I like classic rock that seems to appeal to all generations. I also like management concepts that stand the test of time. Consultants like to repackage ideas and present them like they are new concepts. A “Center of Excellence” is really just a different way of looking at the age old debate between centralization and decentralization that has been going on since the dawn of the Roman empire. The reality is that there are many good leadership practices that have stood the test of time and don’t need to be repackaged.
For example, Edward Deming who was a key contributor to the Total Quality movement that swept the USA in the 1980’s was born in October way back in 1900. It has now been over 60 years since Dr. Edward Deming first presented his 14 points for management. Yet, these principles remain as relevant as ever. In this blog post and in honor of Deming’s 122nd birthday, I will revisit some of the most important points from Deming’s teachings for the current generation of leaders and discuss how they can be applied to modern-day leadership practices. If you are looking to improve your business efficiency and performance, then make sure to read on!
After graduating with an undergraduate degree in 1985, I immediately joined The Boeing Commercial Airplane Company in a quality improvement role. Boeing was in the early stages of implementing a Total Quality program that was closely aligned with the lessons of Edward Deming. Dr. Deming was a Doctorate level Statistician that was part of the rebuild effort in Japan after World War II. He had established his 14 points for management that was a rage in industry. Although he was a statistician, these 14 points went way beyond data collection and really are a template for an overall leadership philosophy. Dr. Deming emphasized that leaders recognize the worker as the “expert” of his or her job and was known for being particularly grumpy and short with managers that didn’t seem to understand their role of clearing obstacles for the workers. One of my first assignments was to help lead the implementation of Statistical Process Control (SPC) on one of the manufacturing lines associated with the interior fabrication of the airplanes. The project required our team to persuade machine operators to monitor their process statistically by taking and plotting measurements and defined intervals. In those days this was done with pencils, calculator and graph paper right at the machine.
When it came time to implement, my initial task was to do the training and provide the first exposure to this approach. This required me to sit with one of the most experienced and senior machine operators on the floor. This was a hardened manufacturing associate, proud member of the Aerospace Machinist Union and over all intimidating human. As a 24 year old that was new to the company, I was unsure about what his reaction might possibly be to this pencil and math approach to doing what he had done for so many years. With great trepidation, I presented the training, purpose and methodologies while he quietly listened. After I completed the training, I looked to him and asked him what he thought. His reply shocked me. He said, “This is the first time Management didn’t think that I was too stupid to do something like this. Lets make it work.” We went on to have a very successful project and that Operator helped me sell the concept with other operators.
That experience was one of the defining points in my career. I was inspired to see how this frontline employee rose to make a bigger impact that he or anyone else thought he could make. This entire effort at Boeing was driven by a Deming philosophy that people doing the work are experts on their process and that empowerment can drive dramatic improvement. These 14 points can still help leaders today.
Do leaders proactively control their agenda and stay with initiatives that make real change or do they react? Do managers come in each day and just react to what the world throws at them or do they drive the agenda. Are resources shuffled from priority to priority or is there a dedication to see things done?
This can be thought of as having a management attention span that allows continued focus. Of course, events happen that can divert attention and at times the priorities need to shift. However, good leaders anticipate, stay the course where possible and give people a sense that the ship is actually being steered and not just floating a drift to the whims of the wind.
This just means buy in on the other 13 points that are outlined with commitment from top management. This is not about lip service but true commitment and action.
If you know your processes are tightly controlled that it has to make a good product or service. It this type of control exists, then there is really not a need for inspection. This applies equally to administrative jobs as it does the factory floor.
I don’t totally agree with Deming that a single source is always the best practice. Clearly there are risks to manage. However, the point that suppliers should be essential partners and that there are things more important that price in a company’s success has been proven over time.
This is where Deming really emphasized the need to commit to continuous improvement. Deming hated static specifications. It is important to recognize the way Deming positioned this is that it is not just about the manufacturing process but we should also expect continuous improvement in our business and administrative processes. Whatever “work” is being done, it is being done with a process and a process can be improved.
This may seem obvious and something that every company does. This is broader than just “how” to do the job but also is part of assimilating the new team members into the culture and the social aspects of work.
This is about bringing real leadership at every level vs purely a supervisory role and straight management of resources. The emphasis was about caring for the people doing the job and providing the vision for the ongoing continuous improvement of both the person and process.
This is one of the most important elements of his 14 points. For an organization to thrive, there needs to be an open flow of communication with honest discussions. Also, people need to be empowered to act without fear of making a mistake. This is really talking about the internal operations and being able to empower everyone to act, communicate and explore within the scope of their responsibility.
Deming emphasized that ensuring the systems and the business processes worked together to support the frontline worker for service and production. It starts with an organization understanding its real purpose and who the internal and external customers really are. Once everyone has this mindset, the barriers between departments are easier to manage.
Deming advocated that 98% of the employees want to do the best job they can with the process that is provided to them. This is a very profound assumption that can really guide the actions of leadership. Slogans and exhortations can make management feel good but real improvement requires substantial process improvement. While I think there is a value in using some level of postings to communicate priorities and project activity, slogans are not a value. Placing posters up that say safety is the number one priority will not make the workforce safer if the process is unsafe, guarding is inadequate and the training lacking.
There are a couple of the 14 points that I struggle with. Numerical SMART goals can be valuable to help focus and the main emphasis is on the actions that are taken for improvement. However, Deming’s point again is that the process (materials, training, process control etc) needs to be improved to make progress and arbitrarily setting numerical goals by itself will not make improvement realized.
This is one of the most profound elements of Deming’s 14 points. With this point, Deming talks directly to the servant role of leadership to remove barriers within the teams that we lead. If every leader could really take that to heart within an organization, that organization is going to be way ahead of its competition.
The debate about performance management continues today and it is not clear what the perfect process is. However, the point Deming emphasized is that there needs to be continuous improvement and an ongoing dialogue that is not dependent on an annual performance review discussion.
Improvement needs to be an ongoing passion for everyone.
Empowerment and participation is a powerful thing for an organization, whatever form that comes in.
Even decades later, it a good exercise for leaders today to walk through these 14 points and discuss the improvement opportunities that they present in their organizations. What would your workplace look like if you have constancy of purpose, commit to drive out fear and assumed that 98% of your team are doing the best job they can with the process you as a leader have provided them? As the classic rock band Aerosmith said, Dream On!