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After being exposed to the power, and dare I say, common sense, of the Deming approach to management, I suddenly felt very alone. I found that I was surrounded with “successful” business owners that really believed that their methods worked just fine, and that all they needed was more customers to apply them to. Now over five years into this journey I can say I don’t feel alone any more. For over a year I have been a member of the Official Deming Group on LinkedIn. On this LinkedIn group I have found some of the most dedicated adherents to Deming’s methods as well as some of the deepest thinkers on the subject of systems thinking and continual improvement.
As I think about what some of my audience members tell me regarding their views of management, it brings to mind this gem that is a cornerstone of the systems thinking transformation. “We must change our focus from quantity to quality.” Here is a story. My chiropractor, Dr. Dennis Fiorini, is one of the best in the country. He has become increasingly interested in applying Deming’s methods to his already successful clinic. To his question, “What is wrong with gaining patients, we want as many as we can get,” I replied, “No you don’t!” This statement, as you might guess, got his attention. I told the good doctor that he did not want one more patient than he could give a top notch, caring, and correct treatment to. Not one more. Next he says, “so we are stuck with the patients we have?” No, good doctor, the number of patients increases as the ability of the system to properly treat them increases. Dr. Atkinson, another of the clinic doctors, and Dr. Fiorini’s brother-in-law, said, “is that why last summer when we had a sudden increase in patients, the whole system came crashing down?” Bingo, doctor, bingo.