Podcasts about Deming

Is your QA team really slowing down delivery, or are they just revealing the cracks in your development process? In this episode of Arguing Agile, we're talking about one of the most persistent myths in software development and reveal why QA teams are often unfairly blamed for systemic issues.We explore:The shift-left movement and why QA belongs in customer conversationsHow collaboration breakdowns create false bottlenecks Why treating QA as a cost center backfiresReal strategies for breaking the cycle of blameThe hidden value QA brings to lean startup principlesFrom waterfall thinking to modern agile practices, we break down why QA teams are actually your best allies in creating customer value - if you let them.#QualityAssurance #AgileCoaching #ProductManagementREFERENCESArguing Agile 211 - Communication is Product's Only Job)Arguing Agile 201 - Mastering Stakeholder Communication and ManagementArguing Agile 199 - W. Edwards Deming's Profound Knowledge for Transforming OrganizationsLINKSYouTube https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagileSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596Website: http://arguingagile.comINTRO MUSICToronto Is My BeatBy Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Access the FREE Water Fasting Masterclass Now: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/What if the very words your doctor uses could help or harm your healing journey?Dr. Katie Deming joins fellow physician Dr. Nasha Winters, host of the Metabolic Matters podcast to share a story that may forever change how you view cancer care. Her journey from conventional oncology to holistic healing uncovers why so many people aren't truly getting well, even when their treatments “work.” If you've ever felt dismissed, rushed, or unseen by the medical system, this conversation will resonate deeply.Key Takeaways:The word that divides patients and doctorsHow trauma shows up in the bodyWhen medicine ignores your intuitionHow a 17-day fast changed everythingDr. Deming reveals fascinating research on how words like “battle” and “survivor” can trigger stress responses that disrupt healing. She offers practical tools for navigating illness, how to trust your inner wisdom when medical advice doesn't feel right, and why addressing emotional trauma is just as important as treating physical symptoms.What makes her perspective so unique is that she doesn't reject medicine, she expands it. With one foot in science and the other in ancient healing traditions, Dr. Deming shares how modalities like water fasting and energy work can support the body's natural ability to heal.Listen in on this deeply personal conversation between two physicians who've witnessed healing that textbooks can't explain. Follow Metabolic Matters: https://drnasha.com/metabolic-mattersAccess the FREE Water Fasting Masterclass Now: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatieMORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Save your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Work with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comEmail: INFO@KATIEDEMING.COM 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to Enroll Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider.

In this episode of the Earley AI Podcast, host Seth Earley welcomes Charlie Betz, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. With an extensive background in digital operating models, enterprise architecture, and the future of work, Charlie brings a systems thinking approach to how digital initiatives are planned, governed, and scaled. As a leading expert covering a $250 billion segment of the global IT market—including vendors like ServiceNow, Atlassian, and Dynatrace—Charlie provides invaluable perspective for technology and business leaders facing the complexities of AI enablement and digital operations in large organizations.Together, Seth and Charlie dive deep past buzzwords to uncover practical, actionable insights about harnessing AI, operationalizing feedback loops, and navigating legacy technical debt. Charlie shares his real-world experiences wrangling with generative AI tools—including building systems with Anthropic's Claude as a "junior developer"—and distills lessons for executives on aligning business needs with technological advancements.Key Takeaways:How AI, particularly generative models like Claude, has moved from simple code autocompletion to accelerating the development of full-fledged applications—and the challenges and opportunities this creates for non-developers and professionals alike.The architecture of the $250 billion IT control plane market, including IT Service Management (ITSM), AIOps, and the massive influence these domains have on enterprise performance and boardroom-level decision-making.Why the ultimate business value of AI lies in accelerating feedback loops and continuous learning, not just automation or chatbot deployments.Lessons from continuous improvement (lean, Deming cycles, etc.) and why previous attempts struggled at scale—plus how modern AI may finally make the learning organization a reality.The importance of architectural governance, data stewardship, and feedback loop closure in successful AI integration—plus concrete calls to action for executives and enterprise architects.A nuanced discussion of legacy systems and technical debt: why simply layering new technology on top of old can lead to "technical bankruptcy," and practical strategies for managing (and paying down) technical debt before it becomes existential.Cutting through the hype around AI agents and swarms: separating realistic enterprise use cases from risk-laden hype, and the current limitations and essential guardrails needed for safe, effective agentic operations.Insightful Quote from the Episode:"If you held my feet to the fire and you told me, 'Charlie, there's only one point,' I would say look for the feedback loop... What AI is enabling is essentially a faster feedback loop than we've ever had before in industry. And this is where the old becomes new."– Charlie BetzTune in for an unvarnished, deeply practical conversation on making AI real in complex enterprise environments—packed with tangible guidance no matter where you are on your digital transformation journey.Links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlestbetz/Website: https://www.forrester.comThanks to our sponsors: VKTR Earley Information Science AI Powered Enterprise Book

With Joe out this week, Paula Deming joins Jared as a guest host! They discuss Board Gaming 101, Doctor Who, and why changes in established media are tricky. Plus, a debate on the use (or overuse) of Perception in Pathfinder 2E! Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/F2wpMbCztJk⁠ Access exclusive podcasts, ad-free episodes, and livestreams with a 30-day free trial with code "GCN30" at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠jointhenaish.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join Troy Lavallee, Joe O'Brien, Skid Maher, Matthew Capodicasa, Sydney Amanuel, and Kate Stamas as they tour the country. Get your tickets today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cn8wr0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://hubs.li/Q03cmY380⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Save your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/What if everything you've been told about preventing cancer is actually making you sicker?Dr. Katie Deming guests on Chris and Kevin Carton's Science and Spirituality Podcast to share her radical shift from respected radiation oncologist to pioneer of Conscious Oncology. Dr. Deming is helping people achieve what many doctors believe is impossible: true healing from cancer, in some cases without chemo or radiation. Drawing from her integrative approach, she unpacks why cancer rates are still rising despite trillions spent on research, and why modern life tap water, seed oils, blue light, processed food, and emotional trauma may be silently undermining our health.Key Takeways:Why your filtered water may still be toxic and how to fix itThe fourth phase of water most doctors never learn aboutWhy morning sunlight, not sunscreen, may be the missing nutrient in your routineHow unprocessed trauma and emotional patterns contribute to illnessThe mindset shift that helped two of her clients achieve full remission in just five months.They're not talking about perfection or expensive protocols, but remind us how we were designed to live and heal.Listen and learn specific, accessible tools starting with something as simple as adding the right salt to your water or getting barefoot on the earth. Science and Spirituality Podcast: https://pod.link/1474893910Save your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Reserve Your Spot for the August PSYCH-K® Online Workshop - Level 1: https://l.bttr.to/8Emui Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatieMORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Save your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Work with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comEmail: INFO@KATIEDEMING.COM 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to Enroll Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider.

Are you ready to turn your firm's vision into a clear, actionable plan? For Rebecca Deming, getting her vision out of her head and onto paper wasn't just an exercise—it was the turning point in her law firm's growth. With the help of Velocity Work, Rebecca created a Vivid Vision that provided clarity for both herself and her team, outlining exactly where her firm, ProVet Legal, is headed. This process gave her the confidence to boldly declare her ambitions, including becoming a top-five nationally recognized veterans disability law firm.   In this episode, Melissa talks with Rebecca about how creating her Vivid Vision transformed her leadership and firm strategy. While Rebecca always had a general sense of purpose, it wasn't until she wrote down her vision that everything clicked. The process forced her to get specific about her goals, giving her team a clear direction and a shared understanding of success. Rebecca also shares the critical step of rolling out the Vivid Vision to her team and how their buy-in helped solidify her role as the firm's leader.   Get full show notes, transcript, and more information here: https://www.velocitywork.com/321   Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@velocitywork

