Years ago I had studied the works of W. Edwards Deming, including “Out of Crisis.”  Now, you may be asking me, “Who the heck is W. Edwards Deming?”  Right?  For those of you that studied Total Quality Management and/or 6 Sigma, you will know I am referring to.  And if you don’t, then read on, I’ll you a short introduction.

Deming was a statistician and management expert that had some “crazy” ideas regarding running a business.  He approached the business community in the 1950’s and was rejected.  He fully believed in what he proposed and made a decision to prove his theory.  So, he took off to Japan and helped engineer a complete makeover of the business processes there.  The Japanese fully embraced Deming.  Even to this day they celebrate the best in business by awarding “The Deming Prize.”  Offshoots of Deming’s work include TQM and Six Sigma.

Now, onto Deming’s “System of Profound Knowledge” or SOPK.  Let me begin with an old tale of the 6 blind men and an elephant as this will help explain SOPK.  A king asked 6 blind men to explain what an elephant looked by feeling it.  One blind man, who felt the leg, said it was like a pillar.  The next one, who had felt the tail, said it was like a rope.  A third blind man, who ran his hand along the trunk, said it was like a tree branch.  The fourth blind man, who had felt the ear, said it was like a large fan.  The fifth blind man, who had felt the belly, said it was like a wall.  The final blind man, who had felt the tusks, said it was like a steel pipe.

The king explained that all of them were right.  And each person in this world will have their own perception based on their beliefs and experiences.  None of which is wrong or right, it just is.  Deming thought about this and surmised that there are four components that will help explain and get the results that is wanted, faster.

Deming believed that knowledge trumps experience.  This is due to the fallibility of one’s experience applied to updated processes.  What worked in the past doesn’t necessarily work in the present or the future.  There has to be more to it than applying experience to get to results.  And like the elephant story, we each will look at things different.  My experience is not your experience.

In SOPK, Deming looks at four parts of knowledge: System, Variation, Theory and Behavior (psychology).  He states that in the real world “A” doesn’t lead to “B”.  A system can be affected by different variables, individual theories (experiences) and human behavior.  When you start the process at looking at the whole, rather than the parts, then you’ll start to get an idea of how things work.

In my own case, I like to look at everything interconnected like a spiderweb.  What happens at one part of the web will have an affect on the other part.  And there are relationships between everything too.  When getting a result and you have a plan to go after it, experiences from different sources may “throw a hammer” into the plans.  And behavior is part of that mix too.  Take into account the variables.  There can be so many and at different times that things can change drastically.  A natural disaster is one variable.  The death of a loved one.  Or a life-changing world event.  You never know what is going to happen until it happens.  You can only make plans just in case certain variables come into play.  Learn to adjust based on it.

Most important with Deming’s “System of Profound Knowledge” is to learn more about it and see how you can apply it into any area of your life.  It’s not just for businesses either.  It’s a system of ensuring success faster and better.

If you have any questions on Deming or his system, simply leave me a comment.  Thanks!

Bob