Its hard to talk about Japanese management techniques without talking about Deming.
So Jidoka is pretty much Deming #11. Poka-yoke is obviously Deming #3. Kaizen is Deming #5. At least according to the "Out of the Crisis" poster I used to have.
I keep my Deming fandom quiet, he's about as anti-american as you can get. I'd get less flack if I said I was a Marxist. Its too bad, Deming was a genius. I'd say this whole topic is NSFW because you can't get further away from modern American management than Deming. Its safer to quote Marx at work than Deming.
The red bead experiment is deceptively simple because it provides a powerful message that is difficult for many to grasp. In summary, the misconception that workers can be meaningfully ranked is based on two faulty assumptions. The first assumption is that each worker can control his or her performance. Deming (1986, 315) estimated that 94 percent of the variation in any system is attributable to the system, not to the people working in the system. The second assumption is that any system variation will be equally distributed across workers. Deming (1986, 353) taught that there is no basis for this assumption in real life experiences. The source of the confusion comes from statistical (probability) theory where random numbers are used to obtain samples from a known population. When random numbers are used in an experiment, there is only one source of variation, so the randomness tends to be equally distributed. This is because samples based on random numbers are not influenced by such things as the characteristics of the inputs and tools (e.g., size of the beads and depressions in the paddles) and other real world phenomena. However, in real life experiences, there are many identifiable causes of variation, as well as a great many others that are unknown. The interaction of these forces will produce unbelievably large differences between people (Deming 1986, 110) and there is no logical basis for assuming that these differences will be equally distributed.2
I've never heard a disparaging remark about Deming, personally. When I worked for IBM in the late 1980s and early 90s, he was practically worshipped. When did he become controversial?
OK so there's two "american" megacorps I haven't worked at where his ideas are not hated. That's unusual.
Its not so much "we hate Deming", if anything he's usually very superficially liked, but his ideas are considered pure evil, he's the opposite of american management style.
Could there be anything more anti-american or the opposite of traditional MBA indoctrination than for example "Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objectives." Like I claimed, you'd get more corporate traction at a typical company by quoting Marx.
(edited to add the drama looks like this "TQM made some competitors successful. So we're going to do TQM. What that means to me, is we put up a poster of 14 key principles, and continue business as usual doing the near exact opposite of all 14 clearly listed principles. What could possibly go wrong with that implementation plan? I'm sure it will be a glorious success, at least until the next fad." "I like snickers bars, lots of them. Also I'm unhealthy. Dietician gave me a much better formal written diet plan. That's very nice, but I'll continue eating snickers bars as my primary source of calories while telling everyone I have a new diet. Shockingly, I'm still unhealthy. That dietician must really suck.")
Comments
Its hard to talk about Japanese management techniques without talking about Deming.
So Jidoka is pretty much Deming #11. Poka-yoke is obviously Deming #3. Kaizen is Deming #5. At least according to the "Out of the Crisis" poster I used to have.
I keep my Deming fandom quiet, he's about as anti-american as you can get. I'd get less flack if I said I was a Marxist. Its too bad, Deming was a genius. I'd say this whole topic is NSFW because you can't get further away from modern American management than Deming. Its safer to quote Marx at work than Deming.
I always liked Deming's Red Bead experiment.. http://maaw.info/DemingsRedbeads.htm
The red bead experiment is deceptively simple because it provides a powerful message that is difficult for many to grasp. In summary, the misconception that workers can be meaningfully ranked is based on two faulty assumptions. The first assumption is that each worker can control his or her performance. Deming (1986, 315) estimated that 94 percent of the variation in any system is attributable to the system, not to the people working in the system. The second assumption is that any system variation will be equally distributed across workers. Deming (1986, 353) taught that there is no basis for this assumption in real life experiences. The source of the confusion comes from statistical (probability) theory where random numbers are used to obtain samples from a known population. When random numbers are used in an experiment, there is only one source of variation, so the randomness tends to be equally distributed. This is because samples based on random numbers are not influenced by such things as the characteristics of the inputs and tools (e.g., size of the beads and depressions in the paddles) and other real world phenomena. However, in real life experiences, there are many identifiable causes of variation, as well as a great many others that are unknown. The interaction of these forces will produce unbelievably large differences between people (Deming 1986, 110) and there is no logical basis for assuming that these differences will be equally distributed.2
I've never heard a disparaging remark about Deming, personally. When I worked for IBM in the late 1980s and early 90s, he was practically worshipped. When did he become controversial?
Same here, but I was working at Ford.
OK so there's two "american" megacorps I haven't worked at where his ideas are not hated. That's unusual.
Its not so much "we hate Deming", if anything he's usually very superficially liked, but his ideas are considered pure evil, he's the opposite of american management style.
Could there be anything more anti-american or the opposite of traditional MBA indoctrination than for example "Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objectives." Like I claimed, you'd get more corporate traction at a typical company by quoting Marx.
(edited to add the drama looks like this "TQM made some competitors successful. So we're going to do TQM. What that means to me, is we put up a poster of 14 key principles, and continue business as usual doing the near exact opposite of all 14 clearly listed principles. What could possibly go wrong with that implementation plan? I'm sure it will be a glorious success, at least until the next fad." "I like snickers bars, lots of them. Also I'm unhealthy. Dietician gave me a much better formal written diet plan. That's very nice, but I'll continue eating snickers bars as my primary source of calories while telling everyone I have a new diet. Shockingly, I'm still unhealthy. That dietician must really suck.")
Weren't Deming's ideas the genesis of the whole "Total Quality Management" fad in the 90's? What happened?
We'll work on product quality just after we make our numbers for the quarter. Honest.
For those interested in Deming (and as you mention Toyota's management) see Online Resources for W. Edwards Deming’s Management Ideas:
From The W. Edwards Deming Institute Blog.