💾 Archived View for gmi.noulin.net › mobileNews › 1123.gmi captured on 2024-03-21 at 19:27:29. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-01-29)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
2009-03-24 21:20:26
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 December 20, 1993) was an American
statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely
credited with improving production in the United States during World War II,
although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950
onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service),
product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets)[1] through
various methods, including the application of statistical methods.
Deming made a significant contribution to Japan's later renown for innovative
high-quality products and its economic power. He is regarded as having had more
impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not
of Japanese heritage. Despite being considered something of a hero in Japan, he
was only beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his
death. [2]
Contents
[hide]
o 2.1 Work in Japan
o 2.2 Honors
o 2.3 Later work in the U.S.
o 3.1 The Deming System of Profound Knowledge
o 3.2 Deming's 14 points
o 3.3 Seven Deadly Diseases
[edit] Overview
Dr. Deming's teachings and philosophy can be seen through the results they
produced when they were adopted by the Japanese, as the following example
shows: Ford Motor Company was simultaneously manufacturing a car model with
transmissions made in Japan and the United States. Soon after the car model was
on the market, Ford customers were requesting the model with Japanese
transmission over the USA-made transmission, and they were willing to wait for
the Japanese model. As both transmissions were made to the same specifications,
Ford engineers could not understand the customer preference for the model with
Japanese transmission. It delivered smoother performance with a lower defect
rate. Finally, Ford engineers decided to take apart the two different
transmissions. The American-made car parts were all within specified tolerance
levels. On the other hand, the Japanese car parts had much closer tolerances
than the USA-made parts - e.g. if a part was supposed to be one foot long, plus
or minus 1/8 of an inch - then the Japanese parts were within 1/16 of an inch.
This made the Japanese cars run more smoothly and customers experienced fewer
problems. [3].
Deming received a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming
at Laramie (1921), an M.S. from the University of Colorado (1925), and a Ph.D.
from Yale University (1928). Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and
physics. Deming had an internship at Bell Telephone Laboratories while studying
at Yale. He subsequently worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the
Census Department. While working under Gen. Douglas MacArthur as a census
consultant to the Japanese government, he famously taught statistical process
control methods to Japanese business leaders, returning to Japan for many years
to consult and to witness economic growth that he had predicted as a result of
application of techniques learned from Walter Shewhart at Bell Laboratories.
Later, he became a professor at New York University while engaged as an
independent consultant in Washington, D.C.
Deming was the author of Out of the Crisis (1982 1986) and The New Economics
for Industry, Government, Education (1993), which includes his System of
Profound Knowledge and the 14 Points for Management (described below). Deming
played flute & drums and composed music throughout his life, including sacred
choral compositions and an arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner.[4]
In 1993, Deming founded the W. Edwards Deming Institute in Washington, D.C.,
where the Deming Collection at the U.S. Library of Congress includes an
extensive audiotape and videotape archive. The aim of the W. Edwards Deming
Institute is to foster understanding of The Deming System of Profound Knowledge
to advance commerce, prosperity and peace.[5]
[edit] Early life and work
Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Deming was raised in Polk City, Iowa on his
grandfather's chicken farm, then later in Powell, Wyoming. His father's name
was also William, so he was called Edwards (the maiden name of his mother,
Pluma Irene Edwards).[6] In 1917, he enrolled in the University of Wyoming at
Laramie, graduating in 1921 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. In 1925, he
received an M.S. from the University of Colorado, and in 1928, a Ph.D. from
Yale University. Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and mathematical
physics. Deming worked as a mathematical physicist at the United States
Department of Agriculture (1927 39), and was a statistical adviser for the
United States Census Bureau (1939 45). He was a professor of statistics at New
York University's graduate school of business administration (1946 1993), and
he taught at Columbia University's graduate School of business (1988 1993). He
also was a consultant for private business.
