Dr. Deming, Where Are Ye?

[Richard Danjin <102104.1751@compuserve.com>]

Subject:  Dr. Deming, Where Are Ye?

- Deming first came to my attention in 1981.
- The first time I met him was in 1982, at a 4 day seminar held in Windsor,
Ontario,
  where over 500 GM (mostly) and United Auto Workers (UAW) (maybe 40)
people attended 
  (Pre, "Out of the Crisis.")
- I have attended 6 - 4 day seminars since; 4 post OTC and one TNE.  The
last being
  held at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.  He was wheeled in by
wheelchair. It
  was just before his death...
- We had numerous one on one discussions over that time, only one at his
request, when
  we spent 3 1/2 hours together.

-  He asked me in 1986 to get him a meeting with top people in the UAW (Don
Ephlin, VP, 
   UAW GM Department) and GM (Al Warren, VP, Industrial Relations), at no
charge to 
   either organization.  I spoke to Don and Al twice each over a 2 week
period.  They 
   would not meet with him!

-  At that time I was an International Representative of the UAW, in the GM
Department.
-  I am, among other things, a Demingite.
-  I am not a college graduate, therefore I am not a philosopher or a
statistician (but
   I have, in real life done that "stuff" for over 25 years).
-  As to systems (aka organizations and knowledge), bring it on.
        Do not let his work become an esoteric field of study as has
Steiner's anthroposophy; Gurdjieff and his disciples, Ouspensky,Henri
Nicole and J.G. Bennett, Kabbalism or theosophy.
        What we (if I may include myself) need to do is openly and
completely share what we know (as did EWD) with whomever will listen.  We
sow the seeds and whatever germinates in the mind of the recipient is
theirs not ours.
        Eric Hoffer wrote the book "The True Believer."  EWD was a "true
believer" in what he had to say, but his knowledge existed in the
collective human knowledge.  As to the right or wrongness of what he had to
say...  It really is of no consequence that he criticized Juran, Baldridge,
Crosby, and Six Sigma; that was his perspective.  He was a "true bliever"
in his work- his thing.  But we are not accumulations of his life's
experience, we are accumulations of our own experiences.  This attempt at
reconciliation of Us and Him to the exclusion of all else, as opposed to
synergistic assimilation can only result in a smaller and smaller esoteric
group (cult) -- He deserves a better legacy than that.
        Ok, I have given you my background.  Now, let me make a proposal. 
(To Clauson:  This is not criticism -- "Everyone is doing their best." EWD)
Proposal for the Den:
        Posts to the Den should be by the following subjects-
        14 points (point by point).
        Seven deadly diseases (one by one).
        Red bead
        Funnel
        SOPK (by category).
        Special cause/Common cause.
        Whatever else.
        The archive should list all comments by the above subjects (within
content, by 
        date, by author).
        Comprehensive articles by authors are fine in and of themselves,
but are 
        confusing and of little value to the Learner in most cases. 
However, they 
        should be available simply as such.
        My friends, there is so much knowledge on the Den that we must find
a way to make
it accessible and practical to one and all regardless of the level of
understanding
of Deming.
        There is much that has been submitted to the Den since its
inception ( I was there in the beginning) that I would take umbridge and
exception to, but to what end?  
        My view is to argue argue my regurgitation of the Deming literatrue
or Deming quotes simply results in more regurgitation to the Learner (Do
universities allow for 2 or more professors per class so the students can
learn more?).
        I understand that consultants like lawyers usually abide by the
axiom, "Advice is money."
        Let the moderator create a filing cabinet.
        Let all Deming's literature be posted and any and all videos (Let's
share it 
        folks, it really is his.).
        Let us all submit our knowledge to the file folders.
        Let us not publicly debate about each other's submissions.
        Let the Learner be the customer (that includes us).
        When there is dialog, let it be Platonic.

Dick Danjin
"Making Things Run Well"