Quality comes first – A review of “Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement” by William W. Scherkenbach
William Sherkenbach was Corporate Director of Total Quality Planning and Statistical Methods at Ford Motors and Group Director Process Improvement at General Motors. He wrote that “both of these great companies are better because their journey included Dr. W. Edwards Deming”[1]. In this book, Sherkenbach explains “how to operationalize the Deming philosophy in business, government and academia”.[2]
Ford’s first guiding principle is that “Quality comes first”[3]. When writing the Mission, Values and Guiding Principles of Ford, Sherkenbach wrote that “we used terminology already used by Ford people: Quality is Job 1”[4].
Everything we “do can be described in terms of a process”[5], and there are opportunities to improve processes in all aspects of business. Sherkenbach coined the term Voice of the Process, which “is the result the process gives you” [6].
“Dr. Deming tells us that the customer is the most important part of the production line”[7]. “The Voice of the Customer communicates .. the wants and needs of your customers”[7]. “You must have a process to operationally define the Voice of the Customer” [8].
Often, the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the Process do not match. This is an opportunity for improvement that Sherkenbach calls “the Gap”[9].
Integral to the Method of Continual Improvement is the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle[10].
“The quality profession itself is in need of major improvement. Everyone must be educated… to use the PDSA improvement cycle.”[11]. Sherkenbach operationally defines the PDSA Cycle as having eight steps:
“Plan
- Identify the opportunity for improvement
- Document the present process
- Create a vision of the improved process
- Define the scope of the improved process
Do
- Pilot the proposed changes on a small scale, with customers over time
Study
- Observe what you have learned about the improvement of the process
Act
- Operationalize the new mix of resources
- Repeat the Steps(Cycle) on the next opportunity” [12].
I read this book with the Profound Book Club. I would like to thank the members of the book club for their discussions, Rob Park for organising the book club, and Cathy McGrath and Bill Sherkenbach for joining our discussions. Bill helped me better understand a mistake I made when introducing CI to a development team, and how to better deal with a similar situation in the future.
We can learn a great deal from William Sherkenbach about how to improve. I recommend reading this exceptionally well-written book and exploring the links below.
References
[1] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p xii)
[2] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p xi)
[3] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 131)
[4] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 132)
[5] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 5)
[6] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 14)
[7] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 12)
[8] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 157)
[9] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 164)
[10] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 162)
[11] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 159)
[12] Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach (1991, p 63)
Additional Links
- Bill Scherkenbach Interview with Dr. Deming
- From Student to Colleague: An Insider’s View of Deming’s World (Part 1)
What was it like to learn from Dr. Deming himself — a decade before his name became legend in U.S. business circles? - Rare Photos and Fresh Stories: An Insider’s View of Deming’s World (Part 2)
Bill Scherkenbach shares his decades with Dr. Deming - William Scherkenbach files
The Curious Cat Management Improvement Institute has partnered with William Scherkenbach to make his files on management improvement available on their website. This collection of files has been provided by William Scherkenbach to help educate those interested in learning about better ways to manage. This archive includes: - Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement by William W. Sherkenbach – Get the book!