Step into a treasure trove of rare stories, photos, and audio clips as Bill Scherkenbach shares his decades with Dr. Deming. From boardrooms to sleigh rides, discover the moments, minds, and memories that shaped modern quality thinking, told by someone who lived it. A powerful blend of insight, humor, and history you won't want to miss. (You can see the slides from the podcast here.) TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.4 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm continuing my discussion with Bill Scherkenbach, a dedicated protégé of Dr. Deming since 1972. Bill met with Dr. Deming more than a thousand times and later led statistical methods and process improvement at Ford and GM at Deming's recommendation. He authored 'The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity' at Deming's behest and at 79 is still championing his mentor's message. Learn, have fun, and make a difference. Bill, take it away.   0:00:41.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, thank you. Thank you, Andrew. It's an honor to be asked back. Many places don't.   0:00:48.7 Andrew Stotz: I really enjoyed our first discussion, and particularly towards the end of it, it got a little personal and emotional, and I appreciate that you shared your journey. That was amazing.   0:01:00.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Thank you. Thank you. It is personal.   0:01:05.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah.   0:01:05.4 Bill Scherkenbach: But today, along that wavelength, I brought some pictures or photos and letters and audios of my association with Dr. Deming. So, if you might bring them up, we can start the commenting.   0:01:27.9 Andrew Stotz: Wonderful. Well, hopefully you see a screen now up.   0:01:34.8 Bill Scherkenbach: Yes. Yep.   0:01:35.8 Andrew Stotz: Okay. And for the audience, just to let you know, for the listeners, we're going to show these and I'll try to explain a little bit about what we're talking about because you're not going to be able to see the pictures. But the first thing is the title is An Insider's View of Deming. Learn, have fun, make a difference. And we see a great picture on the left-hand side, and then I threw in a picture of a Lincoln Continental, which we're going to talk about later, which is kind of fun. But maybe you can take it from there, Bill.   0:02:07.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. Well, we can talk a little bit later on on that, but this is a picture of me and my wife, Mary Ellen, with Dr. Deming having fun. We were at a restaurant in Northville called Elizabeth's, and it's something that he enjoyed to do just about every evening.   0:02:31.3 Andrew Stotz: Great. Well, what a kickoff. So let's go to the next one. And you guys all look great in that photo.   0:02:38.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. This is a letter that I received from Dr. Deming back in May of '85, auspicious because the letter dated 13 May, that's my birthday. But for those who cannot read it, should I read the letter for you?   0:03:05.2 Andrew Stotz: Either you or I can read it for you. You tell me.   0:03:08.3 Bill Scherkenbach: Okay. Well, yeah. Why don't you read it?   0:03:10.9 Andrew Stotz: Okay. So, the letter is addressed to a particular person. It says, this is written by Dr. Deming, this acknowledges your kind letter of the 29th April. He that depends solely on statistical process control will be out of a job in three years. The record is clear, the record is clean, no exceptions. A whole program of improvement of quality and productivity is necessary, and it requires that top management learn what their job is. No part of the program will by itself suffice. Your letter does not describe your program, hence comment is difficult. I am happy to learn that Bill Scherkenbach will work with you. His achievements are renowned. He is excelled by nobody. I am sure that you will follow his guidance, not only while he is there with you, but from that then on out. I send best wishes and remain yours sincerely, W. Edwards Deming.   0:04:19.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Yes. I did spend a week with this organization, and as Deming said, and in many, many cases, the local management or local part of the organization get very enthusiastic, but the top management did not buy in. And so very little happened there, unfortunately.   0:04:53.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I missed that the top right-hand corner in handwritten, it says Portland, 20 May 1985. Dear Bill, I neglected to hand this to you in San Francisco, W. E. D.   0:05:08.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. We went to, we. Dr. Deming and I were in San Francisco to meet with Shoichiro Toyoda and his wife. It was a social call. Shoichiro was in town. I don't know where his brother Tatsuro was. Tatsuro headed up NUMI, but Shoichiro was head of it all and was in the US. And wanted to just have a dinner with Dr. Deming. I'm embarrassingly cloudy. We met in a hotel and I can't tell you which one, but it was a nice, relaxing dinner. The English was a bit stilted, but Soichiro wanted to have a dinner with Dr. Deming and to express his appreciation.    0:06:31.3 Andrew Stotz: And he was a titan of industry at the time and in 1985 was really making a beachhead and a real expansion into the US market. Why did he want to meet with Dr. Deming? What was the connection there? Maybe for those that don't know.   0:06:55.2 Bill Scherkenbach: He was in town and Deming was nearby in town and just wanted to express his appreciation. I guess, Tatsuro, his brother wasn't there, and Tatsuro headed up NUMI, the partnership between GM and Toyota. But Shoichiro was there and just wanted to express appreciation.   0:07:35.1 Andrew Stotz: Great. Okay. So shall we continue on?   0:07:40.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. We have a Where is Quality Made? Famous talking from Dr. Deming, and hopefully the audio translates well.   0:07:55.3 Andrew Stotz: Yes, we'll see. Let's go.   0:07:59.5 Speaker 3: Where is quality made, Andrew, in the top management? The quality of the output of a company cannot be better unless quality is directed at the top. The people in the plant and in the service organization can only produce and test the design a product and service prescribed and designed by the management. Job security and job are dependent on management's foresight to design a product and service to entice customers and build a market.   0:08:31.6 Andrew Stotz: So where did that come from? And tell us more about that.   0:08:36.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, I'm not exactly sure which particular seminar or meeting that was, but over the years I have, have, we've made a number of audio recordings and videos of Dr. Deming in his meetings. And so we're looking to get them to the Deming Institute so they can process them and distribute.    0:09:11.8 Andrew Stotz: And why is this so important? He's talking about quality is made at the top where we can see many people think that quality is made by the worker. Do your best. Quality is your responsibility. Tell us more about why you wanted to talk about this.   0:09:32.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, it's a common, it's a common, very common mistake. He learned back in 1950, and I think I mentioned it in our first talk, that he gave a number of courses at Stanford during the war and people learned SPC. But when the war was over, over here, because management didn't buy in, nothing really happened. And he learned in his visit in 1950 when he was able, as we said, Mr. Koyanagi was able to get a meeting, a number of seminars done with top management in Japan after the war. And he thought that that, he saw that that actually did make a difference, that management was absolutely key. And in every one of his seminars, he would make, he would make  this point, that quality is made at the top.   0:10:54.0 Andrew Stotz: And what was interesting is that, of course, the Japanese senior management, were very receptive. It's many times the case that Deming may have interacted with some senior management at the top of a company, but they weren't receptive or willing to implement what he's talking about.   0:11:12.6 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. I think I mentioned last time that you need maybe a significant physical or logical or emotional event. And Ford lost a few billion dollars and was then looking, is there a better way? Japan lost a war, and the tradition over there is to perhaps listen to the conqueror. But MacArthur was very astute, my understanding, that you're not going to go in and replace the emperor and really mix the place up from what their culture is, which is very, very, very astute, in my opinion.   0:12:11.4 Andrew Stotz: Okay. So let's continue. And we see a document now up on the screen and a diagram. And maybe you can explain this one.   0:12:24.8 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. This is one of the foils, as he called them, that he wrote on his lantern, which is the overhead projector for all the young people. And making another very, very important point. And that is, he's quoting John Tukey, "the more you know what's wrong with a figure, the more useful it becomes." And he also, at various times, would, would, would talk about George Gallup. And Gallup was his friend. And George Gallup would say that unless you've gone through the slogging of collecting data, you shouldn't be too quickly using data or analyzing data. Because if you go to collect it, you know that some people just aren't there. And this is primarily survey stuff that Gallup was talking about. But Tukey was talking about anything. And Deming, along the way, with his learnings from Shewhart, what I've developed is based on Deming's questions come from theory, created a theory, question, data, action cycle, similar to a PDSA. And so that you need to know what the question was before you can use the data. And Dr. Deming's example was you can't use manganese dioxide for just anything. If it's really, really critical work, then you need to know what's in it that could contaminate it or interact with the other chemicals that you're trying to mix it with. Hugely important in chemistry, hugely important anywhere. And he talked, yes, we do have some audio from Dr. Deming talking about another analogy, on I can't even wash the table unless you tell me what you're going to use it for.   0:15:24.0 Andrew Stotz: I remember watching a video of this with him, with Robert Reich, I think it was, being interviewed. And it was such an impactful thing because I always thought you just tell people what to do and they go do it. And so let's listen to the audio. I'm going to play it now. One second.   0:15:42.6 Speaker 3: I can teach you how to wash a table, teach you how to rub, scrub, use brushes, rags. I'd be pretty good at it. But you know, I could not wash this table suppose you told me my job is to wash this table. I have no idea what you mean. There's no meaning to that. You must tell me what you're going to use the table for. I want to see a flow diagram, work moving. Here I am. My job is to wash this table. I do not understand what you mean. Wash this table. There's no meaning to that. I must know what you're going to use the table for, the next stage. What happened to the table, next stage, in the flow diagram? You want to put books on it? Well, it's clean enough for that now. To wash the table, I just go through it from just here, make a look at it. If I work a little, good enough. If I clean enough to eat off of it, well, it's good enough now. Or use it for an operating table? Oh, totally different now. Totally different. Now I scrub it with scalding water, top, bottom, legs, several times. I scrub the floor underneath for some radius. If I don't know the next stage, I cannot wash the table.   0:17:28.8 Andrew Stotz: Tell us your thoughts on that.   0:17:31.5 Bill Scherkenbach: Yep. Yep. Well, again, my theory, question, data, action cycle, if you're asking a question, you, you, if you can, and there are some confidential considerations, but if you can, you need to tell the people who are trying to answer the question what you're going to do with it. And so if you want the table washed, tell them you're going to just eat off of it or assemble microchips on it. If you, so that's the responsibility of the manager or anyone who is asking the question. So if you want to improve your questions, you got to go back up and think of, well, what's my underlying theory for the question? If this, then that, that prompts a question and the circle continues. And if you, the only reason to collect data is to take action. Both Eastern and Western philosophers absolutely have said that for centuries.   0:18:55.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. What's interesting, I didn't hear him say it in any other cases when he was talking about the next stage. I did hear him say before, like, what's it going to be used for? But you could hear when he's talking about the next stage, it's saying to me, that's saying the responsibility of management is looking at the overall system and communicating that and managing that, not trying to, you know, just give some blind instruction to one group, one team, one person without thinking about how it all interacts.   0:19:29.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Absolutely. Absolutely. But in the local aspect of, well, some question answers are not so local, but it's what the question asker's responsibility to let the people know what they're going to use the data for.   0:19:51.9 Andrew Stotz: Yep. Great lesson. All right. So now I've got a interesting picture up on the screen here. We have Dr. Deming and there's John Turkey, Tukey how do you say his last name?   0:20:05.6 Bill Scherkenbach: John Tukey, T-U-K-E-Y, yep. George Box and Sir David Cox. Anyone in the statistics arena knows them. We also had Stu Hunter and I believe John Hunter was there. They're not in the picture. I took the picture. But we were at Meadowbrook, which is, which is, on the old Dodge estate where Oakland University is near Detroit. And had a, we called the meeting to discuss the importance and the various perspectives of enumerative and analytic. Now, each of these men, Box, Tukey, and Cox, and all of them, all of us in the university, quite honestly, were brought up with enumerative methods. And so your standard distributional stuff and T-tests and whatever. And Deming and Tukey realized the importance of being able to not just take action on the sample, but the cause system, the system that caused the sample, or the process term, in process terms. So yeah, John Tukey was strangely enough, well, not strangely enough, but came up with a graphical method to look at data called the box and whiskers plot, with George Box standing next to him, but it's not that George didn't shave. But Tukey, very, very well known for graphical methods.   0:22:24.2 Bill Scherkenbach: George, well known for experimental methods. One of the Box, Hunter and Hunter book on statistical design of experiments is legendary. And Sir David Cox, logistic regression, which is hugely, strangely, well, not strangely enough, but huge nowadays, very important in AI, in how you would be looking to teach or have your model learn what it is that you would like them to learn to look for. So each of these gentlemen, very, very much a pinnacle of the statistical career. We were very, in a large company like Ford, we were very lucky to be able to make big meetings like this, or meetings with very influential people happen.   0:23:38.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. That's got to be amazing because I think when most of us listen to Dr. Deming and all that, we get a lot of what he says. But I would say that the statistical aspect and his depth of statistical knowledge is what many people, you know, it's hard for many Deming followers to deeply connect with that. And I think even myself, having, you know, read everything, listened to him, learned as much as I can, the best that I probably come up with is the idea that once I started understanding variation, one of the things I started realizing is that it's everywhere and it's in everything. And I didn't understand...   0:24:27.3 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, I still have the cartoon of a popcorn maker that was very surprised when he said, "They all popped at once." And his popcorn stand has blown up. So yeah, variation is everywhere, a lot or a little. And the thing is that you need to be able to take appropriate action. Sometime, I can remember, I can remember Bob Stemple asking me, "What did I think of the Shainin methods, Dorian Shainin, and technical approach?" And I wrote back to him and I said, "It's no better or worse than any of the other methods we don't use here at GM." The point is, all of these methods are better than Bop-A-Mole. And one of the things, well, one of the things that concerns me is that in these tool areas, and Deming's counsel to me long ago was he remembers the fights that the technical people, the statisticians in the quality profession, would have over which one is a tenth of a percent better or more effective doing this and that. And they would publicly argue, and Deming said, "Stop. It confuses management because they don't have a clue and they're staying away from all forms of quality." So, you, and I don't know the solution in this day and age where everyone is connected. But all of these methods have their strengths and weaknesses, but you have to have the savvy to figure out which one to use to help you improve. All of, each of these four were great teachers, and I have a comment from Dr. Deming on that.   0:27:11.7 Andrew Stotz: And just in wrapping this up, it's like, I think one of the things that you realize when you see this one and what you're talking about, what I realize is what a powerhouse Dr. Deming was in the area of statistics. And in some ways, it's kind of like seeing a rock star that you love to listen to and that rock star is great. And then one day on a Sunday, you go to the church and you see he's a reverend and a very solemn man who is a very, very devout devotee of Christianity and something. In some ways, that's the way I feel when I look at this, like, wow, just the roots of the depth of that is so fascinating.   0:28:03.2 Bill Scherkenbach: As you mentioned that, I'm thinking back, we were in Iowa and one of the professors there, and I forget his name, but you're right. Deming was held in awe and he was riding in the backseat. I'm driving and this professor is beside me and Dr. Deming said something and I said, how do you know? And the guy thought the world was going to come to an end that I dared ask the master, how did he know? Well, it, it, it ended up fine.   0:28:52.9 Andrew Stotz: That was the question he was trying to teach you to ask.   0:28:55.3 Bill Scherkenbach: Absolutely. You don't accept it at face value.   0:29:02.2 Andrew Stotz: So we got this other slide now. It says, what do you mean by a good teacher? Maybe you want to set this up and then I'll play the audio.   0:29:10.7 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. This was one of his favorite stories when he studied under Ronald Fisher, who is the big godfather of statistics, well, relatively modern stuff. So, Fisher was there at University College, as Deming will describe, and Deming wanted to know, and this is where a number of you will have recognized, he wanted to know what great minds were thinking about.   0:29:56.7 Andrew Stotz: All right. I'm going to play the clip right now.   0:30:00.2 Speaker 3: What do you mean by a good teacher? I taught with a man, head of a department. The whole 150 students spellbound him, teaching him what is wrong. And they loved it. What do you mean by a good teacher? Holding students spellbound around him. What do you mean teaching them something? I've had a number of great teachers. One was Professor Ronald Picker, University of London, University College I should say, part of the University of London. In London, 1936, no teaching could be worse. A lovable man, if you tried to work with him, could not read his writing, could stand in the way of it, room was dark and cold, he couldn't help the cold, maybe he could have put some light in the room, make mistakes, Professor Paul Ryder in the front row always helped him out. He'd come in with a piece of paper in his hand the ink not yet dry, talk about it. Wonder why the room was full of people from all over the world. I was one of them. Made a long trip, at my own expense, to learn, and we learned. We learned what that great mind was thinking about, what to him were great or important problems today.   0:31:45.9 Speaker 3: And we saw the methods that he used for solutions. We saw what this great mind was thinking about. His influence will be known the world over for a long, long time. He would rated zero by most people that rate teachers. Another teacher that I had was Ernest Crown at Yale, very poor teacher. We'd get together afterwards, some of us, and try to figure out what he was teaching us. He was not even charismatic the way Ronald Fisher was, but we learned. We learned what that great mind was thinking about, what he thought was the problem. We learned about perturbation. His work on lunar theory will be a classic for generations. We learned. Worst teacher there could be, but we learned.   0:32:49.0 Andrew Stotz: Wow. Tell us more about that.   0:32:53.6 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, he also had a similar story because, from great teachers at NYU, and that's where I first met him and learned from him. He was my teacher, but NYU had a, they had nominations for great teachers. And Deming was able to convince, and I forget who was the, Ernest Kurnow was the dean, and he convinced the dean to wait 10 years before you survey any of the students. And the question was, did any teacher you have really make a difference in your life? And he was able to get that done or get that process agreed to, and it was for the better because in, and I don't want to... I mean, every generation has said this new generation is going to hell in a handbasket, I mean, that for forever. That's nothing new. But what's popular, it's great to be entertained, and as he said, teaching what is wrong. And so did someone make a difference in your life? And not surprisingly, Deming was one of the people selected as a great teacher from NYU Graduate Business School.   0:35:15.4 Andrew Stotz: So that's your review after 50 years after the course, huh?   0:35:21.6 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah.   0:35:24.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And so the point is that, let's separate popularity from original thinking. And also he highlighted the idea that some teachers may not come across very organized, very polished. They may need assistance to help them clarify what they're trying to get across. But just because they're kind of a mess in that way, doesn't mean they're not thinking very deeply. In fact, it may be a sign that they're thinking very deeply about it.   0:36:01.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. Now, again, remember, and I know it's a broad brush, but Deming was eminently logical. Crosby would have loved it. Wine and cheese parties showed Juran more physical. And so I think Deming's preferences there, the key to his statement is teaching what was wrong. Some people get excited in class for a variety of reasons, but the key is what are you teaching? The method depends on the ability of the teacher to connect to the students and actually teach. So it gets you back to physical, logical, and emotional. But for Deming, Fisher struck a chord with him.   0:37:09.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I think for the listener, the viewer, think about some teacher that really made an impact on you. And it could be that there was a teacher that was able to connect with you emotionally.   0:37:25.2 Bill Scherkenbach: Absolutely.   0:37:26.7 Andrew Stotz: So there's different ways. But I think of Dr. Deming wasn't a teacher of mine in university, but at the age of 24 to learn from him was definitely a teacher that left me with the most to think about. And I would say there was one other teacher, a guy named Greg Florence that was at Long Beach City College who taught me argumentation and debate. And he also really encouraged me to join the debate team, which I really couldn't because I didn't have time because I didn't have money and I had to work. But he really saw something in me, and now I love to teach debate and helping young people construct arguments. And so for all of us, I think this idea of what do you mean by a good teacher is a great discussion. So, love it. Love it. Well, we got another picture now. Speaking of teaching, the City University of New York is in the backdrop. Maybe you can set this one up.   0:38:27.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. This was a one-day, maybe one and a half with some pre-work, but essentially a one-day meeting in New York that was able to gather some of the top educators in the US, the head of the schools in California. There were some folks from Chicago. We had, as I mentioned, Albert Shanker, who was head of the American Federation of Teachers, was sitting right beside me. Other teacher organizations and education organizations. And we got together for a very meaningful thing. We got together to try and determine what is the aim of education in America. And it turned out that everyone was looking for their mic time, and we couldn't even agree on an aim for education in America. And if you can't agree on an aim, your system is everyone doing their best, and it's all, there's not too much progress, except locally or suboptimally.   0:40:02.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. That's a good illustration of the concept of best efforts. Dr. Deming often talked about best efforts. And here you're saying, without an aim, everybody's going to just go in their own direction. And it reminds me of a story I tell people in relation to management, which was that I had a really great boss many years ago in the field of finance research in the stock market. He was very brilliant, and he hired really good analysts. I was surrounded by the best. But he never once really brought us together to say, this is our aim. And so what ended up happening was that each person did their best, which was very good as an individual, but as a group, we never were able to really make an impact. And I explain that to my students nowadays, that I believe it's because he didn't set an aim and bring us together for that.   0:41:09.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Now, one of the, I mean, one of the things Deming very predictably talked about, as I recall, is the grades and gold stars, which were part of his forces of destruction. And the education is the way we approach education here was part of that, even before people get to get beat further down by corporate and other organizational stuff. And the grading and gold stars, I don't know how much that was, that criticism was appreciated. But everyone had a chance to talk. And in my opinion, not too many people listened.   0:42:09.3 Andrew Stotz: Now, the next one is titled Mongolian Rat. What the heck, Bill?   0:42:17.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, this is part of teaching what good teaching would be. You've got to listen. It's one of my favorite stories of his.   0:42:30.3 Andrew Stotz: Well, let's roll the tape.   0:42:33.3 Speaker 3: I met a professor in New York. He was a surgeon, professor of surgery. He did gave out some marble, had plenty. One student in the class, he told them describe the surgical procedure on the jaw in which a certain breed of Mongolian wrap was very helpful. The rat, the flesh right down the bone cleaner than a surgeon could do it. Very important wrap. Describe it in details to the listeners and students. On examination, one, the question was to describe the surgical procedure by use of the Mongolian rat. Plenty of students gave him back the same marbles that he doled out. He described it in exactly the same words that he described it. He flunked them all, all the time. One of them said, my dear professor, I have searched the literature. I've inquired around in hospitals and other teachers, I can find no trace of any such procedure. I think that you were loading us. He laughed. He had to take a new examination. He gave them back the same marbles he doled out to them. He wanted to think.   0:43:55.0 Andrew Stotz: Marbles. I haven't heard that expression. Tell us a little bit more about what you want us to take from this.   0:44:02.6 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. His comment on education that teachers are handing out marbles and pieces of information, not necessarily knowledge, and the testing, you're expected to give them back what the teacher said instead of how can you process it and put it in the context of other things, as well as, I mean, maybe not in the early grades, but in the later ones, you need to be able to look at various perspectives to see who has this opinion and that opinion. And unfortunately, today, that discourse is nicely shut down.   0:45:07.3 Andrew Stotz: At first, when I heard him saying marbles, I thought he was kind of using marbles as a way of kind of saying pulling their legs, but now I understand that he was trying to say that he's giving something and then the students give it back.   0:45:24.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.   0:45:26.0 Andrew Stotz: Okay. Mongolian rats.   0:45:31.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Yep. Yep. So we go from learning to having fun, and here's a picture of our statistical methods office at Ford.   0:45:48.1 Andrew Stotz: And you're sitting in a sleigh? Is that what's happening there?   0:45:50.0 Bill Scherkenbach: We're sitting in a sleigh, yes, at Greenfield Village, which is where the Henry Ford Museum is, and it happened to snow, so we've got the, we've got the horse-drawn sleigh, and I was listening to your first interview of me, and I want to deeply apologize. It's Harry Artinian, and so from the left, you've got Ed Baker and Bill Craft and Pete Jessup, Harry Artinian, Narendra Sheth, Dr. Deming, Debbie Rawlings, Ann Evans, my secretary, uh ooooh, and the gentleman who worked with Jim Bakken, and then me. So, we were working and decided to have a good lunch.   0:46:58.5 Andrew Stotz: And it's a horse-drawn sleigh. And I wasn't sure if you were pulling our leg here because you said, I'm second from the far right. First from the far right, to me, looks like the horse.   0:47:09.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Yes. That's the horse's ass. Yep.   0:47:14.6 Andrew Stotz: That's a big one.   0:47:16.1 Bill Scherkenbach: It is what it is.   0:47:18.7 Andrew Stotz: Yep. Okay. Next one. Who's Sylvester?   0:47:22.3 Bill Scherkenbach: Sylvester is my son's cat. And this is one of the times Dr. Deming was in my home. And he sat down in my office at my home. And Sylvester saw a good lap and he jumped up on it and took it. And as I said, I couldn't tell who was purring louder. They both were content.   0:47:52.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. That looks beautiful.   0:47:55.4 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. It was very, very peaceful. Another fun thing, after a long day of work at Ford, we would go to Luigi's restaurant in Dearborn. I think there was a Dearborn Marriott, a big hotel. I don't know if it's there now. But that's Larry Moore, director of quality, next to Dr. Deming and me. I had a mustache back then.   0:48:30.4 Andrew Stotz: Yes. And we all loved soft serve ice cream.   0:48:34.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Soft serve ice cream. Yep.   0:48:38.0 Andrew Stotz: Yep. All right. Star-Spangled Banner.   0:48:40.9 Bill Scherkenbach: Yep. Now we're at one of my earlier houses in Northville. And Dr. Deming had written a new tune for the Star-Spangled Banner because it was an old English drinking song, Anna, the what? The Anacrocronistic Society. And he thought it was just too bawdy. I mean, you're an unsingable, except if you're drinking. So he rewrote the music for the Star-Spangled Banner. I have a copy of it here. But he, my son Matthew, my oldest son Matthew, we had just gotten one of those first Macs from Apple, Macintosh. And it had a very elementary music thing. So he put the notes that Deming had handwritten. And we put it in there and it played the tune. And so Deming was playing on our piano the Star-Spangled Banner.   0:50:04.7 Andrew Stotz: So he had a musical talent.   0:50:10.8 Bill Scherkenbach: Oh, yeah. He was a very serious study of, a student of music. Very much so. He wrote a complete Mass. He was a high church Episcopalian. And he wrote a complete Mass of the Holy Spirit with all parts. So, very much a student of music.   0:50:41.8 Andrew Stotz: And how did his religious beliefs, like Episcopalian, as you mentioned, how did that come across? Was he a person who talked about that? Was he a person that didn't talk about that? Like, how did that come across?   0:50:59.2 Bill Scherkenbach: It was more of a private thing. But then again, on every one of his books, he would begin a chapter with some quotation from different books. And many of them were from the Bible. I can remember one time in London, I'm Catholic, and so we were celebrating the St. Peter and Paul that Sunday. But he was in London and he was at St. Paul's and they weren't giving Peter any traction. But he looked up and he said, yep, you're right. It was both of those saint days.   0:51:58.3 Andrew Stotz: All right. Next one, Drive Out Fear.   0:52:01.8 Bill Scherkenbach: Oh, yeah. This was Professor Arnold. And we were having lunch in the Ford dining room, one of the Ford dining rooms. And Dr. Deming wasn't too happy of what Professor Arnold was talking about. And Professor Arnold didn't look too happy either. So, I framed the picture and put Drive Out Fear underneath it and hung it in my office. And Deming came and looked at it and smiled.   0:52:46.5 Andrew Stotz: And what was the background on Professor Arnold? And in this case, did they have opposing views or was it a particular thing or what was it that was...   0:52:58.4 Bill Scherkenbach: I don't remember the particular conversation, but Professor Arnold was head of the statistics department at Oakland University. And Ford had an agreement with Oakland University that we established a master's degree in statistics, according to Dr. Deming's viewpoint on enumerative and analytic. And no, he was very, very capable gentleman. I mean, one of the things Dr. Deming mentioned to me is if the two of us agreed all the time, one of us is redundant. So there were always discussions. This is just a snapshot in time.   0:53:52.3 Andrew Stotz: I love that quote, that one of us is redundant. That's powerful, powerful.   0:53:59.4 Bill Scherkenbach: Absolutely. Yep. This is another having fun after learning in... There were a number of restaurants we went to. He particularly liked Elizabeth's,   0:54:16.1 Andrew Stotz: And how was their relationship? How did he treat your lovely wife?   0:54:22.5 Bill Scherkenbach: Oh, I mean, very lovingly. I mean, I don't know how to describe it, but one of the family.   0:54:36.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. He seemed from my observation, like a true gentleman.   0:54:42.5 Bill Scherkenbach: Absolutely. Absolutely.   0:54:46.0 Andrew Stotz: Well, here we come to the Lincoln that we started off with. This is a great picture too.   0:54:51.4 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. That's a picture I had. It wasn't a Hasselblad, but it was a two and a quarter frame. And I had black and white film in it, but this is one of a number of pictures I took of him at the Cosmos Club. I think it was a very good picture. And in any event, it was blending learning and having fun.   0:55:19.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And the Cosmos Club was near his house?   0:55:22.5 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. Well, it was depending on who drove. I mean, it was just, it was down a few blocks and then a number of blocks on Massachusetts Avenue. I enjoyed the drive from his house because you'd pass the Naval Observatory, which for years was the home of the chief of naval operations here. But a few decades, a few, I don't know how long ago, the vice president pulled rank on him. And so the Naval Observatory, beautiful, beautiful old house. So, the vice president lives there now. And a lot of people think Massachusetts Avenue in that area is Embassy Row. So you're passing a number of embassies on the way. And the Cosmos Club, anyone can look up. I mean, it's by invitation, members only, and Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners and a very distinguished membership, let's say.   0:56:39.3 Andrew Stotz: Here was another one, Making a Difference with Don Peterson.   0:56:43.0 Bill Scherkenbach: Yep. Yep. We're, we're, this is one of the meetings we had with Don. And it wasn't this meeting, but we were in one of them. Okay. You have it on the right there. That we periodically would have, Dr. Deming and I would have breakfast with Jim Bakken in what was known as the Penthouse at Ford. There are 12 floors, and then there was the 13th and 14th, which were private quarters, essentially. And so we were having breakfast one morning and finishing breakfast, and I'm walking a little bit ahead, and I run ahead and press the elevator button to go down one floor, and the door opens, and there's Henry Ford II in cowboy belt buckle and boots, no hat. He's going to a board meeting, he says, and Jim shied away, said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Ford." He said, "Shut up, Jim, get in here." And so we got in the elevator, and it was the small elevator. And so we're back to back, belly to belly, and Jim introduces Dr. Deming to Mr. Ford, and Ford said, "I've heard of you, Dr. Deming. God, we really need your help." And Deming had the presence of saying, "I heard of you too, Mr. Ford." It was the longest one-floor elevator ride I've ever had in my life.   0:58:49.1 Andrew Stotz: That's fascinating. All right. Next one, talking with workers.   0:58:54.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Yep. Yep. He made it a point. And this is a fine line, because you want to be able to have workers say, how, how, are they able to take pride in their work? And are there any problems and all of that? But you don't want to be in a position of then going to management and telling them because of fear in the organization. So, Dr. Deming was very good at listening and getting people to talk about their jobs and their ability to take joy and, well, pride in their work. So we had many, many meetings, different places. And this next one is with the Ford Batavia plant, I think.   1:00:01.2 Andrew Stotz: Yep.   1:00:02.4 Bill Scherkenbach: Yeah. We're riding on the tractors and having a good time.   1:00:11.3 Andrew Stotz: Who's driving?   1:00:14.2 Bill Scherkenbach: The plant manager, Ron Kaseya, was driving.   1:00:16.9 Andrew Stotz: Okay.   1:00:17.9 Bill Scherkenbach: And so I absolutely do not recall what we were laughing at, but we were having a good time. And the Batavia transaxle plant, a number of people will recognize as where Ford, it really made the point that doing better than spec is really what the job is. And it's a very powerful video that's been out there and people would recognize it as well, because we were producing the exact same transaxle in Mazda. And Mazda was influenced a lot of by Genichi Taguchi and looked to reduce variation around the nominal and not just be happy that we made spec. And John Betty, who was head up of powertrain operations and then went to the Department of Defense as assistant secretary of defense for procurement, I think, because of the quality expertise. Betty is in the front of the video saying he's absolutely convinced that this is a superior way to look at manufacturing, to look at the management of any process. You want to get your customers to brag, not just not complain.   1:02:10.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Courage.   1:02:11.8 Bill Scherkenbach: And all of this takes courage. And especially in his seminars in London say, the Brits had the advantage. You guys can take courage every day. We can't get that in the US anymore. Or it's very rare to be able to buy it here.   1:02:36.3 Andrew Stotz: For the listeners, there's a logo of the John Courage beer, premium beer.   1:02:45.7 Bill Scherkenbach: Yes. Yes. It's an amber pills.   1:02:49.8 Andrew Stotz: Okay.   1:02:52.4 Bill Scherkenbach: And last but not least, well, not last, but we're looking for, and I ran across this quote from Yogi Berra, and it's very applicable right now. And Yogi Berra said, I never said... Well, what did he say?   1:03:19.2 Andrew Stotz: Never said most of the things I said.   1:03:21.4 Bill Scherkenbach: Most of the things I could have said. I never said most of the things I said. Yeah. And every day online, I see people saying Dr. Deming said this, and he said that. And if he did, I've never heard him say it. And not that I've heard him say everything. But if he did say something like, if it's not measurable, you can't manage it. He would have followed it with, that's not right. The unknown and unknowable. And so you've got a lot of people misunderstanding what Dr. Deming said. And you've got to go with, I never said most of the things that I said.   1:04:24.0 Andrew Stotz: Well, that's the great thing about this discussion is that we're getting it from the horse's mouth, someone that was there listening and being a part of it.   1:04:32.1 Bill Scherkenbach: Well, I'm glad you saw the other end of the horse.   1:04:37.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. So, I'm going to close out this by just sharing a little personal connection. And that is, I'm showing a picture of me in my 1963 suicide door Lincoln Continental, which I owned for 10 years in beautiful Bangkok, Thailand. And much like being kind of wild taking a ride to the Cosmos Club with Dr. Deming driving his Lincoln Continental, you could imagine how odd it looked seeing this American guy driving this 1963 Lincoln Continental on the streets of Bangkok. But I just thought I would share that just to have some fun. So, yeah.   1:05:14.3 Bill Scherkenbach: That's beautiful. Absolutely. Yeah. I didn't think the streets were that wide.   1:05:22.1 Andrew Stotz: It gets stuck in traffic, that's for sure. But wow, there's so many things that we covered. I mean, I just really, really enjoyed that trip down memory lane. Is there anything you want to share to wrap it up?   1:05:36.1 Bill Scherkenbach: No. As I said, our last conversation, we've just scratched the surface. There's so much, so much more to talk about and preserve, I think.   1:05:48.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Well, I really enjoyed it.   1:05:52.1 Bill Scherkenbach: I have done my best.   1:05:53.6 Andrew Stotz: Yes, you have. You have. I've enjoyed it, and I'm sure the listeners and the viewers will enjoy it too. So, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I just want to thank you for taking the time to pull that together and to walk us through it. And for listeners out there, remember to go to Deming.org to continue your journey. And of course, go to LinkedIn to find Bill and reach out and share your interpretations of what we went through. And maybe you have a story that you'd like to share also. So, this is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming. And that is, “people are entitled to joy in work."

