What would Deming do?: Nurture great organizations and societies guided by W. Edwards Deming's best quotes

By W. Edwards Deming and Niels Pflaeging

A man with a knack for systems thinking and with a shrewd sense of humor, W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) is considered one of the leading thinkers on organizations of all time. A national hero in Japan from the 1950s on, he became widely recognized in his native America and the West only when he was already in his 80s. To

• Language: English
• Publisher: BetaCodex Press
• Release date: Mar 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9783948471217

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About Deming

W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) was perhaps the first to apply rigorous systems thinking and systems theory to entire organizations. He did so starting in 1950 in Japan, where his work soon gained wide-spread attention. Many Japanese firms, including Toyota, were impacted by Deming’s thinking. This culminated in what would later be called the Japanese economic miracle.

Deming condemned management by objectives, incentive systems, merit ranking, appraisal, and command-and-control. A charismatic, witty and humorous figure, he became well-known in the West only much later, when, in 1980, he was featured in an NBC TV documentary called If Japan can... Why can‘t we?

Already in his 80s, Deming became hugely influential to the international Total Quality movement of the 1980s and 1990s. But the decidedly systemic nature of his thinking became sidelined there, after a while.

Deming consolidated his thinking in the books Out of the Crisis (1986) and The New Economics (1993). He continued teaching and consulting throughout the world until his death at the age of 93, in December 1993.

Deming remains one of the greatest and one of the most wide-ranging thinkers in the history of organizational leadership.

People at Work

Prevailing practices of management and education have crushed the individual. Toddlers at the age of three are crushed by prizes for costumes, grades in school, gold stars for athletics. Forces of destruction continue onward through further schooling, and onward into the work place through life, robbing the individual of joy in learning and joy in work.

From a memo to a consulting client, December 1989

People are entitled to joy in work.

WEDI

When one understands who depends on me, then I may take joy in my work.

A&D

All that the people ask for is a chance to work with pride.

TED

Motivation – nonsense. All that people need to know is why their work is important.

TED

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.

OotC

Numerical goals set for other people, without a road map to reach the goal, have effects opposite to the effects sought.

OotC

"People with targets and jobs dependent upon meeting them will likely meet the targets – even if