Customer Reviews

Out of the Crisis

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Written in 1985, this classic text from an American icon contains timeless principles of quality that still apply in many ways to today's eBusiness world. Deming is insightful and even humorous in his description of what he considered the diseases plaguing this country's quality issues at that time (constant comparisons with the Japanese, who, of course, in his mind were doing it right). He teaches that most quality issues are systemic (process related) and, therefore, the responsibility of management. His message is summarized in his 14 points and the usage of six-sigma control charts. These concepts are expanded in the text The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity - Roadmaps and Roadblocks by W. W. Scherkenbach

What impresses me most is that Deming's principles have not been forgotten over the last few decades - they have been assimilated into the language and beliefs of today's quality and success leaders.

With that said, the book is dated - both in language and, of course, in technology. Deming smothers you in examples of production line issues and basic management mistakes.

While it may no longer be a must read, Out of the Crisis remains a treasured part of our technical history.

Witness the big bang of the quality universe. If you manage anything this is a method you must understand.

I want to like Deming's folksy ancedotes, his common wisdom, his steadfast loyalty to quality. Yet, his proscriptive advice rang more true in 1986 than today. He praises Japanese-style management, finance, and corporate governance practices and attacks the modern American corporation's focus on financial management, downsizing, and layoffs.

It is hard to support his conclusions in 2001. Japan is lagging behind the United States in macroeconomic growth, corporate profit growth, and the development of new industries. American downsizing in the early and mid-1990s has produced leaner, more focused companies and allowed our labor resources to shift from low-value to high-value industries. The focus on shareholder value has caused managers to eliminate corporate waste and unlock hidden value through divestitures, joint ventures, and spin-offs. When is the last time a major Japanese company divested a division to focus on its core operations?

The final point is that Deming produces no real evidence. He tells stories, he shares his wisdom. Deming writes like a more academic version of Tom Peters: entertaining and proscriptive, but strangely void of sound theories and non-ancedotal evidence. It all comes down to a matter of faith with both Peters and Deming, which is ironic considering Deming's advocation of scientific management and statistical control.

Having "seen the light" as spoken by Deming, I highly recommend this book and Deming's "The New Economics" to anybody interested in not only quality and business, but anybody working. If you aren't in a position having the power to change your workplace, be prepared to bite your lip when conventional management is used.
When you look at Six Sigma you can see much of Dr. Demings work and thoughts being used, thus one persons short review that Dr. Deming is the real father of Six Sigma. Six Sigma brings more of the cost savings aspect to process improvement which appeals to conventional business.
While people can look at Japan and say they are down now and Dr. Deming is wrong, there are plenty of Japanese companies that follow Dr. Deming's teachings still that are clobbering the competition. Toyota, the 2nd largest auto manufacturer in the world now (yes, ahead of Ford by most accounts) uses his teachings.
Don't just read the words, understand what is being said and learn from Dr. Deming.

This is a classic in the world of quality assurance. It is fair to call Deming the father, godfather, grandfather and preacher of the quality movement. This book, written in 1986 after he achieved international fame for helping improve quality in Japan, captures the spirit and ideas that spawned a revolution.

The book captures many of the key points in Deming's philosophy:
1) Creating metrics based approaches to management, without falling into a quota system.
2) Differentiating between problems caused by the system and problems outside of the system.
3) Focusing on both doing things correctly, and identifying the right tasks to approach.
4) Introducing a Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle of continuous improvement.

If you look at this list, the book presents a blueprint for many of the so called management revolutions of the subsequent 15 years: Excellence, Re-engineering, Process Management, Systems Thinking. This book really is both a trend setter as well as highly important body of theory. The theory is relevant today, as many management problems today can be addressed by his 14 points of management. (Example: A reliance on inspection is bad - build quality into the process. This is highly relevant to software construction today.)