Today's Mystery: A woman is murdered and the only clue Danny has as to why she was killed i her high school yearbook.Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 14, 1950Originated in HollywoodStars: Larry Thor as Lieutenant Danny Clover, Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino TartagliaSupport the show monthly at https://patreon.greatdetectives.netPatreon Supporter of the Day: Tom, Patreon supporter since December 2019.Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715Take the listener survey…http://survey.greatdetectives.netGive us a call 208-991-4783Follow us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/greatdetectivesBecome one of our friends on Facebook.Follow us on Twitter@radiodetectivesJoin us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

In this episode of People Solve Problems, host Jamie Flinchbaugh welcomes Mark Reich, Senior Coach and Chief Engineer of Strategy at the Lean Enterprise Institute. Mark brings a wealth of experience from his 23 years at Toyota, where he learned and led management systems, followed by 13 years at the Lean Enterprise Institute spreading that knowledge across industries. The conversation centers around Mark's new book "Managing on Purpose," which focuses on Hoshin Kanri, a strategic management methodology that was adopted by Toyota in the early 1960s based on Deming's teachings. Mark explains that Hoshin Kanri goes far beyond typical strategy development that often ends with a PowerPoint presentation to the board. Instead, it creates a comprehensive management system that defines long-term direction, builds both vertical and horizontal alignment throughout the organization, manages annual execution, and develops people's capabilities. Mark emphasizes that the real power of Hoshin Kanri lies in its dual approach to alignment. Vertical alignment ensures that high-level objectives are broken down meaningfully throughout the organization, giving everyone ownership of problems to solve. Horizontal alignment addresses the more challenging task of getting different functions to work together toward broader organizational goals rather than focusing solely on their individual metrics. This requires a cultural shift where leaders must reward people for leading by responsibility rather than authority, encouraging influence across the organization rather than just managing down. The methodology serves as both a strategic framework and a leadership development tool. They compare it to learning soccer through playing the game rather than just practicing drills. Leaders develop crucial skills by working through the complex interpersonal mechanisms of what he calls "catch ball" - the process of building alignment both vertically and horizontally throughout the organization. However, Mark warns that this is high-risk work since it deals with the future of the entire organization, requiring significant investment from top leadership. When discussing how to handle uncertainty and volatility, Mark acknowledges that plans rarely survive contact with reality unchanged. Drawing from military strategist Helmut von Moltke's famous observation about battle plans, he explains that the key lies not in the plan itself but in building the organization's planning capability. Teams that practice planning together can quickly realign when circumstances change. The focus should be on developing the skill of alignment rather than rigidly sticking to any particular plan. Mark identifies rigor as the critical factor that separates successful Hoshin Kanri implementations from failures. This includes rigorous upfront planning, systematic processes for building alignment, and disciplined execution with monthly reviews in visual management spaces. Organizations need to establish standards around the process itself, treating Hoshin Kanri as a systematic approach rather than a one-time exercise. The conversation reveals Mark's perspective that Hoshin Kanri is essentially company-wide problem solving. By framing strategic objectives as problems to solve, organizations can break them down into specific elements that engage everyone from leadership to frontline workers. This creates a unified approach where strategy deployment becomes a systematic way of distributing problem-solving responsibilities throughout the organization. Mark concludes by defending his choice of the word "managing" in his book title, distinguishing management systems from leadership capabilities. While leadership involves developing people and drawing out their best abilities, management involves creating robust systems that allow organizations to function effectively even as leaders move on to new challenges. For more information about Mark's work, visit www.lean.org or connect with him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/markareich. Find his book here: www.lean.org/mop

Today's Mystery: A woman is murdered and the only clue Danny has as to why she was killedOriginal Radio Broadcast Date: August 14, 1950Originated in HollywoodStars: Larry Thor as Lieutenant Danny Clover, Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino TartagliaSupport the show monthly at https://patreon.greatdetectives.netPatreon Supporter of the Day: Tom, Patreon supporter since December 2019.Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715Take the listener survey…http://survey.greatdetectives.netGive us a call 208-991-4783Follow us on Instagram at http://instagram.com/greatdetectivesBecome one of our friends on Facebook.Follow us on Twitter@radiodetectives

What if supporting a loved one through cancer could become a path to personal healing and deeper connection?Dr. Katie Deming is joined by psychotherapist Sandra Wallin and Kim Scanlon, whose husband, Keith, is navigating a cancer diagnosis. Kim shares how her journey from overwhelmed “caregiver” to empowered partner began with discovering PSYCH-K, a powerful yet gentle technique for shifting limiting beliefs stored in the subconscious mind.Kim's search for the "lightness" Dr. Deming's promise turned into a transformative journey that helped her manage fear and find calm before stressful medical appointments using simple techniques she could do anywhere.Chapters:00:06:00 – Joining the PSYCH-K Workshop Alone00:09:49 – Redefining Caregiver00:19:26 – Practicing as Partners00:40:00 – Trusting Your InstinctsSandra explains how PSYCH-K works with the body's natural wisdom to create lasting change without needing to relive trauma. Unlike traditional approaches, it empowers people to shift perception and emotions quickly, often leading to profound shifts in relationships and self-trust.They shed light on the often-unspoken experience of partners supporting loved ones through illness, offering both validation and practical tools for anyone navigating fear, medical systems, and changing roles.Listen and learn how to bring more presence, lightness, and intimacy than you ever thought possible.Reserve Your Spot PSYCH-K® Online Workshop - Level 1 - HERESave your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatie Don't Face Cancer Alone"The 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer" workshop series provides you valuable insights and strategies to support your healing journey - Click Here to Enroll MORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Save your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Work with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comEmail: INFO@KATIEDEMING.COM 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to Enroll Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider.

