[teampractices] W. Edwards Deming - The Deadly Diseases of Management

[Max Binder]

Interesting video, also kind of funny. A bit dated, but some still-relevant
goodies. ~15 minutes.

Relevant Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Key_principles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Seven_Deadly_Diseases

[Arthur Richards]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing this, Max.

As a somewhat related aside, I just finished reading a book called 'The Age
of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers who Reinvented Corporate
Management
<https://www.amazon.com/Age-Heretics-Reinvented-Corporate-Management/dp/0470190701>',
which chronicles some of the 'heretical' figures in the world of corporate
management (essentially a condensed history of organizational development
as a field). Deming was one of the 'heretics' discussed in the book. I
hadn't known previously that he was one of the grandparents of 'total
quality management' which caught on big time in Japan (eg Toyota) after
World War II but was basically ignored in the US until the late 80s/90s
when his ideas began to catch on; until managing for short-term gains
(focusing on short term ROI, managing by metrics, command and control, etc)
reasserted itself and squashed all that. Anyway, I dunno what things are
like these days in the corporate world, but I have the sense that things in
the US (at least in the software world) are generally caught somewhere in
between the two. The book's worth a read if you're interested in this kinda
stuff; I personally found it fascinating to better understand the
historical context of the work we do and to get to know some of the
people/concepts/etc that have greatly influenced a lot of the
approaches/perspectives we in the TPG take.

Post by Max Binder
Interesting video, also kind of funny. A bit dated, but some
still-relevant goodies. ~15 minutes.
http://youtu.be/ehMAwIHGN0Y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Key_principles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Seven_Deadly_Diseases
_______________________________________________
teampractices mailing list
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/teampractices

[Max Binder]

Thanks for your input, Marti. I think it's interesting to think of the list
you provided in terms of WMF and/or the community.

1. Lack of constancy of purpose
1. No planning for the future
2. Lack of long-term definition of goals

This has been true in the (at least perceived) sense of WMF's strategy, but
also/alternatively in the sense of the community lacking agreement on what
it wants to accomplish in the long term, and everyone's lack of
understanding around the future of the movement as it pertains to our
projects (as opposed to "free knowledge overall").

1. Emphasis on short-term profits
1. Worship of the quarterly dividend
2. Sacrificing long-term growth of the company

While of course this is not directly applicable (WMF doesn't do profit) I'm
not sure how this applies. Focus on fundraising and slave to it? Accepting
appropriation of content in a way that doesn't give back to WMF? Simply
Quarterly Planning?

the historical context of the work we do and to get to know some of the

people/concepts/etc that have greatly influenced a lot of the
approaches/perspectives we in the TPG take.

Hear, hear. :)

Good stuff, thanks for sharing this, Max.
As a somewhat related aside, I just finished reading a book called 'The
Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers who Reinvented Corporate
Management
<https://www.amazon.com/Age-Heretics-Reinvented-Corporate-Management/dp/0470190701>',
which chronicles some of the 'heretical' figures in the world of corporate
management (essentially a condensed history of organizational development
as a field). Deming was one of the 'heretics' discussed in the book. I
hadn't known previously that he was one of the grandparents of 'total
quality management' which caught on big time in Japan (eg Toyota) after
World War II but was basically ignored in the US until the late 80s/90s
when his ideas began to catch on; until managing for short-term gains
(focusing on short term ROI, managing by metrics, command and control, etc)
reasserted itself and squashed all that. Anyway, I dunno what things are
like these days in the corporate world, but I have the sense that things in
the US (at least in the software world) are generally caught somewhere in
between the two. The book's worth a read if you're interested in this kinda
stuff; I personally found it fascinating to better understand the
historical context of the work we do and to get to know some of the
people/concepts/etc that have greatly influenced a lot of the
approaches/perspectives we in the TPG take.

Post by Max Binder
Interesting video, also kind of funny. A bit dated, but some
still-relevant goodies. ~15 minutes.
http://youtu.be/ehMAwIHGN0Y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Key_principles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Seven_Deadly_Diseases
_______________________________________________
teampractices mailing list
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/teampractices

--
Arthur Richards
Sr. Agile Coach: Organizational Collaboration
Team Practices Group <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Team_Practices_Group>
[[User:Awjrichards]]
IRC: awjr
[phone] x6687
_______________________________________________
teampractices mailing list
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/teampractices

[Max Binder]

Of course, Marti replied only to me and I didn't realize, and now it looks
like I called Arthur "Marti" and replied to nonexistent text.

SO, Arthur, sorry it looks like I called you Marti, and Marti, sorry if you
meant for the stuff I quoted to be just to me! I got fooled by Gmail's UI.
:-/

Post by Max Binder
Thanks for your input, Marti. I think it's interesting to think of the
list you provided in terms of WMF and/or the community.

1. Lack of constancy of purpose
1. No planning for the future
2. Lack of long-term definition of goals

This has been true in the (at least perceived) sense of WMF's strategy,
but also/alternatively in the sense of the community lacking agreement on
what it wants to accomplish in the long term, and everyone's lack of
understanding around the future of the movement as it pertains to our
projects (as opposed to "free knowledge overall").

1. Emphasis on short-term profits
1. Worship of the quarterly dividend
2. Sacrificing long-term growth of the company

While of course this is not directly applicable (WMF doesn't do profit)
I'm not sure how this applies. Focus on fundraising and slave to it?
Accepting appropriation of content in a way that doesn't give back to WMF?
Simply Quarterly Planning?
the historical context of the work we do and to get to know some of the

people/concepts/etc that have greatly influenced a lot of the
approaches/perspectives we in the TPG take.

Hear, hear. :)

Good stuff, thanks for sharing this, Max.
As a somewhat related aside, I just finished reading a book called 'The
Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers who Reinvented Corporate
Management
<https://www.amazon.com/Age-Heretics-Reinvented-Corporate-Management/dp/0470190701>',
which chronicles some of the 'heretical' figures in the world of corporate
management (essentially a condensed history of organizational development
as a field). Deming was one of the 'heretics' discussed in the book. I
hadn't known previously that he was one of the grandparents of 'total
quality management' which caught on big time in Japan (eg Toyota) after
World War II but was basically ignored in the US until the late 80s/90s
when his ideas began to catch on; until managing for short-term gains
(focusing on short term ROI, managing by metrics, command and control, etc)
reasserted itself and squashed all that. Anyway, I dunno what things are
like these days in the corporate world, but I have the sense that things in
the US (at least in the software world) are generally caught somewhere in
between the two. The book's worth a read if you're interested in this kinda
stuff; I personally found it fascinating to better understand the
historical context of the work we do and to get to know some of the
people/concepts/etc that have greatly influenced a lot of the
approaches/perspectives we in the TPG take.

Post by Max Binder
Interesting video, also kind of funny. A bit dated, but some
still-relevant goodies. ~15 minutes.
http://youtu.be/ehMAwIHGN0Y
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Key_principles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming#Seven_Deadly_Diseases
_______________________________________________
teampractices mailing list
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/teampractices

--
Arthur Richards
Sr. Agile Coach: Organizational Collaboration
Team Practices Group
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Team_Practices_Group>
[[User:Awjrichards]]
IRC: awjr
[phone] x6687
_______________________________________________
teampractices mailing list
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/teampractices