/13/2017 - 12:02
This month’s column comes from a convergence of finishing my article, “Statistical Thinking for OD Professionals,” for the OD Practitioner, and reading “How Statistics Lost their Power—and Why We Should Fear What Comes Next” in the Guardian, and…
TruthTo get closer to the truth, you need to open yourself to facts
Wed, 02/01/2017 - 12:03
My wife, Carole, just gave me a shirt emblazoned with, “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.” It reminded me of an important phenomenon that has been lately grabbing my attention. Oxford Dictionaries,…
Statistical Thinking for EveryonePopularized in manufacturing, SPC must be practiced throughout an organization to ensure quality
Wed, 01/18/2017 - 12:03
I recently presented “Statistical Thinking for OD Professionals” for the Organization Development Network annual conference. It was well received, but more important, it reignited in me a passion for the use of control charts in decision making for…
Quality TransformationA journey toward truth
Mon, 09/26/2016 - 15:17
We recently had dinner with a wonderful friend and colleague, Michelle Guenther. During our meal, Michelle mentioned a conversation at work when she responded to a question with, “What I believe to be true is....” She said she frequently prefaces…
Helping the Most of UsCuring a larger system so customers and organizations can thrive
Mon, 08/22/2016 - 10:27
It’s hard these days to miss the passion of people who support Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, the steadfastness of the Tea Party, the outrage of the Occupy Wall Street group, and the frustration of young people who have so given up on the system…
Thinking About Systems ThinkingA framework for interactive design and management
Tue, 05/24/2016 - 00:09
The map is not the territory. —Alfred Korzybski This column is a tribute primarily to Jamshid Gharajedaghi, a long-time teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend. My wife Carole and I recently visited him while in Philadelphia doing a presentation for…
From Where We StandSoul and the workplace
Mon, 01/18/2016 - 13:48
Wherever you stand, be the Soul of that place. —Rumi I was blessed last week to spend two glorious days with my wife, Carole, our daughter, Lisa, and Lisa’s consulting partner, Rox. Those two days were a model for how we could be in every one of…