Deming’s 14 Points: This is How They Can Make You Better!
W. Edwards Deming was an American statistician and an educator. But more than that he is known as one of the most pre-eminent management gurus in modern history, famous for amongst other things – Deming’s 14 points which we will get to in a minute.
Now, you may be wondering who the guy in the photo with Dr. Deming below is…Well, you will have to wait until the end of this post to find out!
Deming’s 14 points is one of the things W. Edwards Deming was most famous for. They are a series of 14 key principles he developed that managers can use to transform the effectiveness of their business.
Seeing as how I am passionate about both studying the teachings of Dr. Deming and self-improvement, I have decided to modify Deming’s 14 points and apply them to the field of self-improvement. And as always, I will try to make this post as entertaining and actionable as possible. But I suppose that you the reader will ultimately be the judge of that!
So, without further ado let’s pay homage to the great Dr. Deming by morphing Deming’s 14 points for management into Prime Your Pump’s 14 points for self-improvement.
(1) Deming’s 1st point: Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services.
The first of Deming’s 14 points encourages managers to abandon the short-term thinking exemplified by overreacting to the “crisis du jour” in favor of taking a long-term perspective toward never-ending improvement.
Prime Your Pump’s 1st point: Doing the right things
Take a long-term view of life and always be governed by your life’s purpose.
How to make it actionable: There are a few ways you can make this actionable:
Create a personal mission statement so you are focused on where you want to go.
This is all about doing the right things. For example, having the same old boring missionary sex is fine – you are doing the act properly. But is it time to try something else like another position? In other words, are you doing the right thing in the first place?
This also means not overreacting, being sidetracked, or getting upset by every little crisis that comes up. Stuff is always going to happen, you have dealt with it before and you will deal with it again. Keep your eye on the prize; that is…your mission statement in life!
(2) Deming’s 2nd point: Adopt the new philosophy.
Companies need to adopt a new way of thinking which can be summarized by adopting a “quality consciousness” that no longer tolerates delays, mistakes, and defective materials/workmanship.
Prime Your Pump’s 2nd point: Doing things right
Now that you are doing the right things, you need to focus on doing things right by being focused on improving whatever it is you have chosen to do.
How to make it actionable – Create and practice habits that are consistent with sustainable long-term improvement and not cutting corners or taking shortcuts.
A couple of examples:
Now that you have chosen the right sexual position, i.e. Swiss ball blitz or Spork, it is time to focus on doing it correctly. Watch videos, study the kama sutra, whatever it takes. Practice makes perfect!
Instead of dieting, adopt a healthy lifestyle that includes working out and eating properly.
(3) Deming’s 3rd point: Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.
Eliminating mass inspection of goods and services after they are made or delivered. Instead, focus on making them better in the first place.
Prime Your Pump’s 3rd point: Stop overreacting to problems
Overreacting is a sign that you are not in control of your life. Instead, be proactive, plan ahead and do things right the first time. i.e. your husband has gas again and you are mad, next time don’t feed him black beans.
How to make it actionable: Some of the actions you need to stop doing are micromanaging, being an annoying nag, demanding results and caring what people think. Instead, do things correctly the first time and instead of micromanaging or nagging people, help them figure out how to do things better.
(4) Deming’s 4th point: End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single supplier.
Choosing vendors for other reasons other than low prices, such as whatever quality measures are meaningful to you.
Prime Your Pump’s 4th point: Choose your friends and partners wisely
It has been said that you are the 5 people you spend the most time with, so it is extremely critical that you choose who you spend your time with wisely. i.e. is your time really well spent with that friend who is always complaining?
How to make it actionable: Surround yourself with people that are diverse, that challenge you, that help you grow. Also, infuse diversity into your relationships and try not to limit your friend group to people that are just like you. Mix it up in terms of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, interests, etc.
(5) Deming’s 5th point: Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production, and service.
Find problems by continually analyzing and understanding the various processes in your company; when you find them, improve them.
Prime Your Pump’s 5th point: Always keep improving in all areas of your life
You should always be analyzing, understanding and improving all areas of your life.
How to make it actionable: If you want a more scientific approach, there is a tool that you can use to help you in your quest for continuous improvement, it is called the PDSA cycle.
PDSA stands for Plan, Do, Study, Act and it is a way for you to test your improvement efforts.
Plan: Come up with a plan for whatever you are trying to improve. i.e. creating a workout and nutrition plan to improve your body composition and overall health
Do: Test it out. i.e. follow the workout and nutrition plan
Study: Study the results. i.e. is your body fat % or whatever metric you are using improving?
Act: If you are happy with the results, continue on. If not, try something else. i.e. keep doing what you are doing or adjust your plan
(6) Deming’s 6th point: Institute training on the job.
