American engineer and statistician W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) was passionate about improvement. Throughout the 20th century Deming’s philosophies and expertise helped to improve efficiency and quality of countless processes and products throughout the world—an impact and legacy that will far exceed his own lifetime.
Deming is best known for his influence and impact on the post-war economy of Japan in the 1950s, and to this day his memory is honored there with the Deming Prize, awarded every year to individuals and businesses for excellence in Total Quality Management (TQM).
But Deming also had a big impact closer to home. In the early 1980s the Ford Motor Company was struggling. Over the course of just a few years the company had incurred billions of dollars in losses, and sales were continuing to fall. Ford hired W. Edwards Deming as a consultant to help the company improve product quality and—hopefully—increase sales.
To their surprise, Deming didn’t zero-in on product quality. Instead, he told Ford leadership to focus on improving company culture. He explained that the actions of the management had by far the greatest impact on employee performance and thus on product quality. Improving outcomes wasn’t about fixing the employees, it was about fixing the systems and processes throughout the company, and that had to start with and come from the top.
“Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.”
– W. Edwards Deming
Ford Motor Company took Deming’s advice, and by 1986 had become the most profitable car company in the U.S. This is just one of many examples of how Deming’s teachings positively influenced individuals, corporations, and entire countries. Definitely a man whose wisdom we should heed!
