Note from Art: this distinctly non-holiday post couldn’t wait for a better time. There’s no time like the present for leaders and managers to be thinking deeply about their businesses and the road ahead.
Dr. Deming once stated that he hoped one of his life’s accomplishments was to keep American companies from committing suicide. The public spectacle of Detroit and Wall Street committing suicide in the same quarter would indicate that he failed in his mission.
The site of these firms begging in the streets for alms from taxpayers is nauseating. T
Deming spoke, taught and wrote about what we should be doing. He was clear in his belief that the U.S. was the “single most under-developed country in the world,” principally due to our philosophically bankrupt leadership and business management approaches.
He talked to many of the leaders in the U.S. auto industry. He described a theory of management that if adhered to, would cure U.S. firms of the “Deadly Diseases” of traditional U.S. management practices. These were the very diseases that got automakers and so many other firms in such big trouble to begin with. Short-term thinking, ego, false leadership models, lack of constancy of purpose and so many others that are in plain sight for all to see and fix.
From the ashes of World War II, Japanese leaders and managers worked to develop a new style of management. This tiny country (in land mass) with no natural resource other than a motivated workforce and leaders and managers relentless in pursuit of quality and collective prosperity, rose in a few short decades from laughingstock to the world’s second largest economy. Peel back the layers of Japanese success and you will find Deming at the center.
Deming’s Theory of Profound Knowledge and 14 points offered (and still do) keys to many of the answers. They are not prescriptive, but rather they combine to create a philosophical approach to running a business, that if adhered to, will stand a chance of succeeding for customers, workers and partners on a global stage.
We now face the daunting task of regenerating our economy. All of us that work, manage and lead have an opportunity to contribute. While our ashes are paper and not buildings like Japan in 1950, the situation is just as dire.
One reader mentioned in an earlier post of mine that it was interesting how Deming was rolled out when things got bad. My perspective: it’s interesting how we paid him lip-service when we should have worked to understand, adapt and apply his principles.
Dr. Deming saw that much of American industry had sown the seeds of its own demise in flawed management practices, even when times and numbers looked good. If you are looking for ideas during this time of trouble, Deming’s philosophy of management is a good place to start.
*Suggested reading: Out of the Crisis, W. Edwards Deming
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