Elaborating on the 14 Deming Principles: Part One

Management consulting is so helpful because it provides a rich variety of different perspectives on business.   One aspect that makes it so golden is simply because it is coming from the outside of the company receiving the consulting work.  This keeps ideas fresh and provides companies with unique opportunities.  It provides perspectives on how to grow instead of remain stuck in certain patterns or habits.  It teaches management to take more responsibility and put less strain on workers.  It helps a company become more cohesive in its purposes and move forward as one unit.  Management consulting is highly valuable.  The Deming Principles take management consulting to a whole deeper level.  The Deming Principles are so practical and objective that they can not only be used to aid a company in becoming more successful, but it can also be used as a list of philosophies to live one’s life by.

Deming Principle #1: Maintain a Consistent Purpose

According to Deming.org, the first principle states, “Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.”

What happens with a lot of companies is someone gets hired and they are given a set of objectives that may differ from others in the company.  It is important to make sure the company has one set of objectives that everyone works towards.  If different positions within the company point to various objectives that sometimes compete with one another, then the job descriptions of the workers need to change.  There must be a systematic approach.  Deming would only come to advise companies if the CEO was there so that there as consistency in this regard across the company.

Deming Principle #2: Workers are Not in Control, Management Is

Deming.org states that the second principle is, “Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.”
Workers cannot make changes to a company; only management can do that.  The cause of certain methodologies within a company does not come back to the workers.  It comes back to management.  Management is the one in control.  Deming did not believe in bonuses, because it caused workers to do what was necessary to get the bonus, even if that meant doing something that was not according to appropriate and best practices.  Having bonuses distorts the system.  Management is the cause and solution in this case.  They cause the problem by allowing people to use non-legitimate practices but then solve the problem by taking bonuses away.


Come back in two weeks for “Elaborating on the 14 Deming Principles: Part Two!”

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