In 1927, Deming was introduced to Walter A. Shewhart of the Bell Telephone
Laboratories by Dr. C.H. Kunsman of the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA). Deming found great inspiration in the work of Shewhart, the originator
of the concepts of statistical control of processes and the related technical
tool of the control chart, as Deming began to move toward the application of
statistical methods to industrial production and management. Shewhart's idea of
common and special causes of variation led directly to Deming's theory of
management. Deming saw that these ideas could be applied not only to
manufacturing processes but also to the processes by which enterprises are led
and managed. This key insight made possible his enormous influence on the
economics of the industrialized world after 1950.[7]
Deming edited a series of lectures delivered by Shewhart at USDA, Statistical
Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, into a book published in 1939.
One reason he learned so much from Shewhart, Deming remarked in a videotaped
interview, was that, while brilliant, Shewhart had an "uncanny ability to make
things difficult." Deming thus spent a great deal of time both copying
Shewhart's ideas and devising ways to present them with his own twist.[8]
Deming developed the sampling techniques that were used for the first time
during the 1940 U.S. Census. During World War II, Deming was a member of the
five-man Emergency Technical Committee. He worked with H.F. Dodge, A.G.
Ashcroft, Leslie E. Simon, R.E. Wareham, and John Gaillard in the compilation
of the American War Standards (American Standards Association ZI.1-3 published
in 1942)[9] and taught statistical process control (SPC) techniques to workers
engaged in wartime production. Statistical methods were widely applied during
World War II, but faded into disuse a few years later in the face of huge
overseas demand for American mass-produced products.
[edit] Work in Japan
In 1947, Deming was involved in early planning for the 1951 Japanese Census.
The Allied powers were occupying Japan, and he was asked by the U.S. United
States Department of the Army to assist with the census. While Deming was
there, his expertise in quality control techniques, combined with his
involvement in Japanese society, led to his receiving an invitation from the
Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).[6]
JUSE members had studied Shewhart's techniques, and as part of Japan's
reconstruction efforts, they sought an expert to teach statistical control.
During June August 1950, Deming trained hundreds of engineers, managers, and
scholars in statistical process control (SPC) and concepts of quality. He also
conducted at least one session for top management.[10] Deming's message to
Japan's chief executives: improving quality will reduce expenses while
increasing productivity and market share.[1] Perhaps the best known of these
management lectures was delivered at the Mt. Hakone Conference Center in August
1950.
A number of Japanese manufacturers applied his techniques widely and
experienced theretofore unheard of levels of quality and productivity. The
improved quality combined with the lowered cost created new international
demand for Japanese products.
Deming declined to receive royalties from the transcripts of his 1950 lectures,
so JUSE's board of directors established the Deming Prize (December 1950) to
repay him for his friendship and kindness.[10] The Deming Prize especially the
Deming Application Prize, which is given to companies has exerted an
immeasurable influence directly or indirectly on the development of quality
control and quality management in Japan.[11][12]
[edit] Honors
In 1960, the Prime Minister of Japan (Nobusuke Kishi), acting on behalf of
Emperor Hirohito, awarded Dr. Deming Japan s Order of the Sacred Treasure,
Second Class.[13] The citation on the medal recognizes Deming's contributions
to Japan s industrial rebirth and its worldwide success. The first section of
the meritorious service record describes his work in Japan:[10]
The second half of the record lists his service to private enterprise through
the introduction of epochal ideas, such as quality control and market survey
techniques.
Among his many honors, an exhibit memorializing Dr. Deming's contributions and
his famous Red Bead Experiment is on display outside the board room of the
American Society for Quality[14].
[edit] Later work in the U.S.
David Salsburg wrote:
"He was known for his kindness to and consideration for those he worked with,
for his robust, if very subtle, humor, and for his interest in music. He sang
in a choir, played drums and flute, and published several original pieces of
sacred music." (page 254, The Lady Tasting Tea)[15]
Later, from his home in Washington, D.C., Dr. Deming continued running his own
consultancy business in the United States, largely unknown and unrecognized in
his country of origin and work. In 1980, he was featured prominently in an NBC
documentary titled If Japan can... Why can't we? about the increasing
industrial competition the United States was facing from Japan. As a result of
the broadcast, demand for his services increased dramatically, and Deming
continued consulting for industry throughout the world until his death at the
age of 93.