So are there any knocks?
1) You're left with many imperatives, but sometimes without positive prescriptions. For example: If you don't do annual performance reviews, what do you replace it with to determine who gets promoted?
2) The book can be dry and hard to follow. Sometimes it is written as notes pieced together.
3) Many of the companies that Deming held up as models have fallen on tougher times. It seems that today Quality alone is not enough.

Having said this, it should be required reading for any manager. The theory is good, and the book should spark your thinking.

I first became aware of Dr. Deming through the Deming Management method. He affected so much change in Japan and was not known here in the USA. The chief reason for his lack of success here was probably that eliminating fear, one of his 14 points, has never really been a management method of American Management. Today people fear losing jobs, his method of quality was to lead to more jobs and more quality utilizing American pride in work. I do think his method had an impact, look at companies like Xerox, and others who continually improved, yet, our economy is so short sighted, we never seem to get past the view of everything this Quarter...we need to have a broader perspective. I find my coworkers in America to be very hard working people who have pride in what they do and accomplish. If only we would remember the red beads, we would get quality if we provide quality material. Demings last seminar was held in Pasadena, I wanted to go to that, yet I hesitated and well, had to learn from a friend second hand. This is a must buy for anyone who will manage people, engineers and corporations.

It's a shame Deming was only listened to after American Industry humiliated itself in the international markets. It's a bigger shame that they forget their mistakes after realizing them for a while.

Deming is unquestionably one of the most original and brilliant thinkers of last century. This book WILL cause you to change your thinking about your job.

You don't have to be a statistician to understand this book either, b/c the crux of it has to do with a philosophy, and a very intelligent one at that, much more than math.

I liked this book so much, that I purchased a rather expensive autorgraphed version on an auction site, becuase it's really a masterpiece.

I was introduced to Deming's 14 Points for Management briefly in college. It is now obvious to me that my professors didn't know what was contained in this book! "How could they know?" as Deming says. The profound knowledge contained in this book will energize you with a desire for improvement in your workplace and your community. Deming lays out the road map for the Transformation from the Western management philosophy by focusing on critical thinking. Prove your results are what you say they are by using the scientific method...Deming provides the necessary guidance. Drive out the fear of new knowledge, the knowledge that may uncover your shortcomings, and focus on substantiated improvements for your customers, workplace and community. You will certainly read this one more than once!!!!

W.Edwards Deming is one of the leading thinkers of modern management as a key originator of total quality management. D.Wren and R.Greenwood write, in their 'Management Innovators,' "Deming was critical of U.S. management, perhaps because he had been ignored far so long, but more probably because U.S. firms were losing market share to more quality-oriented competitors. He blamed U.S. management because the wealth of a nation did not depend on its natural resources but on its people, management, and goverment: 'The probem is where to find good management. It would be a mistake to export American management to a friendly country.' "

In this context, in Chapter 2, in order to transform American industry, Deming presents the 14 points that constitute his theory of management:

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.

2. Adopt 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.

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.

4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.

5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

6. Institute training on the job.

7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.

8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.

9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.

10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.

11. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.

12. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. 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 objective.

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.

According to Deming application of these points will transform style of management. Unfortunately, some deadly diseases stand in the way of transformation. Thus, in Chapter 3, he identifies seven deadly diseases that cause the decline of American industry:

1. Lack of constancy of purpose to plan product and service that will have a market and keep the company in business, and provide jobs.

2. Emphasis on short-term profits.

3. Evaluation of performance, merit rating, or annual review.

4. Mobility of management, job hopping.

5. Management by use only of visible figures, with little or no consideration of figures that are unknown or unknowable.

6. Excessive medical costs.

7. Excessive costs of liability, swelled by lawyers that work on contigency fees.

I highly recommend this business classic for all managers.

Out of the Crisis is certainly one of the great business books with lasting impact. His basic theory: it is cheaper to make quality products in the end.

Expansion: Demming's theories help build great companies like Toyota behind the ever-striving goal for top quality products. Demming believes that higher quality products have less defects, more customer adoption, and better acceptance (especially for a new entrant to a market). As an Industrial Engineer, I truly appreciate this book.