Guest post by Keith Sparkjoy, Vice President of the Sparkjoy Foundation*
Of all of Deming’s work, the bit with the most potential impact is also the bit that Deming kept close to his vest – because it doesn’t advocate company growth as an aim, and his clients would not have understood.
There is a paragraph from Deming’s book The New Economics that is a critical key to a truly sustainable economy, and to the health (physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual) of the people working in that economy:
Recommended aim.
The aim proposed here for any organization is for everybody to gain – stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment – over the long term. For example, with respect to employees, the aim might be to provide for them good management, opportunities for training and education for further growth, plus other contributors to joy in work and quality of life.”
Note that Deming does advocate personal growth, which I think of as development.
Deming named his book The New Economics for a reason. He must have imagined a world where the aim was to provide meaningful, long-term work for people, giving them the opportunity to take pride in their work.
Think about what this new economy might look like. It’s purpose driven, not money/growth driven. So as long as we can afford to pay people well enough so they aren’t worried about money, we can provide a high quality service at a much lower price. Capital sources that follow this model wouldn’t expect crazy growth, simply a modest return on their investment, similar to a credit union. Jimmy Stewart makes the case for them in the classic movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.
But his idea doesn’t go over well with the local bank.
Daniel Quinn, in the Ishmael trilogy, hinted that it’s entirely possible to create subcultures with an aim like Deming’s recommendation. Quinn calls them tribes, and they are essentially groups of people who form purpose-based organizations. These people have chosen to step off the corporate treadmill and focus on doing meaningful, fulfilling work instead of chasing the big paycheck.
I recently discovered a film that documents a handful of purpose-based organizations as they figure out the details, interspersed with wisdom from experts. Anyone who has studied Deming will appreciate the themes, from the musical quartet that the camera constantly returns to (Deming used an orchestra to explain cooperation), scientific experimentation as a means of learning, focus on processes, and freedom of ideas. It’s exciting to see people experimenting in this space.
The film is called A New Economy, and you can stream it on Netflix as of this writing.
I wish Dr. Deming were alive to see it. I think it would have made him smile.
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* This article was originally featured as a post at www.keithsparkjoy.com.