This document provides an introduction to the work and teachings of W. Edwards Deming, a statistician and quality management consultant. It summarizes key quotes and concepts from Deming, including his System of Profound Knowledge (SOPK), the famous Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, and his famous "14 Points" and "7 Deadly Diseases" of management. The document also describes a variant of the "Red Bead Experiment" activity used to demonstrate Deming's teachings in practice.

1. Introduction to Deming
Andrew Cahoon
June 6, 2013

2. Agenda
Quotes
History
 W. Edwards
Deming
Key Concepts
 SOPK
 14 Points
 7 Deadly Disease
2
Activity
 Red Bead Experiment
(variant)
Discussion
References
Contact

3. Quotes from Deming
• "There is no substitute for knowledge.“
• "The most important things are unknown or
unknowable."
• "It is wrong to suppose that if you can't measure
it, you can't manage it - that is a costly myth"
• "Ranking is a farce. Apparent performance is
actually attributable mostly to the system that the
individual works in, not to the individual himself“
3

4. History
Dr. William Edwards Deming
(October 14, 1900 – December 20,
1993) was an American statistician,
professor, author, lecturer and
consultant. He is perhaps best
known for the "Plan-Do-Check-Act"
cycle (or Shewhart Cycle). In Japan,
from 1950 onwards, he taught top
management how to improve design
(and thus service), product quality,
testing, and sales (the last through
global markets) through various
methods, including the application
of statistical methods.
4
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming
•BSc in EE Univ. of Wyoming (1921)
•MS from the Univ. of Colorado (1925)
•PhD from Yale University (1928)

5. System of Profound Knowledge (SOPK)
5
Appreciation of a System
•Systems are sets of components that
work together to accomplish vision &
goals
•Communication must exist
•Collaboration must exist
Knowledge of Variation
•Understanding variation is key to
improvement
•Variation exists in everything
•Variation causes waste
Theory of Knowledge
•First understand problems then solve
them
•Make data driven decisions
•Assess past performance
•Predict future performance
Psychology
•Understand people
•Understand interactions
•Need for:
•Relationships and esteem
•Learning and contribution
•Progress

6. 14 Points
6
#1 Create
constancy of
purpose
#2 Adopt a
new
philosophy
#3 Cease
dependence
upon inspection
#4 Move
toward a single
supplier
#5 Improve
constantly &
forever
#6 Institute on
the job training
#7 Institute
leadership
#8 Drive out
fear
#9 Break down
barriers
between
departments
#10 Eliminate
slogans
#11 Eliminate
management
by objective
#12 Remove
barriers to
pride of
workmanship
#13 Institute
education and
self
improvement
#14 The
transformation
is everyone’s
job

7. 7 Deadly Diseases
7
1. Lack of constancy of purpose
2. Emphasis on short-term profits
3. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual
review of performance
4. Mobility of management
5. Running a company on visible figures alone
6. Excessive medical costs
7. Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers who
work for contingency fees

8. Activity
8
• Fast variant of the Red Bead experiment
• Goal : provide high quality products to customer
• Sequence:
1. Set up team of workers and inspector
2. Workers receive inputs
3. Workers process (i.e. open bags and select item)
4. Workers report out to Inspector (creates document)
5. Deliver to Shipping
6. Repeat steps 2-5, per instructions

9. Discussion
9
• Participants:
• How did it feel ?
• Were you engaged ?
• Observers:
• What was working well ?
• What did not work well ?
• All:
• What would you have liked to do ?
• "Reward for good performance may be the same
as reward to the weather man for a pleasant day"

10. References
10
Out of the Crisis
E. Edwards Deming, 1982
The New Economics
E. Edwards Deming, 2nd Edition, 1994
Red Bead Experiment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBW1_GhRKTA
– First of 6 video clips

11. Contacts
11
Andrew Cahoon, Managing Director
• Phone: 512-968-5401
• Email: andrew.cahoon@clarumgroup.com
• Twitter: @clarum
• Web: www.ClarumGroup.com