THE DEMING INSTITUTE BLOG

Inspection is too late. The quality, good or bad, is already in the product.

By John Hunter, author of Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. Inspection does not improve the quality, nor guarantee quality. Inspection is too late. The quality, good or bad, is already in the product. As Harold F. Dodge said, “You can not inspect quality into a product.” Out of the Crisis, page 29 Inspection can be […]

Shortage of Implementation Details

Guest post by John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). From Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones (page 126): the management of Wiremold was soon enrolled in the Deming seminars. As Orrie Fiume notes, “Deming’s Fourteen Points were a perfect fit with our values and we loved the […]

Speech by Dr. Deming to Japanese Business Leaders in 1950

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. Several speeches are mentioned in the various biographical sketches of Dr. Deming and his impact on Japanese management. In particular a talk he gave at the Mt. Hakone Conference center in 1950 seems to have been important. Attendees included the top industrial managers, representing an estimated 75% of the […]

Eliminate Sales Commissions: Reject Theory X Management and Embrace Systems Thinking

Guest post by John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). Dr. Deming explained that paying sales commissions to staff introduced distortions into the organization that damaged overall performance. Each topic has different connections to Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge, as he laid it out in The New Economics. The problems […]

Dr. Deming Video: A Theory of a System for Educators and Managers

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). This Video with W. Edwards Deming, Russell Ackoff and David Langford discussing education. Lloyd Dobbins brings together the comments of those 3. This is part of one of the videos in the Deming Library which explores Deming’s ideas and brings in experts […]

Dr. Deming Called for the Elimination of The Annual Performance Appraisal

Guest post by John Hunter, founder of the CuriousCat.com. In Out of the Crisis, page 101, Dr. Deming states the following as one of the seven deadly diseases: Evaluation of performance, merit rating, or annual review… The idea of a merit rating is alluring. the sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what […]

Appreciation for a System

By John Hunter, author of Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. The System Of Profound Knowledge® (SoPK) is the culmination of W. Edwards Deming’s work on management. The four areas of the system are: appreciation for a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge and psychology. This post explores appreciation for a system in the context […]

Knowledge of Variation

By John Hunter, founder of CuriousCat.com. The System Of Profound Knowledge® (SoPK) is the culmination of W. Edwards Deming’s work on management. The four areas of the system are: appreciation for a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge and psychology. This post explores knowledge of variation in the context of Dr. Deming’s management philosophy. […]

Psychology – Managing Human Systems

By John Hunter, author of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog (since 2004). The System Of Profound Knowledge® (SoPK) is the culmination of W. Edwards Deming’s work on management. The four areas of the system are: appreciation for a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge and psychology. This post explores psychology in the context […]

Theory of Knowledge

By John Hunter, author of Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. The System Of Profound Knowledge® (SoPK) is the culmination of W. Edwards Deming’s work on management. The four areas of the system are: appreciation for a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge and psychology. This post explores the theory of knowledge in the context […]
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