What was it like to learn from Dr. Deming himself -- a decade before his name became legend in U.S. business circles? In this deeply personal episode, William Scherkenbach shares with host Andrew Stotz what it was like to sit in Deming's classroom in 1972, join him for late-night chats at the Cosmos Club, and help ignite transformational change at Ford and GM. Learn how Deming's teachings shaped a lifetime of purpose, and why Scherkenbach, now in his 80th year, is stepping back into the arena with lessons still burning bright. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.3 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we continue our journey into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm here with featured guest William Scherkenbach, and he is known as one of the men who has spent a huge amount of time with Dr. Deming, as he mentioned to me previously, starting from 1972, over a thousand meetings and many other activities that he's been involved in. So, Bill, welcome to the show. Why don't you give us a little background about you?   0:00:39.5 William Scherkenbach: Oh, okay. Good to be here, Andrew. Well, I'm going to start with, since it's about Deming, in '72, I was newly married in April, but had been accepted to NYU Graduate School of Business, and I don't know, I never found out who wrote the course syllabus, but whoever did wrote something that it sounded like a darn interesting course, sampling, manufacturing. I was a protocol officer at the United Nations at the time and was going to night school at the New York University Graduate School of Business. So, I said, this sounds like a good course, interesting course. Had no idea who Dr. Deming was, and I walked into the first class, and there was an old, I'm 26, so he was 72 in 1972, and he was one of the first, one of the only old person who didn't say, I used to be, and I don't want to stereotype all of my peers now that I'm 79, but hopefully I don't fall into the, well, I used to be and what happened. But he did tell, I mean, statistics can be a very technical subject, and the way he taught it, I had courses in some theory of sampling, which was one of his books.   0:02:52.2 William Scherkenbach: He had three, I said three courses. The other course that I took was based on his lectures in Japan in 1950, and in fact, two of them. The third course was an extension of that. So, he was, he would teach the statistics, but he was able to tell the history of the people behind all of the thoughts and the formulas and approaches, and I found that extremely, extremely interesting. And he handed out tons of papers and material, and it was just a very, very good experience. I know he had, and he had, in my opinion, a great sense of humor, but then statisticians, what's our status? Yeah, we're like accountants, in any event. .   0:04:12.2 Andrew Stotz: Why was he teaching? I mean, at 72, most men, you know, maybe women also, but most of us are like, it's the twilight of our years, and we now know he had 30 more years to go, but why was he teaching? And also, what's interesting is when I think about Deming, I think about his overall system of what he's teaching, whereas it's interesting to think about how he taught one relatively narrow subject.   0:04:43.7 William Scherkenbach: I'll get to that as to why I think he was teaching. But yeah, back then there were no 14 Points, no glimmer of Profound Knowledge. It was, not theoretical statistics, but applied statistics with a theory behind it. And he still was really expanding on Shewhart 's work with the difference between enumerative and analytic. He used his own. Now, why he was teaching, years later, probably 1987, so yeah, a bunch of years later, when I was at Ford and I had attended at the time, I attended a senior executive week-long get-together in order to get constancy of purpose or more continuity in the senior executive group. One of the people we brought in was Dr. Peter Kastenbaum. And I found as I attended his lecture in that week-long meeting, he was a student of CI Lewis. And CI Lewis, Deming learned about from Walter Shewhart and his work in the epistemology theory of knowledge. And in any event, Deming, when he was asked, and at the time it was still in the '30s, I think, when he was at the School of Agriculture, or the agriculture department, and bringing in Shewhart, he had tried to get CI Lewis to come talk. And CI said, I would love to, but I have a commitment to my students. And so I can't adjust my schedule.   0:07:33.9 William Scherkenbach: And the students, the people who wanted to learn were sacred. And I think that had a huge impact on Dr. Deming. I mean, he spoke about it a lot. And the way, you know, in a lot of the videos that Clare Crawford-Mason did, lovingly called the old curmudgeon. But for students, he had the greatest empathy and charity for, he just didn't suffer fools gladly. If you showed him that you weren't willing to learn, he took great joy in letting them know where they, where they stood.   0:08:43.1 Andrew Stotz: And one of the things when I went into my first Deming seminar in 1990, so now we're fast forwarding 30 years from when you first met him. It was almost like there was a safe harbor for workers, for young people, for people with open minds. I mean, I didn't, I watched as he didn't suffer fools, but I'm just curious, when you go back to 1972 in those classes, I'm assuming that he was pretty gentle with the students, encouraging them and all that was...   0:09:19.0 William Scherkenbach: Oh, absolutely. In my experience, I mean, if you were by, you know, in a student in graduate school, even though the graduate school of business in New York, down on 90 Church Street, Wall Street area, there were very few people going directly from your bachelor's to the master's program. And so these were people that had probably 10 years experience in business doing stuff. And yet by going to the class, absolutely were willing to learn, listen to different points of view, which is absolutely crucial. As you progress with theory of knowledge to be able to get different perspectives on whatever it is you're trying to look at.   0:10:23.2 Andrew Stotz: I would like to continue on this period of time just because it's a snapshot we don't get that often or that easily. You mentioned CI Lewis, a man who lived from about 1880 to about the year I was born, around 1964-65, and he was known for his understanding and discussion about logic and things like that. But why was CI Lewis someone that was interesting to Dr. Deming? What was the connection from your perspective?   0:10:59.6 William Scherkenbach: Well, my understanding is Shewhart referred to him, and Lewis was a professor at Harvard, and he was in the Peirce, I believe it's called. It looks like Peirce, but it's Peirce School of, or Chair of Philosophy, and Charles Sanders Peirce was a huge, huge influence in epistemology. And so that whole chain of thought or train of thought interested Deming, but it really was, he was introduced to it by Walter Shewhart.    0:11:48.3 Andrew Stotz: There's a famous quote, I believe, by Deming about CI Lewis and his book Mind and the World Order.   0:11:56.0 William Scherkenbach: Mind and the World Order, yeah.   0:11:59.9 Andrew Stotz: Deming said he had to read it six times before he fully understood and could apply its insights. And sometimes I think maybe Dr. Deming was truly inspired by that because when I think about his work, I'm still reading it and rereading it. And just listening to the video that you did many years ago with Tim talking about reduced variation, reduced variation, what he was talking about. Sometimes when we see the big picture, there's many different components of Deming's teachings. But if you had to bring it down to kind of its core, you know, he mentioned on that video that I just watched this morning, he mentioned reduced variation, and that will get you lower costs, happier customers, more jobs. How would you say, after you've looked at it from so many different angles over so many different years, how would you say you would sum up Dr. Deming's message to the world?   0:13:01.5 William Scherkenbach: Well, that's a difficult thing to sum up. Back then, when we did the video, which was in the early '80s, maybe '84, again, he had his 14 Points by then, but he hadn't, it hadn't really, the Profound Knowledge part of that wasn't there. Now, he had used what Shewhart said, and he had read, tried to read CI Lewis, and when he spoke about the connection between theory and questions, that's what he got from Shewhart and, well, and from Lewis, and a bunch of other pragmatist philosophers. So, he, you know, he was influenced by it, and, well, that's all I can say.   0:14:27.5 Andrew Stotz: So, let's go back in time. So, you're sitting in this classroom, you're intrigued, inspired. How did the relationship go at, towards the end of the class, and then as you finished that class, how did you guys keep in touch, and how did the relationship develop?   0:14:51.0 William Scherkenbach: Well, that is an interesting story. I usually am, well, I am introverted. So I had, after I moved from New York, I got a job at Booz Allen and Hamilton in Washington, DC. So in '74, when I got the degree from NYU, we moved to Silver Spring. And obviously, he's lived on Butterworth Place since there was a Butterworth Place. So we were able to, one of the things, and this is, well, I will say it, one of his advice to me, although he gave everyone an A, I later kidded him, he didn't remember that he gave me a B. No, he gave me an A. In any event, but one of his piece of advice was, you really don't need to join ASQC. You know more about quality than any of those inspectors. And so he had learned from the '50s in the past 20 years from the 50s that inspection wasn't going to do it. Well, I didn't take his advice, and I joined ASQC, and I was reading...   0:16:36.1 Andrew Stotz:Which for those who don't know is the American Society for...   0:16:41.6 William Scherkenbach: Quality Control, back then, now it's just the American Society for Quality. I had recommended when we did a big recommendations and forecasts for the year 2000 that quality, it should be the Society for Quality worldwide, but it's ASQ now. Let's see.   0:17:07.7 Andrew Stotz: So he recommended you don't join and you didn't follow his recommendation.    0:17:12.1 William Scherkenbach: I don't join, and I read an article, and it was by a professor in Virginia Tech, and he was showing a c-chart and the data were in control, and his recommendations were to penalize the people that were high and reward the people that were low, which is even back then, Dr. Deming was absolutely on track with that. If your process is in control, it doesn't make any sense to rank order or think that any of them are sufficiently different to reward or penalize. And I had never done this, but it was, I wrote a letter to quality progress. I sent a copy to Dr. Deming, and he said, "By golly, you're right on, that's great." And so I think it probably was '75, yeah, 1975. So I had been a year or so out, and he started inviting me over to his place at Butterworth, and we would go to the Cosmos Club. And that was a logistical challenge because at the time he had, well, his garage was a separate, not attached, it was in the backyard and emptied onto an alley. And he had a huge Lincoln Continental, the ones with the doors that opened from the center.   0:19:29.0 William Scherkenbach: And he would get in and drive and then park it in back of the club and someone would watch over it. But those were some good memories. So that was my introduction to keep contact with him. As I said, I had never done that. I don't think I've written a letter to an editor ever again.   0:20:04.8 Andrew Stotz: And you're mentioning about Butterworth, which is in DC.   0:20:12.6 William Scherkenbach: Butterworth Place, yeah.   0:20:14.7 Andrew Stotz: And Butterworth Place where he had his consulting business, which he ran, I believe, out of his basement.   0:20:18.3 William Scherkenbach: Out of the basement, yep, yep, yep.   0:20:21.2 Andrew Stotz: And just out of curiosity, what was it like when you first went to his home? Here, you had met him as your teacher, you respected him, you'd been away for a little bit, he invited you over. What was that like on your first walk into his home?   0:20:38.5 William Scherkenbach: Well, went down the side, the entrance to the basement was on the side of the house, and Seal had her desk set up right by the door. And then, I don't know if you can see, this is neat compared to his desk. It was filled with books and papers, but he knew where everything was. But it was a very cordial atmosphere.   0:21:25.2 Andrew Stotz: So when you mentioned Cecelia Kilian, is that her name, who was his assistant at the time?   0:21:36.3 William Scherkenbach: Yes, yes.   0:21:38.0 Andrew Stotz: Okay, so you...   0:21:38.8 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. For Jeepers. I don't know how long, but it had to be 50 years or so. So I don't, I mean, back in the '70s, I don't know of any other. He might have had, well, okay. He, yeah.   0:22:01.1 Andrew Stotz: I think it's about 40 or 50 years. So that's an incredible relationship he had with her. And I believe she wrote something. I think I have one of her, a book that she wrote that described his life. I can't remember that one right now but...   0:22:14.2 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. A lot of, yeah, it contained a lot of...   0:22:16.6 Andrew Stotz: The World of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, I think was the name of it, yeah.   0:22:20.6 William Scherkenbach: Okay. It contained a lot of his diaries on a number of his visits to Japan and elsewhere.   0:22:32.1 Andrew Stotz: So for some of us, when we go into our professor's offices, we see it stacked full of papers, but they've been sitting there for years. And we know that the professor just doesn't really do much with it. It's just all sitting there. Why did he have so much stuff on it? Was it incoming stuff that was coming to him? Was it something he was writing? Something he was reading? What was it that was coming in and out of his desk?   0:22:55.7 William Scherkenbach: A combination of stuff. I don't know. I mean, he was constantly writing, dictating to seal, but writing and reading. He got a, I mean, as the decades proceeded out of into the '80s, after '82, the NBC white or the '80, the NBC white paper calls were coming in from all over, all over the world. So yeah, a lot of people sending him stuff.   0:23:35.8 Andrew Stotz: I remember seeing him pulling out little scraps of paper at the seminar where he was taking notes and things like that at '90. So I could imagine he was just prolific at jotting things down. And when you read what he wrote, he really is assembling a lot of the notes and things that he's heard from different people. You can really capture that.   0:23:59.0 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. He didn't have an identic memory, but he took notes and quite, you know, and what he would do at the end of the day before retiring, he'd review the notes and commit them to memory as best he could. So he, yeah, very definitely. I mean, we would, you know, and well, okay. We're still in the early days before Ford and GM, but.   0:24:37.6 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I want to, if I shoot forward to '90, '92, when I studied with him, I was impressed with his energy at his age and he was just on a mission. And when I hear about your discussion about the class and at that time, it's like he was forming his, you know, System of Profound Knowledge, his 14 Points. When do you think it really became a mission for him to help, let's say American industry?   0:25:09.0 William Scherkenbach: Oh, well, I think it was a mission when Ford began its relationship with him. The ability of a large corporation, as well, and Ford at the same time Pontiac, the Pontiac division, not the whole GM, but Pontiac, was learning as well. But the attachment to Ford was that you had Don Peterson at the time was president of Ford, and he was intellectually curious, and he and Deming were on the same frequency. Now, I don't want to jump ahead, but if anyone has, well, you've read my second book there, you'll know that I have mentioned that the way to change is physical, logical, and emotional. And when you look at the gurus back then, there was Deming, who was the logical guru. You had Phil Crosby, who was the emotional guru. You go to the flag and the wine and cheese party, and Deming would say, "No," and Joe Juran, who was interested in focusing on the physical organization, you report to me kind of a thing. And so each of these behemoths were passing each other in the night with the greatest respect. But, but, and so they had their constituents. The challenge is to be able to broaden the appeal.    0:27:33.8 Andrew Stotz: So we've gone through '72, and then now '75, you've written your piece, and he's brought you into the fold. You're starting to spend some time with him. I believe it was about 1981 or so when he started working with Ford. And at that time, the quality director, I think, was Larry Moore at the time. And of course, you mentioned Donald Peterson. Maybe you can help us now understand from your own perspective of what you were doing between that time and how you saw that happening.   0:28:13.4 William Scherkenbach: Well, I had, my career was, after Booz Allen, mostly in the quality reliability area. I went from Booz Allen and Hamilton to, I moved to Columbia, Maryland, because I can fondly remember my grandfather in Ironwood, Michigan, worked at the Oliver Mine. There's a lot of iron ore mines up in the UP. ANd he would, and his work, once he got out of the mines later on, was he would cut across the backyard, and his office was right there. And so he would walk home for lunch and take a nap and walk back. And I thought that really was a good style of life. So Columbia, Maryland, was designed by Rouse to be a live-in, work-in community. And so we were gonna, we moved to Columbia, and there was a consulting firm called Hitman Associates, and their specialty was energy and environmental consulting. So did a bunch of that, worked my way up to a vice president. And so, but in '81, Deming said, you know, Ford really is interested. He was convinced, and again, it's déjà vu, he spoke about, when he spoke fondly about his lectures in Japan in 1950 and onward, that he was, he was very concerned that top management needed to be there, because he had seen all the excitement at Stanford during the war, and it died out afterwards, because management wasn't involved.   0:30:42.8 Andrew Stotz: What do you mean by that? What do you mean by the excitement at Stanford? You mean people working together for the efforts of the war, or was there a particular thing that was happening at Stanford?   0:30:51.7 William Scherkenbach: Well, they were, he attributed it to the lack of management support. I mean, they learned SPC. We were able to improve quality of war material or whatever, whoever attended the Stanford courses. But he saw the same thing in Japan and was lucky to, and I'm not sure if it was Ishikawa. I'm just not sure, but he was able to get someone to make the call after a few of the seminars for the engineers to make the call to the top management to attend the next batch. And he was able, he was able to do that. And that he thought was very helpful. I, I, gave them a leg up on whatever steps were next. I'm reminded of a quote from, I think it was Lao Tzu. And he said that someone asked him, "Well, you talk to the king, why or the emperor, why are things so screwed up?" And he said, "Well, I get to talk to him an hour a week and the rest of the time his ears are filled with a bunch of crap." Or whatever the Chinese equivalent of that is. And he said, "Of course the king isn't going to be able to act correctly." Yeah, there are a lot of things that impacted any company that he helped.   0:33:07.6 Andrew Stotz: It's interesting because I believe that, I think it was Kenichi Koyanagi.   0:33:15.8 William Scherkenbach: Koyanagi, yes, it was.   0:33:17.8 Andrew Stotz: And it was in 1950 and he had a series of lectures that he did a series of times. But it's interesting that, you know, that seemed like it should have catapulted him, but then to go to where you met him in 1972 and all that, he still hadn't really made his impact in America. And that's, to me, that's a little bit interesting.   0:33:44.4 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, and quite, my take, I mean, you could tell even in '72 and '3 in classes, he was very frustrated that he wasn't being listened to. I mean, he had, his business was expert testimony in statistical design of surveys. He did road truck, truck transport studies to be able to help the interstate commerce commission. And made periodic trips back to Japan, well known in Japan, but frustrated that no one really knew about him or wasn't listening to him in the US. And that was, I mean, for years, that was my, my aim. And that is to help him be known for turning America around, not just Japan. But it's usually difficult. I mean, we did a great job at Ford and GM and a bunch of companies, but it's all dissipated.   0:35:25.9 Andrew Stotz: It's interesting because it's not like he just went as a guest and gave a couple of guest lectures. He did about 35 lectures in 1950. About 28 or almost 30 of them were to engineers and technical staff. And then about seven of them were to top level executives. And, you know, one of the quotes he said at the time from those lectures was, "the problem is at the top, quality is made in the boardroom." So just going back, that's 1950, then you meet him in 1970, then in '72, then you start to build this relationship. You've talked about Booz Allen Hamilton. Tell us more about how it progressed into working more with him, in particular Ford and that thing that started in, let's say, 1981 with Ford.   0:36:22.0 William Scherkenbach: Well, again, he was very enthusiastic about Ford because Peterson was very receptive to this, his approach. And again, it's, I think the British philosopher Johnson said, "there's nothing like the prospect of being hung in the morning to heighten a man's senses." So he, Ford had lost a couple billion bucks. They hadn't cashed in like Chrysler. GM lost a bunch too, but that, and Japan had lost a war. So does it take a significant emotional, logical, or physical event? For some folks it does. So he was very encouraged about what he was seeing at Ford. And he had recommended that Ford hire someone to be there full time to coordinate, manage, if you will. And I was one of the people he recommended and I was the one that Ford hired. So I came in as Director of Statistical Methods and Process Improvement. And they set it up outside, as Deming said, they set it up outside the quality. Larry Moore was the Director of Quality and I was Director of Statistical Methods. And that's the way it was set up.   0:38:08.0 Andrew Stotz: Were you surprised when you received that call? How did you feel when you got that call to say, "Why don't you go over there and do this job at Ford?"   0:38:18.6 William Scherkenbach: Oh, extremely, extremely happy. Yeah. Yeah.   0:38:23.1 Andrew Stotz: And so did you, did you move to Michigan or what did you do?   0:38:27.7 Andrew Stotz: I'm sorry?   0:38:29.4 Andrew Stotz: Did you move or what happened next as you took that job?   0:38:32.0 William Scherkenbach: Oh yeah, we were living in Columbia. We moved the family to the Detroit area and ended up getting a house in Northville, which is a Northwest suburb of Detroit.   0:38:49.9 Andrew Stotz: And how long were you at Ford?   0:38:53.8 William Scherkenbach: About five and a half years. And I left Ford because Deming thought that GM needed my help. Things were going well. I mean, had a great, great bunch of associates, Pete Chessa, Ed Baker, Narendra Sheth, and a bunch of, a bunch of other folks. Ed Baker took the directorship when I left. That was my, well, I recommended a number of them, but yeah, he followed on. Deming thought that there was a good organization set up. And me being a glutton for punishment went to, well, not really. A bunch of great, great people in GM, but it's, they were, each of the general managers managed a billion dollar business and a lot of, difficult to get the silos to communicate. And it really, there was not much cooperation, a lot of backstabbing.   