The Cornerstone; Theory of Variation

[PHILHOOVER@aol.com]

Bacal wrote about the parts of profound knowledge, "given the issue of
systems thinking and it's importance, to me the need is to integrate the
pieces. While some might suggest that you must understand the pieces before
you can understand the system of relationship, my gut says that's not the way
to go

Everybody seems to talk about the four parts of profound knowledge, and how
they are interrelated.  No one seems to indicate that some of the parts are
more important than other parts.  Well, I propose that the Theory of
Variation is the cornerstone of Dr. Deming's teachings.  Everything else that
he embraced over the years, including the Psychology of People and Human
Behavior had to be consistent with his strong belief and understanding of the
Theory of Variation.

To introduce myself and this idea, I am a math major from Cornell University.
 In my ten years of knowing Dr. Deming I was attracted to his teachings
because he melded together my math background (I didn't say statistics) with
a way to manage.  I loved it.  The more I was in contact with him I came to
believe that most of his major pronouncements came from his deep
understanding of the Theory of Variation.  It became so profound, that I
finally had to ask him.  At a small dinner party in August of 1993 I asked
Dr. Deming if he was comfortable with a guy like me running around the
country saying the 70% to 80% of his major pronouncements come from his deep
understanding of the Theory of Variation.  I am talking about things like: no
grades in school; 94% of the performance of an organization comes from the
process, not the people; eliminate gold stars; cease dependence on
inspection; eliminate MBO; eliminate the annual performance rating.

So I asked him, "Are you comfortable with a guy like me running around the
country saying the 70% to 80% of your major pronouncements come from your
deep understanding of the Theory of Variation."  I guess I could tell you
that Dr. Deming didn't often answer questions.  Only once before did he
answer one of mine.  This time, after 30 seconds of silence he looked me
right in the eye and said, "Sounds just about right to me."

I am not saying there is an interaction between the four parts of profound
knowledge, or they are not intertwined.  I am saying that to understand the
depth of Dr. Deming's teachings, one must understand the Theory of Variation
or many of his pronouncements simply don't make any sense.  As with the parts
of the body, all are important for full functioning, but some are more
important than others.  My son in law has lost both of his legs and still
survives and contributes, he would not do that without a heart or a brain.

As a tribute, I must say that I feel that our recent contributer Kromkowski
understood this more than most contributors to the DEN.  I will miss him.

Phil Monroe
PhilHoover@aol.com

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