RE: Applying the Deming Philosophy

[Rip Stauffer <rstauffer@bluefirepartners.com>]

My interpretation: Dr. Deming is often quoted as saying something like, "No
number of examples is sufficient to establish a theory," which I have always
taken to mean that examples are useful as illustrations if you have some
understanding of the System of Profound Knowledge, but can be very dangerous
if you try to substitute them for learning the underlying theory. Without
the benefit of profound knowledge, learning from examples is a classic
application of rule 4 of the funnel.

So, I'm not sure what Joyce meant, but had I made that reply, I'd have
meant: "You will have to learn some theory--some appreciation for your
extended system, the impact of variation on your operations, how your people
work and learn, and how you can learn and retain knowledge about your
organization and systems--and, once you have learned this, you will develop
an application of the Deming Philosophy that fits what you do. If I had a
canned example, and you did not understand these things, you would merely
try to copy it. That would probably be disastrous."

********

Best regards to all,

Rip

Rip Stauffer, Senior Consultant
BlueFire Partners
1300 Fifth St. Towers, 150 So. Fifth St.
Minneapolis, MN 55402
612-344-1027
mailto:rstauffer@bluefirepartners.com
http://www.bluefirepartners.com/