In one line: Quality is a management responsibility. Most problems come from the system, not the workers, so leaders must understand variation, improve the system continuously, and remove the fear that stops people from doing good work.
Core idea
W. Edwards Deming (1900–1993) was an American statistician who taught statistical quality control to U.S. war industry. After the war he helped Japanese industry rebuild its reputation for quality, and Japan awarded him its Order of the Sacred Treasure. In the 1980s he returned to coach American companies trying to catch up, and received the U.S. National Medal of Technology. His message, set out in Out of the Crisis [1], was aimed squarely at management.
How it works
The System of Profound Knowledge, the lens Deming said managers need:
- Appreciation for a system: an organization is a network of interdependent parts that must work toward a shared aim.
- Knowledge of variation: distinguish common-cause variation, built into the system, from special-cause variation, an unusual event. Reacting to common causes as if they were special makes things worse.
- Theory of knowledge: management requires prediction. A plan is a theory, and data tests it.
- Psychology: people are motivated intrinsically; fear, ranking and blame destroy that motivation.
The 14 Points. Deming’s prescription for management, summarized by theme in our own words (the full list is on the ASQ page [2]):
- Purpose and long-term thinking: commit to constant improvement over the long term, not just short-term profit.
- Build quality in: stop relying on mass inspection; improve the process itself, and choose suppliers on total cost and quality rather than price alone.
- Train and lead: train people on the job, and lead by helping them do better work, not merely by supervising.
- Drive out fear and barriers: remove fear, break down walls between departments, and drop slogans and arbitrary numerical quotas that blame workers for system problems.
- Pride and learning: remove what robs people of pride in their work, encourage education, and make the transformation everyone’s job.
In practice
Deming’s ideas show up in engineering every day, often unrecognized. Typical examples include:
- an engineer blamed for a test failure that the test setup made likely;
- a team chasing every data point as if it were a crisis;
- a review system that ranks people and drives problems underground.
His most-quoted line is a reminder to make decisions on evidence: trust is fine, but everyone else should bring data. His deeper point is that leaders own the system, and therefore most of its results.
Questions to ask yourself
- Is the problem I’m reacting to special-cause or common-cause variation?
- Which of my team’s problems are really system problems that I’ve been treating as people problems?
- Where does fear stop people on my team from reporting issues?
Connections
- The improvement loop: PDCA Cycle. The movement: Total Quality Management.
- Foundations: Statistics in Engineering, Thinking in Systems. The human side: Psychological Safety.
- Capabilities exercised: Vision, Ethical Actions and Integrity, Trust and Loyalty.
Sources
- ASQ - PDCA Cycle and Deming’s 14 Points [2]
- Deming’s own account [1]