Profound Book Club August 4. 2023 (Morning Session)
Summary of John Willis Book Club Discussion
Key Points
- John wrote the book over 10 years, inspired to tell Deming's story in a narrative, biographical style like Michael Lewis books
- The book traces Deming's life and work, including his influence on manufacturing in Japan and the theory of profound knowledge he developed late in life
- Several important stories to include - Deming's work with US auto industry in 1980s when Japanese cars surpassed American quality
- Group reflected on discovering Deming, often starting with Lean or Six Sigma and working backwards
- Deming's emphasis on psychology and human factors often forgotten when applying manufacturing ideas to software
- Discussion around Deming's influence at Toyota versus other Japanese experts and American consultants in postwar Japan
- Key message many took - treating people as human beings, not cogs in a machine
- Tied this to flaws in Western education and business culture versus more collaborative Japanese approaches
- Excited to explore Deming's profound knowledge system as timeless, universal methodology relevant across domains from manufacturing to IT
- John sees book as passing the torch to new generations to apply Deming's human-centered management ideas
