Profound Book Club August 4. 2023 (Afternoon Session)

Aug 4, 2023 Written By John Willis

Summary of John Willis Book Club Discussion

### Key Takeaways

- John discusses his approach to writing the Deming biography, wanting to tell compelling stories while staying respectful and avoiding potential issues with the Deming Institute. He focused on conveying the cultural context of 1980s America to understand the impact of Deming's message.

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

My new book, "Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge," covers Deming's life work and experiences that led him to his infamous System of Profound Knowledge. My fascination with Dr. Deming grows deeper the more I learn about him. It's like peeling an onion.

I went to Austin last week for an LLM hackathon with Colin McNamara and Damon Edwards. I've wanted to use GPT to create unique content since I started using it in 2020. My first experience with GPT3 was that I could not mass-load local data. Without the ability to load local data, you can get "generative AI hallucinations." In 2022, I was writing Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge and tried using some of the OpenAI tools to help. I spent more time fact-checking than writing because of GPT-3 limitations. Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post on Techstrong about this topic. With GPT-3.5, you could use prompt methodologies with larger input buffers (i.e., tokens) that minimize hallucinations.

Dr. Deming used the Red Bead Experiment to illustrate several points about poor management practices. Among the lessons from the Red Bead Experiment is that management is more about means and methods than results, and the system bounds workers they work with. Dr. Deming believed ratings, promotions, and bonuses must be based on systems thinking approach to avoid unintended consequences. By incorporating OKRs and systems thinking, John has modernized the game. Five participants (willing workers) will participate in the game, and the audience will be consultants. Rewards, signed books, will be given to willing workers who produce the fewest defects. In addition to being incredibly informative, the game is also quite entertaining. 

Deming's ideas were revolutionary, and he believed that management is typically to blame for a company's failures. His principles and methodologies in the oil and gas industry can help organizations improve their processes, achieve operational excellence, and ultimately increase their performance.

Deming's ideas and principles can increase success and quality improvement in the food service industry. Continuous improvement, quality control, customer focus, employee involvement, and leadership can help food service companies create a culture of excellence and deliver high-quality products and services to their customers. In food services,

Deming's quality management principles can be applied to transportation to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize errors. A streamlined and effective transportation system can be achieved through Total Quality Transporation (TQT) and continuous improvement.

Pharmaceutical companies benefit from Deming's quality management approach because it emphasizes continuous improvement and customer-centricity, which are critical to ensuring drug safety and effectiveness. Pharmaceutical companies must continuously improve their manufacturing processes, drug development, and clinical trials to meet the highest safety and efficacy standards. By emphasizing continuous improvement, quality control, customer-centricity, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making, Deming's principles can be applied to pharmaceutical manufacturing to improve quality and productivity. In pharmaceuticals, Deming matters for many reasons.

When it comes to Deming, I have noticed that there are three categories. Firstly, they are superfans like me; secondly, they have heard of him but don't know why he matters; and thirdly, they have never heard of him. According to my conversations, most people I meet fall into the second category. Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge covers his life and learning journey. I thought a simple overview "Why Deming Matters" series in different industries would be a helpful at a high level to educate people about his management philosophy.  

When it comes to Deming, I have noticed that there are three categories. Firstly, they are superfans like me; secondly, they have heard of him but don't know why he matters; and thirdly, they have never heard of him. According to my conversations, most people I meet fall into the second category. Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge covers his life and learning journey. I thought a "Why Deming Matters" series in different industries would be a helpful way to educate people about his management philosophy.

We also visited a Japanese school called Tsuda Elementary School today. At first, I didn't understand why we visited an elementary school. However, this visit helped me understand the differences between how the concepts of "Lean" work in Japan and less so in the US. It is essential to understand how elementary schools work in Japan to understand this.

We also visited Isuzu today, another Toyota supplier. Isuzu Steel processes and sells cold-rolled Steel. Due to additional production operations, such as cold drawing, turning, grinding, and polishing, cold-rolled Steel is smoother and more expensive than hot-rolled Steel. Isuzu produces thin steel sheets for the automotive industry, primarily Toyota.

Last week I visited Japan. Here’s a list of a blog I wrote each of the five days.

It was the last day of our study trip today. While "Gemba" was another key theme of all the companies we met this week, my favorite Genchi Genbutsu ("meaning "the situation onsite") was with Tessei today. Genba (onsite, romanized as Gemba) means "the actual place." Tessei cleans bullet trains as they arrive at the line's final stop at Tokyo station.

Happiness has been a theme of this week. According to Deming, people are entitled to joy at work. Our visit to Ashikaga today was the best example of this theme. Ashikaga is known as the "5S City" for using 5S throughout the city. At a luncheon, a former Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital chairman said we focus on customer happiness instead of customer satisfaction.

Today is the "Tree Ring Day." If you've ever seen a tree stump's top, you'll notice that it has a series of concentric rings. A tree's rings can tell us how old the tree is and what the weather is like each year. Each company we visited this week was like tree trunks. In some cases, the rings on their tree trunks are wide, while in others, they are narrow.

It was a busy day today. We left the hotel at 9:15 am and returned at 6:30 pm. Isao Yoshino joined us on the bus, and today's tours were honored by his presence. The highlight of my day was asking Mr. Yoshino what Dr. Deming's impact was on Toyota during the bus ride.

Having been rerouted through Guam to reach Narita, I finally arrived in Nagoya on Sunday. We met Isao Yoshino on Monday morning as part of Katie's Leaning to Lead, Leading to Learn book. For over 40 years, Isao Yoshino held various managerial positions. Mr. Yoshino oversaw NUMMI's manager training program. The Kanri Nouryoku (Kan-Pro) program was one of Mr. Yoshino's most notable contributions to Toyota. Using A3 as the standard method for problem-solving was popularized through this manager development initiative. Mr. Yoshino gave us some amazing insights in his lecture on Toyota managers.