Re: Drucker, Deming and Quality

[CS Comms <jsdwd@cscoms.com>]

Thanks for this interesting quote.  Some of it is hard to disagree with,
especially with regard to the impact Taylor had.  His attention to a kind of
'just do what I say - don't think' method reflected an approach to training
that was somewhat appropriate for a largely illiterate work force moving
from farm to factory.  It's important to see Taylor in the context of his
time.   Indeed, many (if not most) operations are managed according to his
basic model even today.

But that is precisely what makes Deming so different.  It doesn't really
have to do with tools and techniques, technology has been advancing steadily
since Bluto fashioned a better club.

The difference about Deming is the strategy and philosophy behind the use of
the tools and techniques.  Drucker, not surprisingly, seems to have missed
this entirely.  I say not surprising because 50 years later and most
American Managers still don't 'get it'.  The Deming Chain reaction is a
prime example.  Develop a competitive strategy that emphasizes superior
quality and attain the quality using methods that don't increase costs and
you will capture the market.  That's not accomplished by closed-circuit TV
and stopwatches (what the hell is Drucker talking about???  Did he know
anything about Deming at all?)

The relationship between mindset and techniques is wonderfully illustrated
in Jeffrey Liker's book, The Toyota Way.  He gives us a fairly detailed look
at Taiichi Ohno's Toyota Production System and lays out the tools and
techniques that are used.  But he continually emphasizes that it is more
than a collection of activities.  It is a way of thinking.   As Liker lays
out the 'way of thinking' anyone knowledgeable of Deming can see it clearly.
It is almost wholly derivative of what he taught the Japanese in 1950.  Read
the speech.

John S. Dowd
jsdwd@ispwest.com