0:40:25.0 Andrew Stotz: And how did Dr. Deming take this project on? And what was the relationship between him and, you know, let's say Donald Peterson, who was the running the company and all the people that he had involved, like yourself, and you mentioned about Ed Baker and other people, I guess, Sandy Munro and others that were there. And just curious, and Larry Moore, how did he approach that? That's a huge organization and he's coming in right at the top. What was his approach to handling that?   0:41:02.1 S2  Well, my approach was based on his recommendation that the Director of Statistical Methods should report directly to the president or the chairman, the president typically. And so based on that, I figured that what I would, how we would organize the office, my associates would each be assigned to a key vice president to be their alter ego. So we did it in a, on a divisional level. And that worked, I think, very well. The difficulty was trying to match personalities and expertise to the particular vice president. Ed Baker had very good relations with the Latin American organization, and, and he and Harry Hannett, Harold Hannett helped a lot in developing administrative applications as well. And so we sort of came up with a matrix of organization and discipline. We needed someone for finance and engineering and manufacturing, supply chain, and was able to matrix the office associates in to be able to be on site with those people to get stuff, to get stuff done.   0:43:09.5 Andrew Stotz: And what was your message at that time, and what was Dr. Deming's message? Because as we know, his message has come together very strongly after that. But at that point, it's not like he had the 14 Points that he could give them Out of the Crisis or you could give them your books that you had done. So what was like the guiding philosophy or the main things that you guys were trying to get across?   0:43:35.9 William Scherkenbach: Well, I mean, he had given in, I think, Quality, Productivity, Competitive Position back in the late '70s, and he was doing it through George Washington University, even though Myron Tribus at MIT published it. But it was a series of lectures, and he didn't really, even in the later 70s, didn't have the, the, the 14 Points. And so those came a couple years later, his thinking through, and Profound Knowledge didn't come until much later over a number of discussions of folks. But the, I mean, the key, I mean, my opinion of why it all dropped out is we dropped the ball in not working with the board. And at Ford, we didn't, weren't able to influence the Ford family. And so Peterson retires and Red Poling, a finance guy, steps in and, and everything slowly disintegrates. At least not disintegrates, well, yes. I mean, what was important under Peterson was different. But that happens in any company. A new CEO comes on board or is elected, and they've got their priorities based, as Deming would say, on their evaluation system. What's their, how are they compensated?   0:45:46.8 William Scherkenbach: And so we just didn't spend the time there nor at GM with how do you elect or select your next CEO? And so smaller companies have a better, I would think, well, I don't know. I would imagine smaller companies have a better time of that, especially closely held and family held companies. You could, if you can reach the family, you should be able to get some continuity there.   0:46:23.5 Andrew Stotz: So Donald Peterson stepped down early 1995. And when did you guys make or when did you make your transition from Ford to GM?   0:46:38.5 William Scherkenbach: '88.   0:46:39.6 Andrew Stotz: Okay, so you continued at Ford.   0:46:42.1 William Scherkenbach: The end of '88, yeah, and I left GM in '93, the year Dr. Deming died later. But I had left in, in, well, in order to help him better.   0:47:07.8 Andrew Stotz: And let's now talk about the transition over to General Motors that you made. And where did that come from? Was it Dr. Deming that was recommending it or someone from General Motors? Or what...   0:47:21.4 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, Deming spoke with them and spoke with me. And I was a willing worker to be able to go where he thought I could be most helpful.   0:47:41.9 Andrew Stotz: And was he exasperated or frustrated that for the changes that happened in '95 when Peterson stepped down, he started to see the writing on the wall? Or was he still hopeful?   0:47:55.4 William Scherkenbach: No, Deming died in '93, so he didn't see any of that.   0:47:58.9 Andrew Stotz: No, no, what I mean is when Peterson stepped down, it was about '85. And then you remain at Ford until '88.   0:48:08.0 William Scherkenbach: No, Peterson didn't step down in '85. I mean, he was still there when I left.   0:48:14.0 Andrew Stotz: So he was still chairman at the time.   0:48:17.3 William Scherkenbach: Yeah.   0:48:17.6 Andrew Stotz: Maybe I'm meaning he stepped down from president. So my mistake on that.   0:48:20.3 William Scherkenbach: Oh, but he was there.   0:48:24.3 Andrew Stotz: So when did it start...   0:48:25.9 William Scherkenbach: True. I mean, true, he was still there when Deming had died.   0:48:31.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, okay. So did the whole team leave Ford and go to GM or was it just you that went?   0:48:39.1 William Scherkenbach: Oh, just me. Just me.   0:48:42.8 Andrew Stotz: Okay. And then.   0:48:44.0 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, because we had set up something that Deming was very pleased with. And so they were, everyone was working together and helping one another.   0:48:59.5 Andrew Stotz: Okay. So then you went to General Motors. What did you do different? What was different in your role? What did you learn from Ford that you now brought to GM? What went right? What went wrong? What was your experience with GM at that time?   0:49:16.5 William Scherkenbach: Well, I've got a, let's see. Remember Bill Hoagland was the person, Hoagland managed Pontiac when Deming helped Pontiac and Ron Moen was involved in the Pontiac. But Bill Hoagland was in one of the reorganizations at GM was head of, he was group, group vice president for Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac. And so I went over and directly reported to him and each of the, I mean, Wendy Coles was in, Gypsy Rainey, although Gypsy was temporary, worked for powertrain and Pontiac and still, but powertrain was where a lot of the expertise was and emphasis was, and then Buick and Cadillac and so, and Oldsmobile. So we, and in addition to that, General Motors had a corporate-wide effort in cooperation with the UAW called the Quality Network. And I was appointed a member of that, of that and, and helped them a lot and as well as the corporate quality office, but focused on Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac.   0:51:18.6 Andrew Stotz: And then tell us about what was your next step in your own personal journey? And then let's now get into how you got more involved with Deming and his teachings and the like.   0:51:32.8 William Scherkenbach: Well, I mean, he would be at GM two and three days a month, and then every quarter he'd be here for, just like Ford, for a four-day seminar. And while at Ford and at GM, I took uh vacation to help him as he gave seminars and met people throughout the world. Even when he was probably 84, 85, I can remember, well, one of the, he always, not always, but he would schedule seminars in England over the Fourth of July because the English don't celebrate that, although he said perhaps they should, but right after the Ascot races. And so he would do four-day seminars. And on one case, we had one series of weeks, the week before Fourth of July, we did a four-day seminar in the US and then went to London to do another four-day seminar. And he went to South Africa for the next four-day seminar with Heero Hacquebord. I didn't go, but I went down to Brazil and I was dragging with that, with that schedule. So he was able to relish and enjoy the helping others. I mean, enjoy triggers a memory. We were at helping powertrain and Gypsy was there, Dr. Gypsy Rainey.    0:53:59.2 William Scherkenbach: And she, we were talking and goofing around and he started being cross at us. And Gypsy said, "Well, aren't we supposed to be having fun?" And Deming said, "I'm having fun." "You guys straighten out." Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, yeah.   0:54:40.6 Andrew Stotz: And for the typical person to imagine a man at the age of 80, 85, traveling around the world. And it's not like you're traveling on vacation in London, you're walking into a room full of people, your energy is up, you're going and it's not like he's giving a keynote speech for an hour, give us a picture of his energy.   0:55:09.5 William Scherkenbach: And over in London, it was brutal because the hotel, I forget what hotel we're in. When he started there, I think it was Dr. Bernard that he wanted to help. And Bernard wasn't available. So he recommended Henry Neave. And so Henry was a good student, a quick learner. So he helped on a few of them. And I can still remember, I mean, the air, it was 4th of July in London and the humidity was there. There's no air conditioning in the hotel. I could remember Henry, please forgive me, but Henry is sitting in his doorway, sitting on a trash can, doing some notes in his skivvies. And it was hot and humid and awful. But so it reminded Deming a lot of the lectures in Japan in 1950, where he was sweating by 8 AM in the morning. So, yeah.   0:56:30.6 Andrew Stotz: What was it that kept him going? Why was he doing this?   0:56:39.5 William Scherkenbach: I think he, again, I don't know. I never asked him that. He was very, to me, he was on a mission. He wanted to be able to help people live better, okay, and take joy in what they do. And so he was, and I think that was the driving thing. And as long as he had the stamina, he was, he was in, in, in heaven.   0:57:21.1 Andrew Stotz: So let's keep progressing now, and let's move forward towards the latter part of Dr. Deming's life, where we're talking about 1990, 1988, 1990, 1992. What changed in your relationship and your involvement with what he was doing, and what changes did you see in the way he was talking about? You had observed him back in 1972, so here he is in 1990, a very, very different man in some ways, but very similar. How did you observe that?   0:57:56.6 William Scherkenbach: Well, toward the end, it was, I mean, it was, it was not, not pleasant to see him up there with oxygen up his nose, and it just, there had to have been a better way. But Nancy Mann was running those seminars, and they did their best to make life comfortable, but there had to have been a better way to, but I don't know what it was. He obviously wanted to continue to do it, and he had help doing it, but I don't know how effective the last year of seminars were.   0:59:01.1 Andrew Stotz: Well, I mean, I would say in some ways they were very effective, because I attended in 1990 and 1992, and I even took a picture, and I had a picture, and in the background of the picture of him is a nurse, and for me, I just was blown away and knocked out. And I think that one of the things for the listeners and the viewers is to ask yourself, we're all busy doing our work, and we're doing a lot of activities, and we're accomplishing things, but for what purpose, for what mission? And I think that that's what I gained from him is that because he had a mission to help, as you said, make the world a better place, make people have a better life in their job, and help people wake up, that mission really drove him.   0:59:57.8 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, and it, it really did. But for me personally, it was just not pleasant to see him suffering.    1:00:09.6 Andrew Stotz: And was he in pain? Was he just exhausted? What was it like behind the scenes when he'd come off stage and take a break?   1:00:18.7 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, yeah.   1:00:20.8 Andrew Stotz: And would he take naps or?   1:00:23.2 William Scherkenbach: In the early days, we'd go to, well, at Ford and GM, we would go out to dinner just about every night and talk and enjoy the conversation. We'd, my wife Mary Ellen, went many, many times. He enjoyed Northville, some of the restaurants there, and enjoyed the Deming martinis after the meetings at the Cosmos Club. So very, very much he enjoyed that, that time off the podium. So, but he couldn't do that in the, in the later years.   1:01:28.7 Andrew Stotz: And let's now try to understand the progression as you progress away from General Motors and did other things. How did your career progress in those years until when you retired or to where you are now? Maybe give us a picture of that.   1:01:51.4 William Scherkenbach: I tried to help. I've developed my view on how to operationalize change, worked for, was vice president of a company in Taiwan, spent a couple of, and before that had helped Dell, and would spend probably ending up a couple of years in PRC and Taiwan, and growing and learning to learn, in my opinion, there's too much generalization of, well, Asians or Chinese or whatever. There are many, many subgroups, and so change has to be bespoke. What will work for one person won't work for another. For instance, trying to talk to a number of Chinese executives saying, drive out fear, and they will, oh, there's no fear here. It's respect. And so, yeah. But that was their sincere belief that what they were doing wasn't instilling fear. But it broadened my perspective on what to do. And then probably 10 years ago, my wife started to come down with Alzheimer's, and while we lived in Austin, Texas, and that I've spent, she died three years ago, but that was pretty much all-consuming. That's where I focused. And now it's been three years. I'm looking, and I'm a year younger than Deming when he started, although he was 79 when he was interviewed for the 1980 White Paper.   1:04:36.3 William Scherkenbach: So I'm in my 80th year. So, and I'm feeling good, and I also would like to help people.   1:04:46.6 Andrew Stotz: And I've noticed on your LinkedIn, you've started bringing out interesting papers and transcripts and so many different things that you've been coming out. What is your goal? What is your mission?   1:05:02.3 William Scherkenbach: Well, I also would like to take the next step and contribute to help the improvement, not just the US, but any organization that shows they're serious for wanting to, wanting to improve. On the hope, and again, it's hope, as Deming said, that to be able to light a few bonfires that would turn into prairie fires that might consume more and more companies. And so you've got to light the match somewhere. And I just don't know. Again, I've been out of it for a number of years, but I just don't know. I know there is no big company besides, well, but even Toyota. I can remember Deming and I were in California and had dinner. Toyoda-san and his wife invited Deming and me to a dinner. And just, I was blown away with what he understood responsibilities were. I don't know, although I do have a Toyota Prius plug-in, which is perfect because I'm getting 99 miles a gallon because during my, doing shopping and whatever here in Pensacola, I never use gas. It goes 50 miles without needing to plug in.   1:07:00.6 William Scherkenbach: And so I do my stuff. But when I drive to Texas or Michigan, Michigan mostly to see the family, it's there. But all over, it's a wonderful vehicle. So maybe they're the only company in the world that, but I don't know. I haven't sat down with their executive.   1:07:26.4 Andrew Stotz: And behind me, I have two of your books, and I just want to talk briefly about them and give some advice for people. The first one is The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity: Roadmaps and Roadblocks, and the second one is Deming's Road to Continual Improvement. Maybe you could just give some context of someone who's not read these books and they're new to the philosophy and all that. How do these books, how can they help them?   1:07:58.8 William Scherkenbach: Well, the first book, Deming asked me to write in, I think it was '84. And I don't remember the first edition, but it might be '85, we got it out. But he asked me to write it, and because he thought I would, I could reach a different audience, and he liked it so much, they handed it out in a number of his seminars for a number of years. So.   1:08:40.7 Andrew Stotz: And there's my original version of it. I'm holding up my...    1:08:47.0 William Scherkenbach: Yeah, that's a later version.   1:08:49.7 Andrew Stotz: And it says the first printing was '86, I think it said, and then I got a 1991 version, which maybe I got it at one of the, I'm sure I got it at one of the seminars, and I've had it, and I've got marks on it and all that. And Deming on the back of it said, "this book will supplement and enhance my own works in teaching. Mr. Scherkenbach's masterful understanding of a system, of a process, of a stable system, and of an unstable system are obvious and effective in his work as well as in his teaching." And I know that on Deming's Road to Continual Improvement, you do a good amount of discussion at the beginning about the difference between a process and a system to try to help people understand those types of things. How should a reader, where should they start?   1:09:42.8 William Scherkenbach: Well, not with chapter six, as in CI Lewis, but well, I don't know what... I don't remember what chapter six is. As I said, the first book, and a lot of people after that did it, is essentially not regurgitating, but saying in a little bit different words about Deming's 14 Points. What I did on the first book is arrange them in the order that I think, and groupings that I think the 14 Points could be understood better. The second book was, the first half was reviewing the Deming philosophy, and the second half is how you would go about and get it done. And that's where the physiological, emotional, and all of my studies on operationalizing anything.   1:10:55.4 Andrew Stotz: And in chapter three on page 98, you talk about physical barriers, and you talk about physical, logical, emotional. You mentioned a little bit of that when you talked about the different gurus out there in quality, but this was a good quote. It says, Dr. Deming writes about the golfer who cannot improve his game because he's already in the state of statistical control. He points out that you have only one chance to train a person. Someone whose skill level is in statistical control will find great difficulty improving his skills.   1:11:32.1 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, well, you're old enough to know the Fosbury Flop. I mean, for all high jumpers did the straddle in jumping and made some great records, but many of them had difficulty converting their straddle to the Fosbury Flop to go over backwards head first. And that's what got you better performance. So anything, whether it's golf or any skill, if you've got to change somehow, you've got to be able to change the system, which is whether you're in production or whether it's a skill. If you're in control, that's your opportunity to impact the system to get better.   1:12:40.3 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, and this was Dick Fosbury in 1968, Mexico City Olympics, where he basically went in and blew everybody away by going in and flipping over backwards when everybody else was straddling or scissors or something like that. And this is a great story.   1:12:57.0 William Scherkenbach: You can't do that.   [laughter]   1:12:58.8 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, and it's a great story of something on the outside. An outsider came in and changed the system rather than an existing person within it. And that made me think about when you talked about Ford and having an outsider helping in the different departments. You know, what extent does that reflect the way that we learn? You know, can we learn internally, or do we need outside advice and influence to make the big changes?   1:13:29.7 William Scherkenbach: Yeah. I mean, we had a swim coach, Higgins, at the Naval Academy, and he was known for, again, following in Olympic swimming. And I'm probably going to get the strokes wrong, but there was no such thing as a butterfly stroke. And he used it in swimming the breaststroke, and supposedly the only criteria was recovery had to be underwater with two hands. But I'm screwing up the story, I'm sure, but Higgins rewrote, rewrote the book by doing something a little bit different or drastically different.   1:14:25.4 Andrew Stotz: I'd like to wrap up this fascinating discovery, or journey of discovery of you and your relationship also with Dr. Deming. Let's wrap it up by talking about kind of your final memories of the last days of Dr. Deming and how you kind of put that all in context for your own life. And having this man come in your life and bring you into your life, I'm curious, towards the end of his life, how did you process his passing as well as his contribution to your life?   1:15:08.1 William Scherkenbach: That's, that's difficult and personal. I, he was a great mentor, a great friend, a great teacher, a great person, and with, on a mission with a name and impacted me. I was very, very lucky to be able to, when I look back on it, to recognize, to sign up for his courses, and then the next thing was writing that letter to the editor and fostering that relationship. Very, very, very difficult. But, I mean, he outlived a bunch of folks that he was greatly influenced by, and the mission continues.   1:16:34.1 Andrew Stotz: And if Dr. Deming was looking down from heaven and he saw that you're kind of reentering the fray after, you know, your struggles as you've described with your wife and the loss of your wife, what would he say to you now? What would he say as your teacher over all those years?   1:16:56.3 William Scherkenbach: Do your best.   1:16:59.0 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, wonderful.   1:17:01.4 William Scherkenbach: He knows, but he knows I know what to do. So, you need to know what to do and then to do the best. But I was, I mean, he was very, he received, and I forget the year, but he was at Ford and he got a call from Cel that his wife was not doing well. And so we, I immediately canceled everything and got him to the airport and he got to spend that last night with his wife. And he was very, very appreciative. So I'm sure he was helping, helping me deal with my wife.   1:17:56.4 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Well, Bill, on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute and myself personally, I want to thank you for this discussion and opening up you know, your journey with Dr. Deming. I feel like I understand Dr. Deming more, but I also understand you more. And I really appreciate that. And for the listeners out there, remember to go to Deming.org to continue your journey. And also let me give you, the listeners and viewers, the resources. First, we have Bill's book, which you can get online, The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity. We have Deming's Road to Continual Improvement, which Bill wrote. But I think even more importantly is go to his LinkedIn. He's on LinkedIn as William Scherkenbach and his tagline is helping individuals and organizations learn, have fun, and make a difference. So if you want to learn, have fun, and make a difference, send him a message. And I think you'll find that it's incredibly engaging. Are there any final words that you want to share with the listeners and the viewers?   1:19:08.9 William Scherkenbach: I appreciate your questions. In thinking about this interview, we barely scratched the surface. There are a ton of other stories, but we can save that for another time.   1:19:26.1 Andrew Stotz: Something tells me we're going to have some fun and continue to have fun in these discussions. So I really appreciate it and it's great to get to know you. Ladies and gentlemen.   1:19:36.7 William Scherkenbach: Thank you, Andrew.   1:19:37.7 Andrew Stotz: You're welcome. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, and that is that "people are entitled to joy in work."    

