Why Dr. Deming Promotes ‘Vigorous' Education and Self-improvement as Management Musts: Podcast

Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement. — Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s 13th point for management

Dr. W. Edwards Deming was a strong supporter of education and self-improvement. He says so in his 13th point for management transformation. But what exactly did he mean by: Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement?

In this episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, hosts Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer continue their discussion of Dr. Deming’s 14 points of management transformation, and education is the topic at the table.

The hosts discuss how education and self-improvement are baked into the fabric of all successful organizations, and emphasize its importance for the entire workforce with no exceptions.

Saleh suggests that Deming issued several warnings with this point, including:

• Don’t assume training builds permanent capabilities.
• Don’t rely on teaching the tools but ignore the thinking behind those tools.

Dyer talks about how the real purpose of any organization is to develop a learning organization, one that knows how to adapt to change, solve problems and analyze systems.

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If you are managing a plant, “It's not really to manage the production of that product. It's to help your whole organization learn how to work together. Learn how to make improvements happen. Learn how to analyze systems, look for abnormalities,” he says. “… and as your whole organization gets better and better at doing those things, now, all of a sudden, you can beat your competitors so much easier, because you can make changes on the fly, whereas they can't.”

Saleh discusses the difference between training and education. He says the former is task-oriented and has a beginning and an end, while the latter is continuous.

“[Education is] lifelong learning, and it expands how people think, and not just what they do,” Saleh says. It develops thinkers, not “button pushers.”

Dyer gives a practical example—“one that I lived through”— to demonstrate the benefits of having a problem-solving workforce when issues arise.

The co-hosts conclude the conversation with a robust look at artificial intelligence and its role in learning organizations, emphasizing the need to find a balance between AI and human capabilities. Dyer points to AI as a “good supplemental tool” that can help but cautions that if an organization is not careful, “we could end up making our organization brain dead because of AI.”

Layer AI atop a team-based, problem-solving culture, on the other hand, then “there’s nothing I can’t … accomplish as an organization,” he adds.

Saleh shares insights from Nigel Thurlow, who says to treat AI as a learning organism within a team, just as the team members are learning organisms.