Best efforts are essential. Unfortunately, best efforts, people charging this way and that way without guidance of principles, can do a lot of damage. Think of the chaos that would come if everyone did his best, not knowing what to do.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2000). Out of the Crisis – 2nd Edition. Kindle Edition. The MIT Press.
,page 19
Deming’s Second Theorem: We are being ruined by best efforts and hard work.
The Deming of America, Interview Special with Priscilla Petty, Produced by Petty Consulting Productions, Public Television Special 1991
,see also, “Does anybody give a hoot about profit?” Speech to European Executives, July 11, 1990
Everything best is not enough.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2013). The Essential Deming: Leadership Principles from the Father of Quality. McGraw Hill Education.
,page 158, From a presentation at General Motors, 1992
How can she put forth her best efforts when no matter how carefully she works, the item will still be defective? If no one cares, why should she? In contrast, when defects are rare or nonexistent or well explained, she understands that the management are accepting their proper responsibility, and she feels an obligation to put forth her best efforts: they are now effective.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2000). Out of the Crisis – 2nd Edition. Kindle Edition. The MIT Press.
,page 428, Quoting Lloyd S. Nelson
It is not enough for everyone to do his best. Everyone is already doing his best. Efforts, to be effective, must go in the right direction.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2013). The Essential Deming: Leadership Principles from the Father of Quality. McGraw Hill Education.
,Page 6, From “Obligations of Management in the New Economic Age,” The Institute of Management Sciences in Osaka, July 24, 1989.
Taking action on the basis of results without theory of knowledge, without theory of variation, without knowledge about a system. Anything goes wrong, do something about it, overreacting; acting without knowledge, the effect is to make things worse. With the best of intentions and best efforts, managing by results is, in effect, exactly the same, as Dr. Myron Tribus put it, while driving your automobile, keeping your eye on the rear view mirror, what would happen? And that’s what management by results is, keeping your eye on results.
The Deming of America, Interview Special with Priscilla Petty, Produced by Petty Consulting Productions, Public Television Special 1991
,[minute unknown], see also, The Essential Deming, page 22 quoting Myron Tribus from From Report No. 14 “Drastic Changes for Western Management,” Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement, University of Wisconsin-Madison, June 8, 1986
The idea of a merit rating is alluring. The sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for; motivate people to do their best, for their own good. The effect is exactly the opposite of what the words promise. Everyone propels himself forward, or tries to, for his own good, on his own life preserver. The organization is the loser. Merit rating rewards people that do well in the system. It does not reward attempts to improve the system.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2000). Out of the Crisis – 2nd Edition. Kindle Edition. The MIT Press.
,page 87