The Deming Institute was established to enrich society through the W. Edwards Deming philosophy. Toward that end, they host two annual conferences and offer workshops, seminars, and a scholarship program. Their website also includes videos and other resources that include the
Dr. Deming published hundreds of original papers, articles and books covering a wide range of interrelated subjects—from statistical variance, to systems and systems thinking, to human psychology. He was a consultant to business leaders, major corporations, and governments around the world. His efforts lead to the transformation of management that has profoundly impacted manufacturing and service organizations around the world.
We were fortunate to attend several seminars led by Dr. Deming. He was (and is) the inspiration for the name of our company. Deming continued to author and lecture well into his 90’s. His final book, The New Economics, was published after his passing in 1993 at the age of 93. It was the culmination of his life’s work, detailing The Deming System of Profound Knowledge®.
Deming was a visionary, whose belief in continual improvement led to a set of transformational theories and teachings that changed the way we think about quality, management, and leadership. He believed in a world where there is joy in learning and joy in work – where “everyone will win.”
“. . . competition, we see now, is destructive. It would be better if everyone would work together as a system, with the aim for everybody to win. What we need is cooperation and transformation to a new style of management.”
– W. Edwards Deming
In The New Economics book, W. Edwards Deming details the system of transformation that underlies the 14 Points for Management presented in Out of the Crisis. The system of profound knowledge, as it is called, consists of four parts: appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology. Describing prevailing management style as a prison, Deming shows how a style based on cooperation rather than competition can help people develop joy in work and learning at the same time that it brings about long-term success in the market. Indicative of Deming’s philosophy is his advice to abolish performance reviews on the job and grades in school.