This week, Drewby and Yergy head down to Deming, New Mexico, to discuss a shocking case that not many people have heard about. On a sprawling desert property that looked more like a landfill than a home, parents Melvin and Valerie Cordell ran a CSAM ring, performed forced abortions, and made their 7 children live in hand dug mud caves that were found scattered about the land.  Support Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Materials: https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-couple-child-abuse-tunnels/64676175 https://www.koat.com/article/child-abuse-case-tunnels-deming-new-mexico/64693545?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.latintimes.com/new-mexico-parents-forced-8-children-live-underground-cave-while-enduring-years-sexual-abuse-582196?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/deming-mother-accused-of-abusing-kids-making-them-live-in-underground-caves-enters-plea/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14673211/amp/pedophile-cave-compound-daughter-acts-siblings-valerie-melvin-cordell.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/underground-caves-alleged-incestuous-abuse-152937607.html https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/report-deming-couple-arrested-for-allegedly-staving-sexually-abusing-their-8-children https://www.yahoo.com/news/deming-couple-accused-sexually-abusing-035900287.html https://6thda.com/news-article/melvin-cordell-held-without-bond-on-24-counts-of-sexual-assault-child-abuse-other-charges/ https://www.facebook.com/61573951016685/posts/for-immediate-releasemelvin-cordell-held-without-bond-on-24-counts-of-sexual-ass/122101091330798367/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGbtg71r5ho&pp=0gcJCfwAo7VqN5tD https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/underground-caves-mom-kids-new-mexico/amp/ https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-deming-nm/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deming,_New_Mexico https://www.reddit.com/r/NewMexico/comments/1ggue4a/local_input_of_deming_nm_needed/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Parker_Ray https://www.nmyca.net/ https://www.childhelphotline.org/