Ford Motor Company was one of the first American corporations to seek help from
Deming. In 1981, Ford's sales were falling. Between 1979 and 1982, Ford had
incurred $3 billion in losses. Ford's newly appointed Division Quality Manager
John A. Manoogian was charged with recruiting Dr. Deming to help jump-start a
quality movement at Ford. [16] Deming questioned the company's culture and the
way its managers operated. To Ford's surprise, Deming talked not about quality
but about management. He told Ford that management actions were responsible for
85% of all problems in developing better cars. In 1986 Ford came out with a
profitable line of cars, the Taurus-Sable line. In a letter to Autoweek
Magazine, Donald Petersen, then Ford Chairman, said, "We are moving toward
building a quality culture at Ford and the many changes that have been taking
place here have their roots directly in Dr. Deming's teachings."[17] By 1986,
Ford had become the most profitable American auto company. For the first time
since the 1920s, its earnings had exceeded those of arch rival General Motors
(GM). Ford had come to lead the American automobile industry in improvements.
Ford's following years' earnings confirmed that its success was not a fluke,
for its earnings continued to exceed GM and Chrysler's.
In 1982, Dr. Deming, as author, had his book published by the MIT Center for
Advanced Engineering as Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position, which
was renamed Out of the Crisis in 1986. Deming offers a theory of management
based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for
the future brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs.
Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative
plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and
provide more jobs through improved products and services. "Long-term commitment
to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks
transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect
quick results, are doomed to disappointment."
Over the course of his career, Deming received dozens of academic awards,
including another, honorary, Ph.D. from Oregon State University. In 1987 he was
awarded the National Medal of Technology: "For his forceful promotion of
statistical methodology, for his contributions to sampling theory, and for his
advocacy to corporations and nations of a general management philosophy that
has resulted in improved product quality." In 1988, he received the
Distinguished Career in Science award from the National Academy of Sciences.[6]
In 1993, Dr. Deming published his final book, The New Economics for Industry,
Government, Education, which included the System of Profound Knowledge and the
14 Points for Management. It also contained educational concepts involving
group-based teaching without grades, as well as management without individual
merit or performance reviews.
In December 1993, W. Edwards Deming died in his sleep at his Washington home at
about 3 a.m. due to "natural causes." His family was by his side when he died.
[18]
[edit] Deming philosophy synopsis
The philosophy of W. Edwards Deming has been summarized as follows:
"Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught that by adopting appropriate principles of
management, organizations can increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs
(by reducing waste, rework, staff attrition and litigation while increasing
customer loyalty). The key is to practice continual improvement and think of
manufacturing as a system, not as bits and pieces."[19]
In the 1970s, Dr. Deming's philosophy was summarized by some of his Japanese
proponents with the following 'a'-versus-'b' comparison:
(a) When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, defined by the
following ratio,
Quality\ = \frac{Results\ of\ work\ efforts}{Total\ costs}
quality tends to increase and costs fall over time.
(b) However, when people and organizations focus primarily on costs, costs tend
to rise and quality declines over time.
[edit] The Deming System of Profound Knowledge
"The prevailing style of management must undergo transformation. A system
cannot understand itself. The transformation requires a view from outside. The
aim of this chapter is to provide an outside view a lens that I call a system
of profound knowledge. It provides a map of theory by which to understand the
organizations that we work in.
"The first step is transformation of the individual. This transformation is
discontinuous. It comes from understanding of the system of profound knowledge.
The individual, transformed, will perceive new meaning to his life, to events,
to numbers, to interactions between people.
"Once the individual understands the system of profound knowledge, he will
apply its principles in every kind of relationship with other people. He will
have a basis for judgment of his own decisions and for transformation of the
organizations that he belongs to. The individual, once transformed, will:
into the new philosophy without a feeling of guilt about the past."
Deming advocated that all managers need to have what he called a System of
Profound Knowledge, consisting of four parts:
1. Appreciation of a system: understanding the overall processes involving
suppliers, producers, and customers (or recipients) of goods and services
(explained below);
2. Knowledge of variation: the range and causes of variation in quality, and
use of statistical sampling in measurements;
3. Theory of knowledge: the concepts explaining knowledge and the limits of
what can be known (see also: epistemology);
4. Knowledge of psychology: concepts of human nature.
Deming explained, "One need not be eminent in any part nor in all four parts in
order to understand it and to apply it. The 14 points for management in
industry, education, and government follow naturally as application of this
outside knowledge, for transformation from the present style of Western
management to one of optimization."
"The various segments of the system of profound knowledge proposed here cannot
be separated. They interact with each other. Thus, knowledge of psychology is
incomplete without knowledge of variation.
"A manager of people needs to understand that all people are different. This is
not ranking people. He needs to understand that the performance of anyone is
governed largely by the system that he works in, the responsibility of
management. A psychologist that possesses even a crude understanding of
variation as will be learned in the experiment with the Red Beads (Ch. 7) could
no longer participate in refinement of a plan for ranking people."[20]
The Appreciation of a system involves understanding how interactions (i.e.
feedback) between the elements of a system can result in internal restrictions
that force the system to behave as a single organism that automatically seeks a
steady state. It is this steady state that determines the output of the system
rather than the individual elements. Thus it is the structure of the
organization rather than the employees, alone, which holds the key to improving
the quality of output.
The Knowledge of variation involves understanding that everything measured
consists of both "normal" variation due to the flexibility of the system and of
"special causes" that create defects. Quality involves recognizing the
difference in order to eliminate "special causes" while controlling normal
variation. Deming taught that making changes in response to "normal" variation
would only make the system perform worse. Understanding variation includes the
mathematical certainty that variation will normally occur within six standard
deviations of the mean.
The System of Profound Knowledge is the basis for application of Deming's
famous 14 Points for Management, described below.
[edit] Deming's 14 points
Deming offered fourteen key principles for management for transforming business
effectiveness. The points were first presented in his book Out of the Crisis
(p. 23-24)[21].
1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with
the aim to become competitive and stay in business, and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management
must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on
leadership for change.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for
inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first
place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead,
minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a
long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to
improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease cost.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Institute leadership (see Point 12 and Ch. 8 of "Out of the Crisis"). The
aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a
better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as
supervision of production workers.
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company. (See
Ch. 3 of "Out of the Crisis")
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales,
and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in
use that may be encountered with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for
zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create
adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low
productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work
force.
11. a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute
leadership.
b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers,
numerical goals. Substitute workmanship.
12. a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of
workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer
numbers to quality.
b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their
right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the
annual or merit rating and of management by objective (See Ch. 3 of "Out of the
Crisis").
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
14. Put everyone in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The
transformation is everyone's work. "Massive training is required to instill the
courage to break with tradition. Every activity and every job is a part of the
process." [22]
[edit] Seven Deadly Diseases
The Seven Deadly Diseases (also known as the "Seven Wastes"):
1. Lack of constancy of purpose.
2. Emphasis on short-term profits.
3. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance.
4. Mobility of management.
5. Running a company on visible figures alone.
6. Excessive medical costs.
7. Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers who work for contingency
fees.
A Lesser Category of Obstacles:
1. Neglecting long-range planning.
2. Relying on technology to solve problems.
3. Seeking examples to follow rather than developing solutions.
4. Excuses, such as "Our problems are different."
Dr. Deming's advocacy of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, his 14 Points, and Seven
Deadly Diseases have had tremendous influence outside of manufacturing and have
been applied in other arenas, such as in the relatively new field of sales
process engineering[23].