Don’t just be do your job like a mindless drone. Do your job and always be trying to improve your job. Learn what is working and what isn’t, and constantly be improving your job.
Prime Your Pump’s 6th point: Utilizing feedback loops
Recall yesterday’s post on feedback loops. A feedback loop is getting real-time information about the actions that you take so that you can understand where you are, then compare it to where you want to be, so you can take action to get closer to your desired goal.
How to make it actionable: Create a feedback loop by:
Selecting a measure to help you evaluate your action.
Collecting data on the measure automatically or easily (i.e. using a FitBit if measuring physical activity).
Comparing where you are with where you want to be.
Taking action to get you closer to your goal.
(7) Deming’s 7th point: Adopt and institute leadership.
The role of managers needs to evolve with the times and needs to focus on helping their workers do a better job.
Prime Your Pump’s 7th point: Be a leader in your life
This means being both a good leader and a good follower in your life
How to make it actionable:
Doing the right thing. We all know right from wrong, being a good person is all about doing the right thing.
Being proactive and assertive rather than waiting for stuff to happen.
Helping and encourage people. Sometimes all someone needs is for someone to believe in them. Be that person.
Taking responsibility when something does not go right and figure out how to make it right (how to improve it).
When someone else is in charge, be supportive and try to make their job easier by helping them. Be proactive.
Don’t judge people since you don’t know what they are going through.
Being a positive role model by mentoring others and paying things forward.
(8) Deming’s 8th point: Drive out fear
Get rid of fear to help people work more effectively, in my opinion, is one of the most important of Deming’s 14 points and it still really plagues businesses today. No one does good work unless they feel secure and encouraged to give suggestions and opinions.
Prime Your Pump’s 8th point: Eliminate fear in your life and other’s lives
Getting rid of fear will help you achieve your goals more effectively and will help others reach theirs.
How to make it actionable:
There are several ways to make it actionable:
Foster open communication in your relationships, encourage people to speak up.
Don’t be afraid to express your ideas yourself and encourage others to do so as well.
Stop being afraid of failure. We are all dead in 100 years anyway. Go for it!
Don’t jump all over people for making mistakes, you have made plenty in your life.
Get over your irrational fears, most times they don’t happen anyway. We will go more into depth on this in a future post.
(9) Deming’s 9th point: Break down barriers between staff areas
Encourage workers in different areas to work together as a team for the benefit of the organization and its customers. Encourage teamwork and communication.
Prime Your Pump’s 9th point: Encourage cooperation and teamwork
Utilize your friends and family to help solve problems and leverage the concepts of cooperation and teamwork in all areas of your life.
How to make it actionable:
This includes bringing:
Diverse people together to come up with better solutions.
Introducing people whom you think may click or be able to help each other.
Foster cooperation instead of competition and coming up with better solutions together by leveraging the thought that ‘none of us is as smart as all of us’.
(10) Deming’s 10th point: Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce.
Cease using slogans, exhortations, and targets to increase productivity. Deming suggested to instead to work with employees to identify methods to increase productivity.
Prime Your Pump’s 10th point: No more slogans, exhortations, and targets
Stop using slogans, exhortations, and targets with others and instead come up with methods or solutions instead.
How to make it actionable:
Again slogans, exhortations, and targets are useless without methods to achieve them.
Help people figure out how to do it by finding a method instead. So instead of chastising your husband for bad breath, stop feeding him garlic rolls smothered in onions and give him mouthwash instead of coffee as an after-dinner drink.
(11) Deming’s 11th point: Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management.
Shift the responsibility of managers from meeting numerical quotas to improving quality.
Prime Your Pump’s 11th point: Focus on the journey as opposed to the result
Keep improving every day, enjoy the journey and the result will take care of itself.
How to make it actionable:
This can be done simply by no longer worrying about the end result and instead focusing on the process or the steps you need to take to improve.
(12) Deming’s 12th point: Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship and eliminate the annual rating or merit system.
Annual ratings and reviews and comparisons to others rob people of their intrinsic motivation and pride of workmanship.
Prime Your Pump’s 12th point: Stop comparing yourself to others
Stop competing with other people. You are you, you cannot compete against anyone else, focus on being a better you.
How to make it actionable: You are you, stop trying to compete against anyone else. There will always be someone smarter, funnier, with more money, a better ass – whatever. Focus on becoming the best you possible.
(13) Deming’s 13th point: Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.
Ensure that your employees have time to learn every day and improve themselves by continuously learning.
Prime Your Pump’s 13th point: Have a formal personal development plan
Have a lifelong commitment to learning and never ever stop learning.
How to make it actionable:
Figure out how you learn best.
Make a point of learning every day so that it becomes a habit.
(14) Deming’s 14th point: Put everybody in the company to work in accomplishing the transformation.
Everyone in the company must be involved and part of the team. Ensure they are invested in its success by having a structure that promotes using the previous 13 points every day.
