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by hinkley 2552 days ago
As I’ve heard it, Deming was having trouble getting people to listen to him on this side of the pond, but the Japanese were all too happy to listen to his ideas.

There also seems to be a running disagreement about whether Mr Toyoda or Taiichi Ohno is responsible for the Toyota system.

To wit, the intro to Ohno’s Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiichi_Ohno
2 comments
throw0101a 2552 days ago
> As I’ve heard it, Deming was having trouble getting people to listen to him

Ben Rockwood, then at Joyent, gave the keynote at LISA '11 on DevOps that touches on Deming and quality (45m45s):

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KpPBnEtRj4

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mbubb 2552 days ago
> As I’ve heard it, Deming was having trouble getting people to listen to him

made me chuckle - its not like he did anything of value...

Deming has always been a reminder to think about counter tendencies. He might not have made sense to the Detroit execs in 1950-1975 but his relevance changed sharply after that.

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windexh8er 2552 days ago
Deming didn't do "anything of value"? Considering Kaizen and the concept of continuous improvement in Japan is mostly attributed to him. The prime minister awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure and recognizes him for their post-war rebirth as an industrial power. Detroit did everything wrong at the time (see GM's disaster in automation at their Hamtramck facility [0]). Even when American execs were posed with a simple question of why their own employees didn't buy their product they didn't understand the disconnect between quality, reliability and the awareness of the buyer.

[0] https://www.leanblog.org/2016/06/gms-ceo-roger-smith-thought...

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TotempaaltJ 2552 days ago
I think gp was being sarcastic...
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windexh8er 2552 days ago
Probably, although I feel as though that perspective about Deming is, unfortunately, a reality for some.
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mbubb 2551 days ago
Not for me. I had an uncle who was a Mech Engineering professor and I learned about his role in WWII and postwar Japanese rebuilding.
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oblio 2552 days ago
> Even when American execs were posed with a simple question of why their own employees didn't buy their product they didn't understand the disconnect between quality, reliability and the awareness of the buyer.

That's hilarious. Do you have a source for it?

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mbubb 2551 days ago
yeah 100% joking Deming was an amazing human being. He was a key figure in WWII military supply logistics, too
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