"It is not necessary to learn. Survival is optional"

["Jonathan Siegel" <jmsiegel@yahoo.com>]

I remember Deming phrasing this a somewhat different way:  

"Will we ever learn? We may not. Learning is not compulsory. Survival is
not compulsory." 

The oldest reference I could find on the web to this version of the
quote is from 1996 in
http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/pub/den/archive/old/DENMF013.HTM, which
was, unfortunately, from me. I remember this quote from a talk Deming
gave at the Radisson Hotel in Kalamazoo, MI in (I believe) July of 1992,
but I know longer remember the exact date. It is possible a funnel game
was played. 

No doubt Deming expressed this viewpoint many different ways. 

Assuming the quote is genuine, what struck me most about this particular
way of looking at it is that it emphasized knowledge - having a basis
for deciding whether and how to change - rather than change in its own
right. It also emphasized collective knowledge and collective survival
rather than individual knowledge and survival. 

Sincerely,
Jonathan Siegel
40714 Reisa Lane
Apt 204
Canton, MI, 48188
(734) 657-1900
jmsiegel@yahoo.com