Tag: W. Edward Deming

Actual facts from the actual place (gemba)

Deming is know for droping a number of big truths when it comes to quality, leadership and lean. This is no exception, always get your facts straight.

“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.”

W. Edwards Deming

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.”

W. Edwards Deming




A word on quality

Quality is at the core of everything we do within Lean. When looking at waste within a process the internal cost of quality touches many of the classic 7+1 wastes. W. Edwards Deming aslo point out the hidden cost that we can never truly calculate.

“No one knows the cost of a defective product – don’t tell me you do. You know the cost of replacing it, but not the cost of a dissatisfied customer.”

W. Edwards Deming

“Quality is everyone’s responsibility.”

W. Edwards Deming




Survival is not mandatory

It is interesting to find two quotes that are separated by time and from completely different origins and still come together as a powerful statement, recognized as the simple truth.

“It is not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Charles Darwin, 1859

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

W. Edwards Deming



Some summer inspiration

I am on my second week of summer vacation, being away from work sets your mind free to wander. To focus my mind I go back to some inspirational quotes of ancient and recent wisdom.

First we have something from antiquity that I truly live by and have most of my life.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotele

Next we have two Deming quotes. Quite different but very important when it comes to leadership and Lean. The first one is straight forward, if people fear showing results they think will displease their managers they will find a way to make the numbers more pleasing.

“Whenever there is fear, you will get wrong figures.” – W. Edwards Deming

Then we have the role of a leader, some think it is important to have all the answers and stand tall with having all the facts. You can never have all the facts and if you think you do you will close your mind from further expansion from learning more. One very important role of the leader is to ask the right questions but also to coach the people in your charge to ask the right questions thenselves.

“If you do not know how to ask the right questions, you discover nothing.” – W. Edwards Deming

And the last one today is something I struggle with but something I strive to improve every day.

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection, and then from the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” – Peter Drucker

I hope you all are having a good summer!




Where would I begin today?

I am, as you might have guessed, partway on my journey. So far I have experienced and tried some of the tools of Lean and I have tried my best to live the philosophy of continuous improvement and respect for people (or humanity). My way has been anything but straight and it has taken me longer than I feel it should to get where I am today. But if I where to start again today, where would I start?

I have given this a lot of thought and there are a lot of choices. One way I know many do start is through 5S and it is really the first real hands on contact I had with Lean. But I am not convinced this is the best way to get started.

Setting things in order is always a good thing, but from what I remember the problem for me was that there was no depth to the thinking, and thus it was a bit of a waste. Since understanding was not there it was almost insurmountable to actually maintain this order.

Where I think I would start is with PDCA (Plan-Do-Check Act). It is a beautiful way to do anything and it will give you guidance through having a proper plan, by carrying through and analyse the results, comparing them to what was expected. With this you learn to see a new dimension of what you have done or are about to do. Most important , you can actually turn any situation to a valuable lesson. No matter if you have succeeded or failed there is always something to be learned. Through PDCA you have a framework for this.

With this said, my next step from PDCA would be 5S but done with a proper PDCA dimension. Before you start to remove anything. Make sure you have the full picture. In a factory it might not be as easy as just removing things and put them into a red tag quarantine area. If you remove things used by others but not yourself you are not being respectful and you are not being efficient. This will result in things being removed and returned and maybe removed again. This will be pure waste. Also it will make coworkers to distrust the tool. Doing informed work will get the respect of coworkers and be appreciated by most. Now, I am not saying there should be no red tag area but I am saying it should be used when the team decides and not when a single operator decides so.




New Quotes

I am thinking that I will post here when I add new quotes or new terminology. Today it is a few quotes, they will ofcourse also be found in the Quotes section

“Determine what your customers need, and then work backwards.” – Jeff Bezoz

“94% of problems in business are systems driven and only 6% are people driven.” – W. Edward Deming

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all” – Peter Drucker

“If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” – Henry Ford