Re: Beyond Deming

[John <jsdwd@ispwest.com>]

I thank Dr. Tribus for his comments and he has helped me to re-think my
statement about 're-casting' Deming.  I suspect that the ideas of Deming
will survive.  I'm particularly interested in the impact of Shewhart on
thinking generally.  He was extraordinary.  Much of Deming's later teachings
had their birth in Shewhart's thinking.

> I agree with those who have said, directly or indirectly, Dr.
> Deming's contributions will not be kept alive by those who worship
> him without question or without an effort to go beyond his work.

I certainly agree with this.  If there is to be life in these ideas, they
must be dynamic.  There is something to be said, however, for accurate
protrayal of what he did or did not say or do.  The DEN pages have been full
of 'Deming said this...' or 'Deming did that....' when he, as far as I know
did neither.  There is also a plethora of 'Deming would have said....'
comments that I find remarkable.  How could anyone know what he would have
said.

I was working with Dr. Deming at Nashua Corp.  when the NBC white paper.  I
remember Dr. Tribus early visits to the company and the subsequent visits of
Ford and Pontiac, people streamed to Nashua to get the secret.  Often they'd
get stuck with Bill Kelley in HR or (heaven help them), me.

Those days are gone.   At the Memorial service held for Dr. Deming in 1993 I
recall vividly thinking the 'Deming movement' has died with the man.  And I
remember wondering what would come next.  The Deming Foundation became
pre-occupied with issues of ownership and control.  Nancy Mann's video and
seminar company is no more (as far as I know) and who knows what has become
of the miles of videotape she owns.  I see no evidence of it in the public
domain.

But, as I like to say, that was then and this is now.  Maybe it's taken me
ten years to recover from his death.  He certainly had a profound effect on
my life as he had on many of us.

Ok, Myron, I'll start reading about Feuerstein .....thanks for the shove.  I
feel like the man in the war movie who is starting to get hysterical and
gets slapped by another GI.  "Thanks.  I needed that."

John dowd

[Moderator's Note:  The DEN archives contain several documents from Myron
on Feuerstein. ]