Deming, [William] Edwards(W. Edwards Deming)

US business advisor and management theorist

pioneer advocate of quality control

instrumental in rebuilding Japanese economy after World War II

wrote "Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position" 1986

• "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory."
• "What we need to do is learn to work in the system, by which I mean that everybody, every team, every platform, every division, every component is there not for individual competitive profit or recognition, but for contribution to the system as a whole on a win-win basis."
• "It is important that an aim never be defined in terms of activity or methods. It must always relate directly to how life is better for everyone. . . . The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgment."
• "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
• "If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing."