In Their Own Words

In our 16th "Deming Lens" episode, host Tripp Babbitt shares his interpretation of wide-ranging aspects and implications of Dr. Deming's theory of management.

Topics in this episode include:

• Dr. Deming’s 14 Points, to be viewed as a system
• Point #1 – Create constancy of purpose
• The need for planning and knowledge
• Problems of today and problems of tomorrow
• Pressure from the need for quarterly financial reports
• The need for resources for the future, including training
• The need for broad applicability of innovation
• Improving the design of the organization
• John Hunter’s blog, September 21, 2015

1. Applications of the Deming philosophy in the service industry
2. Awareness of customer needs
3. Time needed to judge quality of service
4. Do people care about service?
5. Postal service - U.S. vs elsewhere
6. Railway service
7. Everybody wins!
8. Easy to find ways to cut costs without understanding the organization as a system
9. Over and under charges trucking charges
10. Steel processing
11. Waiting for problems to occur

1. Applications of the Deming philosophy in the service industry
2. Awareness of customer needs
3. Time needed to judge quality of service
4. Do people care about service?
5. Postal service - U.S. vs elsewhere
6. Railway service
7. Everybody wins!
8. Easy to find ways to cut costs without understanding the organization as a system
9. Over and under charges trucking charges
10. Steel processing
11. Waiting for problems to occur

1. Lack of awareness by management of quality levels
2. The role of a statistician
3. Lack of operational definitions
4. Crude problems
5. Study the system
6. Special and common causes of performance
7. Faith in the future
8. Need for innovation
9. Need for learning what isn't so
10. Need for learning statistical techniques
11. Putting out fires

In our second interview podcast of July 2018, Doug Stilwell shares lessons learned on his transition from a public school administrator to a professor of education at Drake University, once bitten by the Deming philosophy.

(This is Tripp's second interview with Doug. Link here for the first interview.)

Highlights include:

• Continued impact of new education methods in the Urbandale Community School District

• How to bring more of Dr. Deming's ideas into higher education?

• How to impact the next generation of leaders in education?

• Drake's Continual Improvement Network

• What happens when students leave Doug's classes?

• Network improvement communities

• "The system always wins"

• Moving away from the A-F grading system

• Shifting from a "time rigid / learning flexible" system to a "time flexible / learning rigid" system

In our second interview podcast of July 2018, Doug Stilwell shares lessons learned on his transition from a public school administrator to a professor of education at Drake University, once bitten by the Deming philosophy. 

(This is Tripp's second interview with Doug.  Link here for the first interview.)

Highlights include:

• Continued impact of new education methods in the Urbandale Community School District

• How to bring more of Dr. Deming’s ideas into higher education?

• How to impact the next generation of leaders in education?

• Drake’s Continual Improvement Network

• What happens when students leave Doug’s classes?

• Network improvement communities

• “The system always wins”

• Moving away from the A-F grading system

• Shifting from a “time rigid / learning flexible” system to a “time flexible / learning rigid” system

1. Goals, including arbitrary ones
2. Direction vs goals
3. Making buggy whips, using statistical methods to improve efficiency
4. Work standards, without a provision for measuring the quality of the work or the waste
5. How did it happen in Japan? 4 forces came together
6. Professor Eizaburo Nishibori
7. Need not follow the Japan way
8. Necessity to work with top management
9. Quality all over the company
10. Lifelong employment in Japan
11. Deming chain reaction
12. Trading quality for quantity
13. The main fault is the system
14. Operational definitions

In our July 2018 interview podcast, his 7th session with Tripp, Superintendent David Langford reflects on the efforts of the entire staff of Ingenium Charter Schools to move from "theory to practice" in their understanding and application of the Deming philosophy.

Highlights include:

• David's (new) role as superintendent
• Ingenium operates with 6 schools across Los Angeles, CA
• Restoring joy and meaning to learning as Ingenium's constancy of purpose
• Meaningful and relevant learning
• Moving from theory into practice
• 5 areas of practice (focus): SoPK, intrinsic motivation, continual improvement, neuroscience, and (project-based) quality learning experiences
• Student involvement
• Dashboards for monitoring joy in work
• Students learning about common and special causes of variation
• Student feedback on their experiences within Ingenium schools
• Neuroscience research

For more information about David's current work with Ingenium Schools, please visit ingeniumfoundation.org

In our July 2018 interview podcast, his 7th session with Tripp, Superintendent David Langford reflects on the efforts of the entire staff of Ingenium Charter Schools to move from “theory to practice” in their understanding and application of the Deming philosophy.

Highlights include:

• David’s (new) role as superintendent
• Ingenium operates with 6 schools across Los Angeles, CA
• Restoring joy and meaning to learning as Ingenium’s constancy of purpose
• Meaningful and relevant learning
• Moving from theory into practice
• 5 areas of practice (focus): SoPK, intrinsic motivation, continual improvement, neuroscience, and (project-based) quality learning experiences
• Student involvement
• Dashboards for monitoring joy in work
• Students learning about common and special causes of variation
• Student feedback on their experiences within Ingenium schools
• Neuroscience research

For more information about David's current work with Ingenium Schools, please visit ingeniumfoundation.org

• Applications of statistical process control (SPC)

• SPC as a detection tool

• Examples of non-manufacturing applications of SPC

• A request for examples to share in future Deming Lens podcasts