Seminar Attendee Question: What do you propose we replace the merit system with?
Dr. Deming: Replace it? You mean you want something to destroy people better than that does?!… You know of anything more effective in the distruction of people? Tell me!
Seminar Attendee: Is there anyway to change the merit system?
Dr. Deming: Change it? Abolish it for hell’s sake! Change hell, you don’t want to change, abolish it.
Simply to eliminate defects does not guarantee jobs in the future. No defects, no jobs, can go together. Something other than zero defects is required.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2018). The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education – 3rd Edition. Kindle Edition. MIT Press.
,page 7, Figure 1
Standardization does not mean that we all wear the same color and weave of cloth, eat standard sandwiches, or live in standard rooms with standard furnishings. Homes of infinite variety of design are built with a few types of bricks, and with lumber of standard sizes, and with water and heating pipes and fittings of standard dimensions.
Deming, W. Edwards. (1952). On Statistical Techniques in Industry as a Natural Resource. The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 23(3), 368-369.
,reprinted in 1953 in the page 126
Support of top management is not sufficient. It is not enough that top management commit themselves for life to quality and productivity. They must know what it is that they are committed to – that is, what they must do. These obligations can not be delegated. Support is not enough: action is required.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2000). Out of the Crisis – 2nd Edition. Kindle Edition. The MIT Press.
,page 20
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 aim of leadership should be to improve the performance of man and machine, to improve quality, to increase output, and simultaneously to bring pride of workmanship to people. Put in a negative way, the aim of leadership is not merely to find and record failures of men, but to remove the causes of failure: to help people to do a better job with less effort.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2000). Out of the Crisis – 2nd Edition. Kindle Edition. The MIT Press.
,page 213
The aim proposed here for any organization is for everybody to gain – stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment – over the long term.
The basic problem anywhere is quality. What is quality? A product or service possesses quality if it helps someone and enjoys a sustainable market. Trade depends on quality.
The consumer is the most important point on the production-line.
Deming, W. Edwards. (2013). The Essential Deming: Leadership Principles from the Father of Quality. McGraw Hill Education.
,page 177. Speech by W. Edwards Deming, “New Principles in Administration for Quality and Efficiency” (in Manila, Philippines, July 2, 1971). Reprinted in The Essential Deming, pages 176-178