Current mood:	thoughtful
Current music:	None

Adventures in Quality: Part 4


From the 1950s onwards, the main method that Dr. W. Edwards Deming used to educate managers in his methods was a four-day seminar that comprehensively covered his management philosophy. He continuously developed the seminar over almost 50 years to educate management in the methods required to create quality product and services, as he had deduced that the responsibility for quality lies at the top, not with the workers.



Deming's seminars were in constant high demand from 1980 until 1993 when he passed away, and were attended by the very highest levels of management from countries all over the world. Attendance cost in the region of $2000 for the four days of Deming giving presentations on his management philosophy along with practical demonstrations in the form of what he called 'experiments'.



After reading so much about the four day seminar and how it had so radically affected Japan and some companies in 1980s America - Deming consulted for Ford in the early 80s; Ford subsequently went from 3 billion dollars in debt to being the 2nd largest car manufacturer behind General Motors within 6 years - I wanted to experience the seminar for myself. I discovered that the Deming Institute in Washington offers the full four-day seminar in a DVD set so, reasoning that the price is cheaper than the real thing was and that, unlike the real thing, I could watch it as many times as I like, I decided to invest. I spoke to a very nice British chap on the phone who worked at the Deming Institute in Washington and had been the head of the UK Deming Association (it turned out he had married Deming's daughter) and ordered the DVD set.

The seminar was recorded in 1992 towards the end of Deming's life, and it's clear from watching that his health is failing him. His mind is still sharp however, and the presentations he gives are full of insight into his work. His presentation style put off many managers in America, and it's easy to see why - he presents counter-intuitive ideas and concepts while simultaneously delivering a scathing, damning condemnation of Western management. Deming's upbringing was during a harsh period of shortage and recession, and during his academic and professional career he constantly refused to compromise. I can only imagine his presentation style was an attempt to catch the attention of senior management of large companies and clearly delineate between their current thinking and the new ideas he described, but it comes across as very old-fashioned and in fact reminds me of some of the older University lecturers I've been taught by - little patience, stern no-nonsense delivery and occasional flashes of wry humour.

Like his book Out Of The Crisis, you have to be prepared to make a serious effort to get to grips with a Deming seminar (some managers from large US companies were known to attend multiple times), but the value you get from it in terms of understanding and changing your own thinking is huge. The Red Bead Experiment in particular is a conclusive and surprising demonstration of the influence of a system and psychology on quality of output. 12 hours of Deming is a lot to take in, but watching it in 1 hour chunks and digesting each segment helps, and the DVD set comes with a useful study guide. I'd have to say that, for me at least, it was well worth the price, and I continue to use it as useful reference material.

After watching the seminar and discussing Deming's ideas with management at work I set out to find if there were any organizations that were carrying on developing Deming's work and offering training or materials about how to apply these ideas specifically to my area of work - that of delivering high quality services. I consulted with a management trainer at a local college whose course I had once sat and asked them if any companies offered anything like this - I was told that there weren't any, as there was no demand for it in the UK.

As it turns out, they were wrong...