Dan Deming reviews moves in the commodities and bonds markets, particularly after the back-and-forth news around Trump and Fed Chair Powell. “Yields are reacting really more to the data now,” Dan says. “It looks like the economy is moving forward.” He doesn't think the market would react well to Powell being fired in the short or longer term. He also covers gold and crude oil, saying to keep an eye on the Baker-Hughes rig count this week for the latter.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

What drives a respected oncologist to step away from a prestigious career for the healing potential of plant medicine?Dr. Jason Konner, medical oncologist and full professor at one of America's leading cancer hospitals, sits down with Dr. Katie Deming to reveal his transformation from skeptical scientist to advocate for consciousness-based healing. After two decades in academic medicine, a transformative experience with plant medicine radically shifted how he understands consciousness, mortality, and what it means to truly care for cancer patients.Chapters:00:07:00 – First Plant Medicine Experience00:12:00 – Healing Fear of Death00:14:40 – A Third Way to Be Present00:21:25 – Awakening to a Bigger MissionIn this deeply personal conversation, Dr. Konner opens up about the emotional toll of oncology, the blind spots of conventional care, and the spiritual awakening that led him to leave one of the most prestigious cancer centers in the world. Together, he and Dr. Deming, who left her own career in radiation oncology, explore what happens when doctors follow their inner calling, even when it means stepping away from career stability.This is for healthcare professionals feeling burnout, cancer patients and families seeking whole-person healing, and anyone curious about how spiritual experiences can reshape our relationship with suffering, death, and true wellness. Listen as Dr. Konner shares his vision for PsychedelicOncology.com, an emerging platform bridging psychedelic medicine and cancer care through education and integration supportSave your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatie Don't Face Cancer Alone"The 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer" workshop series provides you valuable insights and strategies to support your healing journey - Click Here to Enroll MORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Save your spot for the next LIVE fasting call here: https://www.katiedeming.com/the-healing-power-of-fasting/ Work with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comEmail: INFO@KATIEDEMING.COM 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to Enroll Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider.

