By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). In my opinion Deming’s ideas and lean thinking share many similarities. I do see plenty of weaknesses in lean manufacturing efforts at organizations. Most of the weaknesses are due to bad implementation of lean manufacturing rather than lean thinking missing fundamental elements […]

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. People are part of the system; they need help… Many people think of machinery and data processing when I mention system. Few of them know that recruitment, training, supervision, and aids to production workers are part of the system. – W. Edwards Deming on page 366 of Out of […]

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. I suggest reading this excellent paper on Improving Problem Solving by Ian Bradbury and Gipsie Ranney. As they note, problem solving is not a substitute for innovation and improvement as solving a problem solving only returns you to the status quo. The paper also considers the relationship between problem […]

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). Clayton Christen takes look at the macro-economic impacts of innovation in this lecture at Oxford University. He discusses disruption innovation (creating new markets for complex expensive products: for example, from mainframe computer to personal computer to smart phone), sustaining innovation and efficiency […]

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. From The Essential Deming, What Ought a School of Business Teach? by Dr. Deming I carried out a study at New York University School of Business. The Dean of the school, at that time, came to me about 1972 and suggested we carry out a study of students that […]

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). Dr. Deming would start his seminars with a quote that set the tone for the seminar: We are here “To have fun, To learn, and To Make a Difference.” In that statement you can see the importance Deming placed on knowledge, effectiveness […]

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Clare Crawford Mason published this interview, with Dr. Deming, at the time of her NBC broadcast, If Japan Can Why Can’t We (1980). ‘Made in Japan’ Is No Joke Now, Thanks to Edwards Deming: His New Problem Is ‘Made in U.S.A.’: Does job security […]

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Bill Bellows asks the question “How did we do on the test?” not “How did you do on the test?” Seeing that the student is partially responsible for their learning but that the teacher and the learning system provided by the school are inputs that will set the student […]

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). The aim proposed here for any organization is for everybody to gain – stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment – over the long term. W. Edwards Deming describing the purpose of an organization in The New Economics, page 51 When you […]

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Jan 24 1989 – first presentation of Deming’s “System of Profound Knowledge” Knowledge of variation; statistical theory Knowledge of the distinction between common causes and special causes Knowledge about the loss from tampering Knowledge about the interaction of forces Knowledge of operational definitions Knowledge psychology Knowledge of cooperation and […]