The Deming Files Posts
Organizations have often so systemically de-motivated people that employees seem to have lost that desire to do good work. Don’t treat this symptom by attempting to motivate using extrinsic motivation, writes contributor John Hunter, focus on eliminating the factors that demotivate them.
The dangers of managing only by what you can see
If you're managing by visible numbers alone you're likely not getting the real picture of what's go...
BOOK REVIEW - The Essential Deming: Leadership Principles from the Father of Quality
Published: 2013-01-29
Published: 2013-01-29
Joyce Nilsson Orsini's new book THE ESSENTIAL DEMING provides an excellent bridge to the next level of Deming’s insights, writes contributor Kelly Allan. Dr. Orsini reviewed and studied documents, videotapes...
Three alternatives to Management by Objective based on based on the theories of W. Edwards Deming
It’s one of the most widely employed management tools out there, but is Management by Objectives (targets) destroying our companies? Yes, argues Kelly Allan in the latest Deming Files Column. Here’s why MBOs can make people deliv...
Hoshin Kanri (HK) is a method for translating long-term vision into manageable methods and actions. But beware conflating Hoshin Kanri with the ‘right way’ to do MBO - here's why. Part II in the
Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an American academic and consultant who rose to prominence in the 1980s for his work with Japanese business that began in the 1950s, is sometimes known as the "father of quality". But his teachings and work extend much...
Competitive tendering is often considered to promote competition, provide transparency and give all suppliers the opportunity to win business.
Business is a complicated endeavor, write contributors Dave Nave and Steve Dightman. Analytical tools (from Six Sigma, Lean, etc.) provide a perspective, highly dependent on selected parameters. But no single tool provides a complete picture...
The DNA strands of business are most often embedded in processes related to the bits and bytes contained in our information systems. But IT - the department that often has one of the widest fields of view relative to efforts, budgets, chang...
In the last few years software development teams have begun using a philosophy called "Agile", achieving better results by reducing reliance on documents, having more effective meetings, and thinking about development in a new way, says cont...
Perspective on Russia: Using Deming to Counter "Soviet Legacy" Management Practices
Published: 2011-10-03
Published: 2011-10-03
Twenty years of Russian market reforms have shown that one of the most serious obstacles to creating an innovative economy is the totalitarian style of thinking, says Tatiana Medvedeva. Repressive management cannot lead to the development of...
Understanding how you think - and act - based on what you believe you know to be true, is critical to improving your own decisions as a manager, says contributor John Hunter, in the final of a 4-part series on Deming's system of management,...
When businesses use the wrong data or don't recognize the different types of variation, the resulting decisions and actions tend to increase costs, reduce quality, reduce productivity, and foster frustration throughout the organization, says...
What makes the difference between ordinary people achieving extraordinary results on one hand, and extraordinary people achieving ordinary results on the other? Management insight makes the difference, says contributor Jussi Kyllonen in the...
Conceptually, it is often easy to grasp the concept of Systems Thinking, writes contributor Eric Christiansen, in the first of a four-part series looking at Dr. W. Edward Deming's system of management - the System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK). What is more difficult is figuring out what you should do once you understand it. And that's where the Three Musketeers come in.
Don’t Let Culture Hold You Hostage - Creating a Deming-based Culture of Continual Improvement
Published: 2011-07-27
Published: 2011-07-27
Mental models provide the context for our lives that help us make sense of our reality. The downside of them is that many people feel comfortable only within their mental model, writes Dr. Sheila Ronis in this week’s Deming Fi...
Innovation, quality and productivity suffer from the abuse of MBOs
The prevailing style of management conditions people to "conformance to specification" as the aim, writes Nigel Clements. This is a waste of human intellect and simply not good enough. Here's why.
Dr. W. Ed...
Entrepreneurship as a Function of Quality – Deming and the Development of the Global Emerging Market
Published: 2011-06-15
Published: 2011-06-15
Quality as a category is a key factor of competitiveness, determining the success of entrepreneurship in any given society writes Dr. Vladimir Kvint, President of the International Academy of Emerging Markets and a member of the Bretton Wood...
Nearly all sustainable performance is due to the system and not the individual, writes Emma Langman in this week’s Deming Files. So what role does leadership play?
Experts talk about many different kinds of leadership -...
To use only Deming-based ‘quality methods’ and not his ‘leadership methods’ puts organizations at a distinct disadvantage, writes Kenneth Craddock in this week’s The Deming Files. Indeed, Deming would have con...
The reality of too many businesses is that pressure to get results can override good judgment. Part II of this week’s Deming Files examines the Deepwater Horizon disaster and argues that commonly-accepted but faulty management prac...
When disaster hits your business, do you know where to start to make sure it doesn’t happen again? Part I of this week’s Deming Files introduces the value of combining Deming and Goldratt –with special attention on appl...
Deming said that systems must be designed and led so everyone can win, says Paul Beshah, once a refugee from Ethiopia and now a professional in the United States. In this week's The Deming Files, Beshah argues that emerging economies would d...
