CREATING A REVOLUTIONIZED MANAGEMENT CULTURE

The name and reputation of W. Edwards Deming first caught the attention of a few Ford Motor executives in 1978, when they were trying to figure out how the Japanese automakers were outdoing them in car quality and design.

Deming's work and fame popularized the PDCA cycle which has the idea of deductive and inductive learning built into the learning and improvement cycle in the Deming wheel. Deming's message was that quality is everyone's responsibility.

His successful principles of emphasizing quality and customer satisfaction that helped turn around Sony, Fuji and Toyota were embraced in many countries.

Creating a revolutionized management culture with the widely adopted Total Quality Management (TQM) and six sigma Deming's basic philosophy was set down in these 14 points:

1. Create a constant purpose for improving products and services planned for the long term resisting short term solutions that compromise quality

2. Adopt the new philosophy. Be prepared for a major change in the way business is done. It's about leading everyone to quality output not simply managing

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.

4. Use a single supplier for any one item. Instead minimize total costs by working with a single supplier.

5 Improve constantly and forever. Every process for planning production and service. Just keep doing plan, do, check, act.

6. Use training on the job. Build a foundation of common knowledge and train for consistency. Train workers to see the role they play in the big picture.

7. Adapt and institute leadership. Don't just supervise. Support each staff member so that they can do his or her best. Be a coach instead of a policeman.

8. Drive out fear. Workers do their best when they feel valued. Free from the fear of ridicule demotion or being fired for expressing their concerns.

9. Break down barriers between staff areas using cross-functional teamwork can build understanding between departments and reduce adversarial relationships.

10 Eliminate slogans exhortations and targets for the workforce. Don't let catchphrases like excellence in service stand in for leadership. Communicate your expectations and then praise people face to face for doing good work.

11. Eliminate management by quota. Deming said that production targets encourage high output and low quality

12 Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship allow everyone to be proud of their work without being raided or compared

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self improvement for everyone.

14. Put everybody in the company to work accomplishing the transformation methodology alone won't bring success to a company.

Much depends on the context - A company's leadership, its culture, the ownership, their funding etc. What we see is that today's best practices for business, stand on the shoulders of a long history of critical thinking.