[edit] Quotations and concepts
In his later years, Dr. Deming taught many concepts, which he emphasized by key
sayings or quotations that he repeated. A number of these quotes have been
recorded.[24] Some of the concepts might seem to be oxymorons or contradictory
to each other; however, the student is given each concept to ponder its meaning
in the whole system, over time.
know more, about everything in the system. It is considered as a contrast to
the old statement, "There is no substitute for hard work" by Thomas Alva Edison
(1847 1931). Instead, a small amount of knowledge could save many hours of hard
work.
important, long term, cannot be measured in advance. However, they might be
among the factors that an organization is measuring, just not understood as
most important at the time.
the greatest impact, long term, can be quite surprising. Analogous to an
earthquake that disrupts service, other "earth-shattering" events that most
affect an organization will be unknown or unknowable, in advance. Other
examples of important things would be: a drastic change in technology, or new
investment capital.
need to interpret and apply information against a theory or framework of
concepts that is the basis for knowledge about a system. It is considered as a
contrast to the old statement, "Experience is the best teacher" (Dr. Deming
disagreed with that). To Dr. Deming, knowledge is best taught by a master who
explains the overall system through which experience is judged; experience,
without understanding the underlying system, is just raw data that can be
misinterpreted against a flawed theory of reality. Deming's view of experience
is related to Shewhart's concept, "Data has no meaning apart from its context"
(see Walter A. Shewhart, "Later Work").
obtained, or data is measured, the method, or process used to gather
information, greatly affects the results. For example, the "Hawthorne effect"
showed that people just asking frequently for opinions seemed to affect the
resulting outcome, since some people felt better just being asked for their
opinion. Dr. Deming warned that basing judgments on customer complaints alone
ignored the general population of other opinions, which should be judged
together, such as in a statistical sample of the whole, not just isolated
complaints: survey the entire group about their likes and dislikes. The extreme
complaints might not represent the attitudes of the whole group. Similarly,
measuring or counting data depends on the instrument or method used.
measuring and testing to predict typical results. If a phase consists of inputs
+ process + outputs, all 3 are inspected to some extent. Problems with inputs
are a major source of trouble, but the process using those inputs can also have
problems. By inspecting the inputs and the process more, the outputs can be
better predicted, and inspected less. Rather than use mass inspection of every
output product, the output can be statistically sampled in a cause-effect
relationship through the process.
quality to be variations outside the control limits of a process. Such
variations could be attributed to one-time events called "special causes" or to
repeated events called "common causes" that hinder quality.
Deming stressed the importance of establishing a level of variation, or
anomalies, acceptable to the recipient (or customer) in the next phase of a
process. Often, some defects are quite acceptable, and efforts to remove all
defects would be an excessive waste of time and money.
the next action, the Deming Cycle describes a simple method to test information
before making a major decision. The 4 steps in the Deming Cycle are:
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), also known as Plan-Do-Study-Act or PDSA. Dr. Deming
called the cycle the Shewhart Cycle, after Walter A. Shewhart. The cycle can be
used in various ways, such as running an experiment: PLAN (design) the
experiment; DO the experiment by performing the steps; CHECK the results by
testing information; and ACT on the decisions based on those results.
automation gone awry ("robots painting robots"): instead, he advocated
human-assisted semi-automation, which allows people to change the
semi-automated or computer-assisted processes, based on new knowledge. Compare
to Japanese term 'jidoka' (which can be loosely translated as "automation with
a human touch").
emphasized that the top-level management had to change to produce significant
differences, in a long-term, continuous manner. As a consultant, Deming would
offer advice to top-level managers, if asked repeatedly, in a continuous
manner.
work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an
aim. Without an aim, there is no system. The aim of the system must be clear to
everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a
value judgment. (We are of course talking here about a man-made system.)" [20]
the Western world, components become selfish, competitive. We can not afford
the destructive effect of competition." [20]
transformation into a new style of management is required. The route to take is
what I call profound knowledge knowledge for leadership of transformation."
