12 Amazing Things I Learned from W Edwards Deming

Nov 2018

This week’s video discusses 12 amazing life lessons I gleaned from my mentor and Quality guru, Dr. W Edwards Deming.

Lesson 1: By what method?

If I am asked to do something, or I want to do something myself, I shouldn’t just set a target or a goal, first, I have to figure out “by what method” I can achieve my goal.

For example, if I want to lose 15 pounds, I shouldn’t say “I will lose 15 pounds.” I need a viable and sustainable method for losing 15 pounds and keeping them off. One method I discovered is to only eat or drink half of what you order or cook.

Lesson 2: Have a personal mission for your life

This way, you know where you want to go. If you don’t have a mission, then you will wander randomly throughout life with a small chance of winding up where you want to be at age 70.

For example, my personal mission is: “To generate positive energy into the universe”.

I am a terrible driver who gets angry and frustrated while driving. I honk at people and swerve around them. My wife said my driving is the anti-Christ of my mission. She is right.

Now, I put a red sticky dot on my steering wheel that reminds me to calm down; so what if I am 2 minutes late?

Lesson 3: Drive out fear from your life.

If you live in fear you are a slave to your fears. Become free!

For example, if you are scared to fly, see a therapist who specializes in getting rid of such fears. Now you can go wherever you want to go.

Lesson 4: Don’t accept the problem people present to you as the actual problem; it might just be a symptom of a deeper problem.

For example, if someone says their stomach hurts, it might be a symptom of a deeper psychological problem. You might want to seek professional help.

Lesson 5: Start at the Beginning When Looking for the Cause of a Problem

When searching for the root cause of a problem, start at the beginning of the process in which the problem lives. Starting downstream where the complaint resides can lead you astray when looking for a solution.

For example, if you are having trouble with your bowels, consider it may actually be a psychological problem. See a professional.

Lesson 6: People learn in different ways: reading, listening, pictures, watching.

Learn how you communicate best. Learn how those around you learn best.

For example, do you know how your spouse, child, parent, or boss learns best? If not…ask!

Lesson 7: Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.

When you present an argument with good data, it usually overcomes all opposition. For example, in the movie “Annie Hall”, there are two scenes one after the other, Dianne Keaton says to her therapist: “We have sex all the time.” Woody Allen says to his therapist: “We never have sex.” Data would help resolve the problem.

Lesson 8: Sub-optimization is when everyone is for himself.

Optimization is when everyone is working together for a common purpose or mission.

For example, if two guys are trying to pick up two gals, they should not pick the gal they want, but let the gals pick the guy they want. Sometimes you just have to throw yourself under the bus.

Lesson 9: Stamping out fires is a lot of fun, but it is only putting things back the way they were.

For example, winning a fight with your spouse may temporarily feel good, but in the long-term, your relationship is still crappy. Rather, work to improve your relationship by eliminating repetitive fights.

Lesson 10: Does experience help? No! Not if we are doing the wrong things.

Just because you experienced a movie to be great, doesn’t mean someone else will have the same experience.

Lesson 11: Judging people does not help them.

For example, If I think Rick is doing something stupid and I call him an idiot, it doesn’t help him do any better. I should suggest a different way for him to behave.

Lesson 12: I know what I told someone, but I don’t know what he or she heard.

For example, I told someone their mother looked like a woodpecker. She became very offended. In my opinion, it is a compliment because I think a woodpecker is a beautiful bird. She thought I was making a disparaging comment about her mother. I know what I meant, obviously, I didn’t anticipate what she heard.

Until next time, behave and as always…Prime Your Pump!
–Howie

Use It or Lose It – Lessons Learned from W Edwards Deming

12 of the lessons I learned from W Edwards Deming are:

(1) Using methods in your life.
(2) Having a personal mission statement.
(3) Driving out fear.
(4) Don’t always accept the problem presented – search deeper.
(5) Start at the beginning when looking for the cause of a problem.
(6) Remember that people learn in different ways.
(7)  Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.
(8) Self-optimization is when everyone is for himself.
(9)  Stamping out fires is a lot of fun, but it is only putting things back the way they were.
(10) Experience doesn’t always help.
(11)  Judging people does not help them.
(12) People don’t always hear what you are telling them.

When to Use It:

You can use these lessons from W Edwards Deming whenever you think they may apply in your life.

What Do You Think?

Have you used any of these lessons from W Edwards Deming in your life already? Do you think you will use any of these in the future? Please share in the comments below!

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2 Replies to “12 Amazing Things I Learned from W Edwards Deming”

Eileen Melnyck says:

November 8, 2018 at 6:50 pm

I would agree that goals are more attainable with strategies in place. Sometimes it helps me if I write them down. Thanks for sharing . Eileen

Dave Savadge says:

November 2, 2018 at 12:43 pm

Excellent presentation. I have liked Deming since I first heard about him and his methodology sometime in the 90’s. You provided a very concise summation. Number 5 especially appropriate when I worked in Test Engineering, and a problem occurred during testing. We often discovered that no one knew exactly where “the beginning” actually occurred, and had to work backwards. Especially in the area of sub-contractors, where the individual components inside a “black box” supplied by a sub-contractor had been obtained from third party vendors. So it became a matter of “trace the line of responsibility” back to the source to find the root cause.