Re: Buddhism and Quality Circles

[John <jsdwd@ispwest.com>]

I agree with your analysis.  Deming had some very good advice as to how to
become competitive in the business world.  You don't have to know anything
else to benefit from his teaching.

It may be that he caught on in Japan (my opinion is the extent of his
influence is often over-stated) because of the Buddhist 'mind' (whatever
that might be).  

I will say that I have lived in Asia off and on for the last ten years and
there is in the East more process thinking or acceptance of the 'flow of
life' than there is in the West, where people tend to be more pre-occupied
with outcomes.  Maybe that had something to do with Deming's influence and
maybe it didn't.  

I'd say "somewhat".  He was also there at the invite of JUSE and was
originally brought in by the Army which ran the place....that probably had
more to do with his polite reception.  I think the credit for recognizing a
good thing when they saw it goes to the Japanese.  Certainly most business
leaders in the U. S. haven't been able to accomplish that.

My guess is that if you asked a top Japanese manager to explain the PDSA
cycle, not only would many of them know what you are talking about,the
executive would do a credible job explaining how it works and why it's
important.  The same could not be said for more than a handful of CEO's in
the Fortune 100 yet most books on Toyota's success point to PDSA as a
fundamental building block.

John S. Dowd
jsdwd@ispwest.com