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Quote by W. Edwards Deming

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W. Edwards Deming
W. Edwards Deming

W. Edwards Deming was a renowned statistician and management consultant, best known for his contributions to quality management theory. He worked for the United States Navy during World War II and later promoted the concept of statistical process control (SPC). Deming's theories and methods had a profound impact on the manufacturing industries in Japan and other countries, widely regarded as a key factor in Japan's economic miracle. more

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“Most problems, decisions, and performances are multidimensional, but somehow the results have to be reduced to a few key indicators which are to be institutionally rewarded or penalized... The need to reduce the indicators to a manageable few is based not only on the need to conserve the time (and sanity) of those who assign rewards and penalties, but also to provide those subject to these incentives with some objective indication of what their performance is expected to be and how it will be judged... key indicators can never tell the whole story.”

NeedsWholeStoriesProblemDecisionResultsSubjectsKeysPerformancesRewardsExpectedObjectivesSanityJudgedPenaltiesIncentivesIndicationIndicatorsManageable
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“One of the most basic and pervasive social processes is the sorting and labeling of things, activities, and people... Sorting and labeling processes involve a trade-off of costs and benefits. In general, the more finely the sorting is done, the greater the benefits - and the costs... Sorting and labeling, whether of people or of things, is a sorting and labeling of probabilities rather than of certainties.”

PeopleDoneSocialProcessGreaterCostActivityBenefitsTradeCertaintyProbabilityLabelingSortingTrade Offs
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“Nobody can be saved from anything, unless they save themselves. It is hopeless doing things for people - it is often very dangerous to do things at all - and the only thing worth doing for the race is to increase its stock of ideas. Then, if you make available a larger stock, people are at liberty to help themselves from out of it. By this process the means of improvement is offered, to be accepted or rejected freely, and there is a faint hope of progress in the course of millennia. Such is the business of the philosopher, to open new ideas. It is not his business to impose them on people.”

PeopleIfsMeanIdeasHelpingCoursesProcessRaceLibertyProgressDangerousIncreasePhilosopherAvailableAcceptedSavedImprovementHopelessNew IdeasRejected
Author:T. H. White
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“The most absurd public opinion polls are those on taxes. Now, if there is one thing we know about taxes, it is that people do not want to pay them. If they wanted to pay them, there would be no need for taxes. People would gladly figure out how much of their money that the government deserves and send it in. And yet we routinely hear about opinion polls that reveal that the public likes the tax level as it is and might even like it higher. Next they will tell us that the public thinks the crime rate is too low, or that the American people would really like to be in more auto accidents.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWantNeedsGovernmentMightWould BeWantedNextLevelsPayOpinionOne ThingCrimeFiguresHigherTaxesLowsDeserveRateAccidentsLikesAbsurdPublic OpinionPollsCrime RatesOpinion Polls
Author:Llewellyn Rockwell
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