Re: REQUEST: Total Quality Management

[FVoehl@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/4/0 2:05:04 AM, s_spyrou@yahoo.com wrote:

<<I am having difficulty finding information on the importance of Deming's 14 
points.  Which one of Deming's 14 points do you feel is the most important 
and why?>>

Try Mary Walton's seminal works:  'The Deming Management Method' and 'Deming 
Management at Work,' both of which address the importance of Deming's 14 
Points.  There are many other books which also address their importance:  
• 'Four Days With Dr. Deming' by Bill Latzko
• 'Thinking about Quality' by Lloyd Dobyns and Clare Crawford-Mason
• 'Profiles in Quality' by Lou Schultz
• Ceil Killian's book 'My Life with Dr. Deming' which gives insights but not 
too much on the nuances of the 14 Points
• My own book called 'Deming:  The Way We Knew Him' by Frank Voehl.

There are four or five more, such as the works of Henry Neave and others.  
But the above should get you started.

As far as which of the 14 points is most important, they are all important!  
My personal opinion is that there are two which form a foundation upon which 
all the others rest: (1) Create a Constancy of Purpose and (2) Drive Out 
Fear.  This is only an opinion, and I'm sure that many others would argue.  
Everyone seems to have his or her own favorites.  My reasoning is that 
without Constancy-of-Purpose (COP), the entire system falls apart as soon as 
another new sexy fad comes along.  And without Driving-out-Fear, the workers 
are not empowered to challenge the system and drive the improvement cycle, as 
everyone is hiding in the shadows, waiting for others to act, afraid to make 
a mistake and get nailed to the wall for it.

But I must emphasize again, no one point is more important than the other 13. 
 We just seem to have our favorites, which is a natural tendency that should 
be avoided if possible, I guess.  As one can tell, this area of 'most 
important' is a very gray area and a mighty slippery slope indeed!  Is the 
eye more imortant than the hand?  Is the foot more important than the 
kidneys?  Is the brain more imortant than the heart?  In the body, perhaps 
the heart and brain are foremost.  The heart--because without it we have no 
life--and the brain, because without it we have no thought.  But the body is 
the body and all of the parts are important.

Frank Voehl (FVoehl@aol.com)
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