How to Design-In Deming’s PhilosophyThe ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ era is over
Mon, 01/05/2015 - 00:00
In my last column I wrote about the seven perspectives that pollute customers and culture. These perspectives rule the design of our organizations. They are inherent to our work cultures and thinking. They put us on autopilot as we toil in our… Seven Perspectives that Pollute Customers and CultureRecognize them?
Tue, 09/09/2014 - 15:34
Are you losing customers? Is your employee morale low? Is your management focused on the wrong things?
Customers come into contact with your culture daily. Culture is shaped by your organization’s perspective on work and how best to do work. Your… Deming’s Principles TodayThe goal is to deliver better products and services to customers, isn’t it?
Thu, 07/17/2014 - 14:26
Delivering better products or services to customers is the undisputed aim of any organization. They just don’t always act that way. Manufacturing organizations have circled the wagons since the 1950s, when Japanese competitors began capturing… The Four Ways to Solve ProblemsThe most valuable method is often missed
Tue, 05/06/2014 - 17:41
Do you find yourself trying to solve the same problems over and over again? Do you treat the symptom but not the source of problems? Do you get unintended consequences from “solutions” in your organization?
In the book, Idealized Design (FT Press… Challenging Organizational Assumptions With ‘What If...’Through experimentation you can discover a better way to work
Tue, 02/04/2014 - 15:47
After WWII, W. Edwards Deming provided the spark that ignited Japan into making quality products. I like to refer to it as the greatest upset in economic history. How did such a small country with few economic and natural resources build a… Trends and Flows for 2014 and the ‘Shift Age’Don't view the future through the lens of the past
Mon, 01/06/2014 - 18:26
W. Edwards Deming is often given as the source for the following quote: “Managing a business on historical data is like driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror.” Deming actually borrowed the quote from Myron Tribus. The idea is that… Deming’s Challenge to Us, Part 2Understanding the impetus and actions to change
Mon, 11/04/2013 - 11:18
In my last column, “Deming’s Challenge to Us, Part 1,” I sounded the alert that just being improvement people is not enough, and waiting for management to do something is a poor strategy. In this column, I’m focusing on our choices and options to… Deming’s Challenge to Us, Part 1It’s our responsibility to help management ‘get’ quality
Tue, 09/24/2013 - 15:49
While doing some research for my book on W. Edwards Deming’s activities during World War II, I came across some fascinating information, particularly in Nancy R. Mann’s book, The Keys to Excellence (Mercury Business Books, 1989). I wrote this… A Question of PerspectiveWhy copying Toyota is a bad idea
Thu, 08/15/2013 - 10:29
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ometimes it’s necessary for a person to offer up views that seem to be an affront. Because these views often challenge the status quo, people’s reactions can be mixed. Some will consider the person a heretic for expressing them, and others will… Revisiting Taylorism at the Watertown ArsenalScientific management is alive and well in many board rooms
Mon, 06/10/2013 - 11:25
There is much to be learned from history. Lately, I’ve been researching Frederick Winslow Taylor and scientific management. Better known as Taylorism, scientific management was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The lessons and future…
