The name W. Edwards Deming is synonymous with the most insightful views, ideas, and commentary on management and quality control. Referred to as “the high prophet of quality” by the New York Times, Deming was instrumental in the spectacular rise of Japanese industry after World War II and influenced many of the world’s most innovative managers in the ensuing decades. His original ideas led directly to the creation of relationships with suppliers and a plethora of quality initiatives.
Now, with The Essential Deming, Fordham University professor and Deming expert Joyce Orsini draws on a wealth of previously unavailable material to present the legendary thinker’s most important management principles in one indispensable volume.
The book is filled with articles, papers, lectures, and notes touching on a wide range of topics, but which focus on Deming’s overriding message: quality and operations are all about systems, not individual performance; the system has to be designed so that the worker can perform well.
The Essential Deming reveals Deming’s unique insight about:
How poor management infects an entire organization
The critical importance of management on producing quality products and services
Improving management in any company
The effective management of people–the manager’s single most important task
How to educate workers into critical thinkers
Ways to preserve statistical integrity while dealing with real-world problems
Fully authorized by the Deming estate and published in cooperation with The W. Edwards Deming Institute, The Essential Deming is the first book to distill Deming’s life’s worth of thinking and writing into a single source. Orsini provides expert commentary throughout, delivering a powerful, practical guide to superior management. With The Essential Deming, you have the rationale, insight, and best practices you need to transform your organization.

In this book, W. Edwards Deming details the system of transformation that underlies the 14 Points for Management presented in Out of the Crisis. The Deming System of Profound Knowledge, as it is called, consists of four parts: appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology. Describing the prevailing management style as a prison, Deming shows how applying the System of Profound Knowledge increases productivity, quality, and people’s joy in work and joy in learning. Another outcome is short-term and long-term success in the market. Indicative of Deming’s philosophy is his advice to abolish performance reviews on the job, to look deeper than spreadsheets for opportunities, and even to rethink how we teach and manage our schools. Moreover, Deming’s method enables organizations to make accurate predictions, which is a valuable tool in today’s uncertain economic climate.

This third edition features a new chapter (written by business consultant and Deming expert Kelly L. Allan) that explains the relevance of Deming’s management method, and case studies from organizations that have adopted Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge, and offers guidance on how organizations can effectively “do Deming.”