Re: Confusion about Deming in Business 2.0

[TQNELSON@aol.com]

Here is the comment I sent (via their comment tab on the web page) to the 
editors of Business 2.O on their "article."


To the editors:

It bothers me when a supposedly professional magazine publishes an article by 
a purported scholar that is fundamentally nonintegrious and based on, not on 
ignorance (the absence of knowledge that might not be required or expected in 
a given situation), but on stupidity (the absence of required knowledge and 
the substitution of untrue/fake knowledge masked as truth).

I am doubly angry when such originates in the field of academia discrediting 
the honest, hard working scholars in that field. As Chair/Spokesperson of the 
Management Department/Professor of Management at American River College in 
Sacramento, California I am even further troubled when such misleading 
information originates within the higher education system of my own state of 
California.  

It is my belief that such is the case in the article "To Keep Your Workers, 
Set Them Free,"     by Dr. Steven Berglas,  of the Anderson School Of 
Management at University of California Los Angeles, in your  December 12, 
2000 issue.

In that article the author states that current organization management will 
have a problem with today's knowledge workers due to being limited by "what I 
call linear management theories. These philosophies–for example, W. Edwards 
Deming's Total Quality Management or Kaizen, the Japanese system of striving 
to continually improve a product or process–are predicated on the belief that 
workers must be motivated to achieve predetermined performance goals on an 
ongoing basis."

This is directly akin to stating that "airline managers will have difficulty 
in satisfying today's pilots if they follow the what I call 'linear flight 
theories'. These theories -for example the teachings of Wilber and Orville 
Wright on the superiority of zeppelins and blimps-are predicated on the on 
the belief that it is impossible for any heavier than air vehicle to ever 
fly." 

It is apparent that the author has never read a work of Dr. Deming, who was 
the first to set the foundations for systems thinking in management, and the 
application of sound psychological principles in organizational design and 
leadership replacing the nonsense of conventional "control theory," 
"scientific management," etc. He also, with Dr. Joseph Juran, pioneered the 
concept of "never-ending-improvement," which includes "breakthrough" as an 
essential ingredient.

Indeed, Dr. Deming's "System of Profound Knowledge" begins with "Appreciation 
of a System," which is directly opposed to "linear management theories." His 
management teachings, further, directly condemn "predetermined performance 
goals" and quotas, insists of management's accountability for creating an 
environment where members can take pride in their work, teaches that 
motivation must be intrinsic and not extrinsic, and......but you get the 
idea, even if the author does not.

I would recommend that your readers (and, yes, maybe even the article's 
author) read what Dr. Deming really said and taught. Check out his work The 
New Economics: For Industry, Government, Education, read the Deming Route to 
Quality and Productivity: Road Maps and Roadblocks by William W. Sherkenbach. 
Check out the W. Edwards Deming Institute web site at http://www.deming.org/  
. Check out the Deming Electronic Network (DEN) Web Site, hosted by Clemson 
University and led by Jim Clauson, at http://deming.ces.clemson.edu/pub/den/  
and, once again I could go on and on.

I will leave it with a statement that Dr. Deming taught me. Whenever anyone 
makes a claim about anything always say, "Show me the data." I have done that 
in the above references. The article's author offered none. Judge for 
yourself.

I will be sharing this message with all my current students, in class, many 
of my past students, and my fellow students of the truth, worldwide. May I 
suggest, and invite, the editors also join the journey of 
"never-ending-improvement" in the search for truth and improved quality of 
life for everyone.

Del Nelson
Chair/Spokespeson
Management Department
American River College
Sacramento, California
(916) 484-8162
Nelsond@exi.arc.losrios.cc.ca.us