Deming
When I was at Bell Labs I had the good fortune to be
one of the key people working on turning around a failing
division. As a result in 1994 we became the first US
manufacturing company to receive a Deming Award.
While such things are true team efforts, I was literally
responsible for writing some of the books, organizing,
and leading many of the teams that made this possible.
Since that time, I've seen Quality / Business Excellence
fads come and go. At least one thread ALL fads have in
common is that they claim if you just follow their generic
recipe, then your unique business will produce quality! If
you think about it, nothing could be more absurd, because
each business, each situation, each company is unique.
Why would you expect someone else's prescription
glasses to solve your vision problem? Even what worked
at one time in your own company many not work today (as
the Heraclitus cliché goes, you can't even step in the
same river twice).
To me, what makes the Deming philosophy timeless is
that it is just that: It is a philosophy that must be custom
crafted to the people, situation, and times at hand; just
like glasses need to be custom fitted to you today.
Edward Deming's common rant was, "There is no such
thing as instant pudding!" Or in more present-day terms,
there is no such thing as cookie-cutter quality.
If you're going to want your glasses custom fitted to you,
then may I suggest that you are also going to want the
solutions that will help your business grow and excel to
be custom created for your business as it must work
today.
Texas: 214-717-5495 New York: 718-618-5248
Maine: 207-209-1865 Cell: 817-401-2097
Paul Fielding, Ph.D.