The Problem May be Your System

The father of quality management, W. Edwards Deming, believed in the Use of Statistics in the management of quality control in the corporate world. The need for a working understanding of basic statistical principles is at the heart of Deming's teaching. "Statistical theory has changed practice in almost everything [in business].”

Composing music was one of his many talents, and when thinking of the difficult-to-sing national anthem, he created a clever Metaphor for the work process:

• Don’t blame the singers (workers) for not hitting the notes
• The song (system) is the problem
• Instead, rewrite the song (fix the system)

If you are having trouble meeting your company goals, don’t necessarily point a finger at the workers; the problem may well be your system.

ASQ: American Society for Quality
http://www.asq.org/about-asq/who-we-are/bio_deming.html