Prime Your Pump’s 14th point: Encourage self-improvement in others
The last of Deming’s 14 points encourage others to adopt a lifestyle of continuous self-improvement.
How to make it actionable:
Think of your family and friends as a team and help each other get better.
Ask for feedback and how you can get better.
Encourage people to share what they have learned.
Share what you have learned.
“WAIT!” you say, “You were going to tell us who the guy in the photo with Dr. Deming was earlier in the post”
Ah right! So, when I first saw the photo many years ago, I thought it was none other than this guy:
Yes, I thought it was pornstar Ron Jeremy in his younger and leaner years.
WRONG!
Then I thought it was this guy:
Yup, I thought it may have been Gabe Kaplan who played Mr. Kotter in the 1970s sitcom. “Welcome Back, Kotter”.
WRONG!
Shockingly, it was none other than this guy:
Prime Your Pump’s own Howie Gitlow in his younger years consulting with Dr. Deming!
And lucky for me, Dr. Deming was Howie’s mentor. Which has meant that I have had the good fortune of learning directly from one of Dr. Deming’s mentees, which has profoundly affected the way I think. It has also given me firsthand access to some amazing stories.
Until next time, bring back those awesome 80’s porn ‘staches and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick
Use It or Lose It – Prime Your Pump’s 14 Points Derived From Deming’s 14 Points:
You can practice Prime Your Pump’s 14 points which were derived from Deming’s 14 points of management by doing the following things:
(1) Doing the right things
(2) Doing things right
(3) Stop overreacting to problems
(4) Choose your friends and partners wisely
(5) Always keep improving in all areas of your life
(6) Utilizing feedback loops
(7) Be a leader in your life
(8) Eliminate fear in your life and other’s lives
(9) Encourage cooperation and teamwork
(10) No more slogans, exhortations, and targets
(11) Focus on the journey as opposed to the result
(12) Stop comparing yourself to others
(13) Have a formal personal development plan
(14) Encourage self-improvement in others
When to Use It:
Always, just like Deming’s 14 points should be used by managers every day, our version of Deming’s 14 points can be used throughout your life.
What Do You Think?
Please share any thoughts or questions on this post on Deming’s 14 points or Prime Your Pump’s version of Deming’s 14 points in the comments below.
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References
http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/total-quality-management/overview/deming-points.html
I am familiar with Deming’s 14 points, but have never really studied them in detail. Rather than go through each one, I will just pick out a few and provide my own opinions. However I will not comment on the Swiss ball blitz. That sounds painful, plus we are too old for gymnastics.
I have to politely disagree with your take on Item 4. Example: A respected colleague and I are on complete opposite ends of the political spectrum. But yet we have presented joint seminars together, correspond frequently, and have many similar interests in common. Early on, we both figured out never to discuss politics. And we have not. Without ground rules, either formal or informal, people tend to focus on their differences, not on their similarities, and that causes friction, which can destroy the work environment. Anyhow, that’s just my opinion. There’s a push out here for the Silicon Valley tech companies to increase diversity. Diversity just for diversity’s sake is totally stupid, it will just cause difficulties and conflict. When a company opts to make diversity more important than qualifications, skills or knowledge, they shoot themselves in the foot. And remember, there are only ten toes.
Deming is spot on with items 10 and 11. Reminds me of a little ditty…
“You don’t have enough time to do what you are supposed to do.
What you don’t do is more important than what you do do.
Most of what you do do is do do.”
Sort of the kind of philosophy one would expect from a Dilbert cartoon.
Now as to the photo of Deming posing with the “mystery man”. I enlarged it to 300%, and first focused on the “thing” in front of the two men. It’s not a buffet table. I can pick out electrical wiring to a power source and a vacuum line. There appears to be a length of paper underneath, with a roll at the far end. I’m guessing the two round platens are a feedback device to either a) ensure proper thickness, or b) control the speed so the paper does not get all balled up and crumpled. So what is the machine? I’m guessing it’s to roll up toilet paper onto a cardboard tube. Both men should know that wearing a tie around machinery is a total No-No, for safety reasons.
Anyhow, I guessed the mystery man to be one third of the triumvirate, and by the clothing style, it had to be the senior member. Score one for me! And please, don’t knock ‘staches. I grew one in 1971, and its still there festering on my upper lip. Of course, the ‘’stach has now been joined by its cousin, the beard. Men waste too much time shaving.
Lol on the Swiss ball blitz. As for the diversity issue, it is definitely a complicated subject, thanks for sharing your opinion – we could talk all day about it! Never heard that little ditty, I like it! Gold star for you on knowing it was Howie. Not sure on the machine, I will have to ask Howie. As for the ‘stache, I wasn’t being sarcastic – for once, i actually think they are pretty cool. Be good, Rick