Obstacles: 1-4
What We Put In Our Own Way
There are, besides the deadly diseases, a whole parade of obstacles. Some obstacles are in fact candidates for front rank in effectiveness, along with the deadly diseases, though most of them are easier to cure than the deadly diseases…
1. Hope for instant pudding. An important obstacle is the supposition that improvement of quality and productivity is accomplished suddenly by affirmation of faith… It is not so simple: it will be necessary to study and to go to work. One man actually wrote to me for my formula, and the bill therefor.
Deming, W. Edwards. Out of the Crisis (MIT Press) (p. 126). The MIT Press. Kindle Edition.
2. The supposition that solving problems, automation, gadgets, and new machinery will transform industry. No one should sneer at savings of $800,000 per year, or even $1000 per year. A group of workers took pride in changes that saved $500 a year. Every net contribution to efficiency is important, however small… The big gain is not the $500 per year that the men saved. What is important is that these men could now take pride in the improvement…
Incidentally, computation of savings from use of a gadget (automation or robotic machinery) ought to take account of total cost, as an economist would define it In my experience, people are seldom able to come through with figures on total cost.
Deming, W. Edwards. Out of the Crisis (MIT Press) (pp. 127-128). The MIT Press. Kindle Edition.
3. Search for examples. Improvement of quality is a method, transferable to different problems and circumstances. It does not consist of cookbook procedures on file ready for specific application to this or that kind of product.
It is not unusual for a consultant to receive an enquiry for examples of success in a similar product line… My answer to such enquiries is that no number of examples of success or of failure in the improvement of quality and productivity would indicate to the enquirer what success his company would have. His success would depend totally on his knowledge of the 14 points and of the diseases and obstacles, and the efforts that he himself puts forth…
It is a hazard to copy. It is necessary to understand the theory of what one wishes to do or to make. Americans are great copiers (QC-Circles, Kanban or just in time, for example). The fact is that the Japanese learn the theory of what they wish to make, then improve on it.
Deming, W. Edwards. Out of the Crisis (MIT Press) (p. 128-129). The MIT Press. Kindle Edition.
4. “Our problems are different.” … They are different, to be sure, but the principles that will help to improve quality of product and of service are universal in nature.
Deming, W. Edwards. Out of the Crisis (MIT Press) (p. 130). The MIT Press. Kindle Edition.
THE AIM of today’s post is to introduce the first four of sixteen obstacles Dr. Deming followed his Seven Deadly Diseases with in Out of the Crisis. Like the diseases, these too are surprisingly durable and relevant in the present day. They are illusions, excuses, and avoidances for doing the needed work. Abiding by any are an indication your “transformation” is, in actuality, a reformation of existing material and ideas.
Hope for Instant Pudding is perhaps the most common of the obstacles you will encounter in the wild: The expectation that with little effort and a recipe we will get outsized results. Deming is right with his Rx for study and hard work - and this cannot be delegated.
Transformation through Solving Problems, Automation, Gadgets, and New Machinery is another common obstacle that comes in many guises today: A new problem-solving framework, practice, or tool that promises miraculous results if applied diligently. OKRs, for example, are a wonderful, intellectual distraction from dealing with why they are necessary in the first place. As Dr. Henry Neave observes: “Quality cannot be bought with money.”
The Search for Examples is an attempt to avoid learning the theory that supports a particular mode of working. It leads to naive implementations without understanding what components are required or how they work together in a particular context. This thinking particularly afflicted early efforts to implement lean techniques in auto manufacturing, and still afflicts almost all “agile” transformations to this day. This is an example of Rule #4 of The Funnel Experiment, a drunk-walk off into the Milky Way.
Our Problems are Different is an understandable delay to learning as we may suppose that like a sullen teenager, no one understands what we’re going through. In my career I’ve been fortunate to have worked in and with organizations of all sizes and can confirm that while specific problems are varied, they all stem from common foibles and defects in the prevailing system of management. This makes the work of identifying problems much easier as you learn to quickly identify and confirm or disprove theories for improvement.
Reflection Questions
Consider each of the first four obstacles to transformation Dr. Deming describes above. What are your initial reactions to them? Are they correct? What other obstacles do they bring to mind for you? How would you deconstruct them in your own transformation?