[20]
Management s job. It is management s job to direct the efforts of all
components toward the aim of the system. The first step is clarification:
everyone in the organization must understand the aim of the system, and how to
direct his efforts toward it. Everyone must understand the damage and loss to
the whole organization from a team that seeks to become a selfish, independent,
profit centre." [20]
that you get without new machinery, without new people. Anybody can produce
quality if he lowers his production rate. That is not what I am talking about.
Statistical thinking and statistical methods are to Japanese production
workers, foremen, and all the way through the company, a second language. In
statistical control, you have a reproducible product hour after hour, day after
day. And see how comforting that is to management, they now know what they can
produce, they know what their costs are going to be." [26]
they can just copy from Japan but they don't know what to copy!" [26]
the process?" [20] Dr. Shewhart created the basis for the control chart and the
concept of a state of statistical control by carefully designed experiments.
While Dr. Shewhart drew from pure mathematical statistical theories, he
understood that data from physical processes never produce a "normal
distribution curve" (a Gaussian distribution, also commonly referred to as a
"bell curve"). He discovered that observed variation in manufacturing data did
not always behave the same way as data in nature (Brownian motion of
particles). Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation,
some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process,
while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process
causal system at all times.[27] Dr. Deming renamed these distinctions "common
cause" for chance causes and "special cause" for assignable causes. He did this
so the focus would be placed on those responsible for doing something about the
variation, rather than the source of the variation. It is top management s
responsibility to address "common cause" variation, and therefore it is
management s responsibility to make improvements to the whole system. Because
"special cause" variation is assignable, workers, supervisors or middle
managers that have direct knowledge of the assignable cause best address this
type of specific intervention.[7]
fundamental. That's not getting at change and the transformation that must take
place. Sure we have to solve problems. Certainly stamp out the fire. Stamp out
the fire and get nowhere. Stamp out the fires puts us back to where we were in
the first place. Taking action on the basis of results without theory of
knowledge, without theory of variation, without knowledge about a system.
Anything goes wrong, do something about it, overreacting; acting without
knowledge, the effect is to make things worse. With the best of intentions and
best efforts, managing by results is, in effect, exactly the same, as Dr. Myron
Tribus put it, while driving your automobile, keeping your eye on the rear view
mirror, what would happen? And that's what management by results is, keeping
your eye on results." [2]
on theory. Knowledge has temporal spread. Information is not knowledge. The
world is drowning in information but is slow in acquisition of knowledge. There
is no substitute for knowledge." [20] This statement emphasizes the need for
theory of knowledge (see: epistemology, Shewhart cycle, C. I. Lewis).
unknowable (Lloyd S. Nelson, director of statistical methods for the Nashua
corporation), but successful management must nevertheless take account of
them." [28] Deming realized that many important things that must be managed
couldn t be measured. Both points are important. One, not everything of
importance to management can be measured. And two, you must still manage those
important things. Spend $20,000 training 10 people in a special skill. What's
the benefit? "You'll never know," answered Deming. "You'll never be able to
measure it. Why did you do it? Because you believed it would pay off. Theory."
Dr. Deming is often incorrectly quoted as saying, "You can't manage what you
can't measure." In fact, he stated that one of the seven deadly diseases of
management is running a company on visible figures alone.
method, or process used to gather information, affects the results. Dr. Deming
warned that basing judgments on customer complaints alone ignored the general
population of other opinions, which should be judged together, such as in a
statistical sample of the whole (Sampling (statistics)). Changing the method
changes the results. Aim and method are essential. An aim without a method is
useless. A method without an aim is dangerous. It leads to action without
direction and without constancy of purpose. Deming used an illustration of
washing a table to teach a lesson about the relationship between purpose and
method. If you tell someone to wash a table, but not the reason for washing it,
they cannot do the job properly (will the table be used for chopping food or
potting plants?). That does not mean just giving the explanation without an
operational definition. The information about why the table needs to be washed,
and what is to be done with it, makes it possible to do the job intelligently.