Re: Shining example.

[FVoehl@aol.com]

In a message dated Tue, 24 Sep 2002 8:36:09 AM Eastern Standard Time, SOPKrules writes:

> Why was Dr. Deming so adamnant about "No example ever proves a theory"?  I've seen him on several occasions shun questions about examples of good practice.  What was going through 
> his mind I wonder?

When Dr. Deming spoke about examples and theory, he was not denying the value of using examples.  He was merely stating what he believed to be a good hard and fast business rule. How do I know?  Because I asked him in 1990 at a seminar in Miami.

We were into a discussion of the use of 'value disciplines'which were a popular discussion point in many articles.  His comment was something like the following (I din't have verbatim notes, so I'm going from personal notes and memory:  "An organization's choice of value disciplines that it will pursue to achieve market leadership is not an arbitary descision, nor can it be based upon examples alone.  It is the result of extensive inquiry and analysis of the marketplace.  Choosing value disciplines to understand theory is not he same as pursuing a strategic goal, as it cannot be grafted onto a company's normal operating philosophy. It is not about marketing plans or public relations campaigns.  Rather, the selection of value disciplines is an AIM that shapes every subsequent plan and decision that the company makes and colors the entire organization from its competencies to its culture.  This an example cannot do, no matter how useful or instructive.  Examples are not he same as value disciplines in proving out a theory".

I asked him for more specifics and he then went on to name the four key value disciplines that he had used to prove out many theories, such as product leadership, operational excellence, customer value/satisfaction, and speaking with facts.  Three years later, the subject of value leadership received much attention in a series of books by Treacy and Wiersema called 'The Discipline of Market Leaders.' 

Frank Voehl

"The primary reason that opportunity is so often missed is that it is dressed in overalls and disguised as work." (Thomas Edison, 1902)