What if you could tackle a persistent problem without guesswork? In Part 10 of the Path to Improvement series, John Dues and Andrew Stotz discuss how John's team uses Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to calm a chaotic process with precision. Discover how to shift from blame to solutions by leveraging data and Deming thinking. You'll also find out where the team stands on their path to reducing chronic absenteeism in their schools. Listen now! #EducationLeadership #ContinuousImprovement #SystemsThinking #DemingInEducation   TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.2 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz, and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today I'm continuing my discussion with John Dues, who is part of the new generation of educators striving to apply Dr. Deming's principles to unleash student joy in learning. The topic for today is mapping the process, part two. John, take it away.   0:00:23.5 John Dues: Hey, Andrew. It's good to be back. Yeah, we've now been talking about our efforts to improve chronic absenteeism for several episodes. And we've talked about two Plan-Do-Study-Act or PDSA cycles focused on where we were working with specific students and their families regarding obstacles to getting to school. And then we shifted gears, and we started running this PDSA cycle three that we talked about last time. And just as a refresher for listeners, the objective of PDSA three is to create a process map, basically. And the goal for the process map is to standardize our attendance intervention system. And I think one of the things that comes to mind when you sort of work on process maps or on important processes is this quote from Dr. Deming. He said, If you can't describe what you're doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing, which is pretty convicting when you really think about it. I think a lot of people initially will say, No, no, no, I know exactly what our process is. And then you say, Well, write it down, map it. And then it becomes much more apparent that most people most of the time have a very rough version in their head that they can't translate into an actual written process.   0:01:44.8 Andrew Stotz: And I'm curious why that is, because on the one hand, when I've done mapping a process, you end up with, Okay, but then there's this exception, and then there's this. And oh, yeah, but don't forget that. So there's like all these intricacies. That's one reason. And then there's another reason is why is that someone's tunnel vision on I know the process because I know the three parts of the process that I'm working with. Why do you think it's hard for people to understand the whole process?   0:02:11.9 John Dues: Well, I think that first reason is probably the biggest reason where there's when they actually start mapping it, there's all these things that they initially left out. And I think as soon as an organization gets to a certain number of employees and has a certain amount of complexity, or you have to add a person that's now going to do part of what you previously did because your role changed or something shifted, needs change, or whatever in the environment. And you have to bring them in. You realize pretty quickly that you can't rely on that stuff that lived in your head anymore. So I think it's a combination of all those things for why this becomes so important. And the other reason I mean, the reason you want to do this is so that there's a starting place, a standard place where people are working from so that whatever it is that the focus is that it can be improved. It's hard to do that when there's no set process to start with.   0:03:08.5 John Dues: Let me. I'll share my screen and just kind of as a refresher, take a look at some of that data that we've talked about so far on this chronic absenteeism front. So, you'll remember that we have this long range goal to improve chronic absenteeism. We've kind of talked about where we are now, where we want to be. So where we are now is in that sort of 40 to 50 % range in terms of chronic absenteeism. We want to be down in under 5%. We have eight years of data going back to the 16-17 school year. And the other thing we've talked about on the data front is that really we have this pre-pandemic world and this post-pandemic world when it comes to chronic absenteeism. For anybody that's watching, you can clearly see this on the process behavior chart or control chart that's on the screen where prior to COVID, we're sort of humming along around 25% chronic absenteeism, which is still high. But now, since COVID, we've since the pandemic, we've skyrocketed. So there's this clear, sort of, new reality, new system for schools like ours that...   0:04:23.7 Andrew Stotz: And can you, just for someone that may be just popping in and hearing this, can you just describe what is chronic absenteeism rate?   0:04:31.9 John Dues: Yes, chronic absenteeism is a standard federally defined level of absenteeism where kids are called chronically absent once they've missed 10% or more of the school year. So the percent of kids that are chronically absent is what's being displayed.   0:04:50.5 Andrew Stotz: So if a school has 100 kids, this chart is saying that 50% of them are chronically absent?   0:04:58.9 John Dues: Yes. Yep.   0:05:00.5 Andrew Stotz: Okay. Yep.   0:05:01.1 John Dues: And that's not since the pandemic happened. That's not atypical, especially for schools that serve a high population of students that are economically disadvantaged, basically, unfortunately. So that's the goal, sort of cut it by a significant amount, 40 to 50% down to less than 5%. So that's the goal. And we've looked at the... Last time we looked at sort of the processes that are currently in place. So just as a quick refresher, United Schools, where I work, is a small urban public charter school system. We have four campuses, and there's people from each of the campuses on this attendance improvement team. And what we've been doing lately is sort of mapping out the process that each campus is using. Each campus has their own little process for intervening with kids that are chronically absent. They have different people that are doing different parts of that process. And so we started with just saying, what is it that your process looks like?   0:06:09.3 John Dues: And we looked at a couple of those maps. So this first map is from one of the campuses. It's pretty simple. There's just one or two people involved. The way they represented it initially is just maybe 10 or 15 steps that they're going through to sort of identify who's having attendance issues, sending letters to families, contacting families, that type of thing. But you can see, initially, at least as they mapped it, it's a pretty simple process. And then when we looked at one of our other campuses and they mapped theirs out, it was a slightly more in-depth process. There's sort of more detail. There are more people involved in the process. I'd say there's probably a little more sophistication to sort of when and how they were intervening with parents. And a lot of the intervening is just sort of the compliance requirements. When a kid reaches a certain number of missed hours, we're required to send them a letter to their parents, for example. So a lot of the process currently focuses on sort of the legal requirements when it comes to absenteeism in Ohio's law. But these are two campuses that are about three miles apart, and you can see, even though they're following the same legal sort of requirements from the state, they have very different processes for how that work is being done.   0:07:38.9 Andrew Stotz: Or could you also say that this particular campus, the people involved may have a much deeper understanding of it or a desire to map it out with more detail? Or do you think it's significantly different?   0:07:52.3 John Dues: I think that this second one that looks like it has more steps, I think they have a person that's more of their sort of 1.0 FTEs, like more of their 1.0 FTE is focused on just attendance, whereas it's sort of like a divided responsibility.   0:08:09.7 Andrew Stotz: Wait, what's a 1.0 FTE?   0:08:12.1 John Dues: Like one full-time equivalent person. So a big part of the person's job is this attendance process. So they know this process pretty deeply. So they were able to map it in more detail, basically. So that was interesting. So part of this PDSA cycle three was, so the plan was really had sort of two steps. One, create a standardized process map for the system as a whole that everybody's going to work from. And then, once that's drafted, gather some feedback, both quantitative and qualitative feedback from our network leadership team. So that was the Plan. The Do was just make the map and then gather the input. So that's what's been happening of late with this team. But we can see pretty quickly what they did. And it certainly does help to have an improvement advisor, someone with a deep knowledge of the Deming philosophy and mapping processes, because he's the one at the meetings. He's the one sort of taking everything that the team is telling him, the process maps that the campus teams have done. And then he's putting it all together based at their input. And their input is certainly super important, but he's also very talented at building processes that are coherent and can be understood by many across our system.   0:09:40.3 John Dues: And so what he ended up doing using their input is he's now got a process map that includes not just the nuts and bolts like, okay, the kid has an attendance problem, and we have to send letters and do things like that. He's going back and created a process map that includes four different stages. So this first stage that if you're viewing this part of the process map is just for onboarding, which was completely missing from all of the campus maps. It wasn't on the... So the idea here is the very first thing, the beginning of this process is a new student enrolls. And as soon as they enroll, a family enrolls, there's going to be a number of things that happen, mostly on the educational side, like what is good attendance? So right from the get-go, one of the things they're going to do is they have this welcome folder that a family gets when they come for their tour or their orientation. And right in that welcome folder is going to be our attendance framework that defines what good attendance is and when, where it really starts to become an issue and impacts a kid's education. So this whole first process map, this whole first stage is about onboarding and educating the family and the student about what good attendance is, which was, again, completely missing from the process before.   0:11:10.2 John Dues: The second stage is attendance monitoring. So, the kid's been onboarded, school has started, and now there's a process to monitor every student's attendance, whether they have a problem or not. And this monitoring system is going to be standardized so that different notifications are being sent home to families, different sort of letters, letting them know when things are becoming a problem. So again, this whole process is about monitoring attendance after providing some of that education. And then, if through that monitoring, it becomes apparent that the student needs additional intervention, the next stage is sort of that attendance intervention plan. So this is where the full map before for each campus just focused on this part. And this is obviously, if you look at this compared to the campus maps, this is much more in detail about what's happening. I'd say, the other thing that's happening here is there's problem-solving with the family. So instead of just saying, warning, your kid has gotten to this number of missed hours, and you send that home in a letter, once that happens, you can see that there's actually Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles being run with the family and the student that are off track from attendance perspective and some individual problem solving is happening.   0:12:52.3 John Dues: See, we run three PDSA cycles to try to get them back on track. So that's a brand new component to this attendance system. And then from there, for some kids, if we get them back on track, then we don't have to take any further action. But for other students, there are some, again, some legal requirements. And so the last stage of that process is if we do have to file official truancy charges, sort of like what, or let the state know that the student is now truant, there's some steps that we take to make that filing. But that's far after many, many steps have been taken to educate, to run PDSA cycles with individual kids that are off track, to try to get the family and sort of the knowledge they need to understand, like how to keep their student on track when they're in school. So, there's a good chance that this will change pretty quickly, this process map, it's a good one, I think, having gone through it, it's a solid process, but it'll, as soon as it like gets battle tested, there's going to be updates. Now, that's not say you're going to change things willy nilly, but what you are going to do is you're going to learn what's working, what's not, you sort of have this hypothesis, but at least now, since everybody's working from the standard process, we can make improvements that then can go out to the entire system.   0:14:32.9 Andrew Stotz: Great. I'm curious, what is the definition of truancy these days? When I was in school, there was trouble in River City and it was trouble with a capital T and that rhyme with P and that stands for pool. So you had the trouble of all the kids hanging out at the pool place, but I'm just curious what's going on. What is the definition of truancy these days?   0:15:01.3 John Dues: Yeah, it's when they, I mean, students have to have missed a certain number of hours of instruction. And now instead of attendance being measured in days, there's basically a threshold that you hit in terms of numbers of hours missed that then you legally have to file truancy.   0:15:24.4 Andrew Stotz: But what does truancy mean?   0:15:27.3 John Dues: Truancy just means that you've missed a lot of school, basically.   0:15:31.1 Andrew Stotz: Okay.   0:15:31.4 John Dues: Yeah. Yeah. And in terms of reasons, when we did those first PDSAs, not all those kids were necessarily truant, but they all had serious absenteeism issues. I think what we talked about was that we found that there were many different issues that were sort of at the root of that, which is part of the challenge here is we have high numbers of chronic absenteeism and then lots of different reasons for that. And so how do you problem solve with all those different folks to help get them back on track? That's part of the challenge. For sure, part of the challenge. But so where the team is at now, so they've completed this third PDSA cycle. So the Do was to make the process map and then get the input from the leadership team. And now they're doing the Study and the Act. So the Study, one of the things I talked about was that the initial feedback from folks that aren't a part of the team was more education needed to happen during that onboarding process.   0:16:39.9 John Dues: So that was sort of like a blind spot before. Not that people didn't talk about it, but now it's systematized. Here's the piece of paper, the attendance framework you're going to give them. There's an orientation session on attendance. There's a session with students during their orientation about what's good attendance and how many days does that equate to in terms of missing school throughout the year, that types of things. Another big thing in the study was more personal touches throughout the process and not just sort of those notifications that I talked about, like the attendance warning letters. The group sort of talked about, while some of these letters are required, whether they're that effective or not is definitely in question.   0:17:25.1 John Dues: Another thing is we have a role at each campus that's called Dean of Family and Community Engagement. And so something like attendance is the responsibility of everybody in the school. But if there's a point person at each campus, it's that Dean of Family and Community Engagement. And so there's some worry about, like when I go back to this process, it's the Dean of Family and Community Engagement or DFCE, they're sort of the point person running these PDSAs and the PDSAs can be time intensive. So one of the concerns is, will they be able to sort of handle the workload that sort of comes with this new process? And I think that's definitely an open question, but at least it's on the radar. It's not like no one is saying, here's the process, go figure out how to make this work. That would be a bad way to do it. There's a recognition that we think we need to do some of this problem solving with individual cases, but there's also this recognition that there's going to be a time constraint for the DFCEs. And then another big X factor that was a part of this study write-up was transportation. Because we've talked about how bad transportation, yellow school buses have been in Columbus this year. We've had a lot of problems. And so what's that look like next year, and how does this factor in? When we did those interviews with students and families, it wasn't the primary reason for all families, but I think in about 50% of the families, transportation had some role in the attendance issues. So these are things that are on folks' minds as they're working through this.   0:19:06.5 Andrew Stotz: That's a lot of progress on this.   0:19:09.3 John Dues: Yeah, a lot of progress, I think. And you get questions like, is it worth all the time to do this? And it's like, is this improving anything? And if you're looking at the outcome, probably not yet. But now that there's this standardized process, I think we can actually make some inroads on this chronic absenteeism process. It would be very hard to do in the absence of this standardization that we're going through and this input from the group to put more sort of resources towards this to get some expertise in terms of putting together a process instead of leaving it up to individual people that maybe don't have this skill set.   0:19:53.9 Andrew Stotz: You also recently posted on your LinkedIn about the idea of a system and results. If you don't even understand the system, how are you going to get the results that you want from the system?   0:20:05.8 John Dues: Exactly. If you don't understand what's causing the problem, if you don't have a whole systems view, you could put a process in place that actually makes things worse, may make things better in one area, but make them worse in another area. So yeah, this is complicated stuff when you're trying to make change in a complex system like a school system.   0:20:25.7 Andrew Stotz: Interesting.   0:20:26.2 John Dues: Yeah, the last step is just the Act. So they're deciding what to do. Are they going to adopt this? Are they going to adapt it or abandon the idea? So I think we're not going to abandon it because obviously we're moving forward with this new process map. And it's, I would call this adapt though. So we're going to adapt this process map into the system, but very high likelihood that there are going to be many adjustments to it as it gets put into action. As I was just saying, it's not adopt because if it was adopt, this thing, this process map would be sort of run through a number of cycles where it had been tested, the kinks had been worked out, and it's sort of going to be, this is the way. So what we're doing now is adapt. So we're going to make some improvements based on this initial feedback we got from the leadership team. Now we'll make some additional adjustments, especially next school year because the school year is over during the initial implementation.   0:21:29.8 John Dues: And the other sort of part of the Act was if you read the steps in this process map from start to finish. There are a lot of artifacts that go along with this that don't exist. So for example, this attendance slide deck for new student orientation. That's a part of the process. We probably don't want to leave that up to each individual group to create on their own because what is the content of that? And so that has to be created. So there are a number of things like that, that the improvement advisor for the project is going to take on either creating himself or he's going to strongly support the creation. So those are also standardized across the network. So you see, it's a lot of work.   0:22:20.4 Andrew Stotz: Yeah.   0:22:22.2 John Dues: So that would be where we pick up with, once students come back in August, and that's kind of leaving things off at the end of this school year.   0:22:31.6 Andrew Stotz: That's great. I was mentioning about this little jingle that I was talking about, and it comes from a 1957 movie called The Music Man. And he says, his line is, there's trouble in River City, and it starts with T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for pool. And it's this guy, he's a con man, a hustler, who's gone to the citizens of a town in River City, Iowa, telling them that the corrupting influence is the pool table in the town that's going to keep the kids from going to school. And he wants to start like a marching band. But for those old-timers that seen that movie, they'll love that reference. And if you haven't seen it, go see The Music Man on... I don't know. It's hard to find things on Netflix these days like that, but maybe it's on YouTube.   0:23:27.9 John Dues: Very classic, just like that.   0:23:30.2 Andrew Stotz: But I remember listening to that when I was young, because my parents always had musicals. My sisters actually played musicals on the record player. So you always was hearing the songs of musicals.   0:23:43.8 John Dues: Well, it seems like the truancy thing is, that's not a new problem necessarily.   0:23:48.1 Andrew Stotz: Oh, yeah, that's for sure. That's for sure. Well, why don't we wrap it up there? And on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for this discussion. And for listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And you can find John's book, "Win-Win: W. Edwards Deming, the System of Profound Knowledge, and the Science of Improving Schools" on Amazon. This is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming. "People are entitled to joy in work."  

Why do some people find peace despite serious illness while others remain anxious even after successful treatment?In this milestone 100th episode of Born to Heal, Dr. Katie Deming shares a profound realization that emerged from her 20 years as a radiation oncologist and countless hours spent with patients facing the end of life. Through intimate stories from her early days volunteering at hospice to her recent practice as an integrative oncologist, she reveals why the most common regret among dying patients has absolutely nothing to do with their medical outcomes. This deeply personal exploration challenges the fundamental assumptions we hold about what it means to heal.Drawing from decades of clinical experience and her own transformative shared death experience, Dr. Deming offers a unique perspective that bridges conventional medicine with spiritual wisdom. As someone who has witnessed both the power and limitations of Western medicine from the inside, she brings credibility and compassion to complex questions about healing that most medical professionals never address. Her insights come not from theory, but from real conversations with real people facing their mortality.Listen to discover the essential elements of true healing that go far beyond physical recovery.Download Your Free Webinar & Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/Reserve Your Spot for the June PSYCH-K® Online Workshop: https://www.katiedeming.com/psych-k-june-2025 Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatieMORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Download Your Free Webinar & Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/ Work with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comEmail: INFO@KATIEDEMING.COM 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to Enroll Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider.

What happens when a top-tier radiation oncologist walks away from a thriving career to pursue a deeper truth in healing?In this powerful and profoundly moving conversation, Dr. Nasha Winters is joined by Dr. Katie Deming, a board-certified radiation oncologist, TEDx speaker, and founder of Make Mary, a line of healing garments for women with cancer. Together, they dive into the intersection of science, spirit, and systems—and the life-altering experiences that led Dr. Deming to redefine what it truly means to heal.Dr. Deming shares her transformational journey from conventional medicine into holistic healing after a shared-death experience cracked open her worldview. She reflects on the power of intuitive knowing, trauma's role in disease, and the importance of language in cancer care—including her deep discomfort with the word “survivor” and the problematic battle metaphors often used in oncology.This is a heartfelt, hopeful episode that reminds us healing is possible—not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.In This Episode, You'll Learn:How a shared-death experience inspired Dr. Deming to leave Western medicineWhy words like “survivor” can unintentionally harm patients—and what to say insteadThe profound role of emotional trauma and the nervous system in chronic diseaseHow German New Medicine and Psych-K inform her new model of careThe transformational potential of prolonged water fasting, not just physically but spirituallyStories of radical remission, intuitive awakenings, and redefining what “healthcare” can mean

What's up everyone and welcome to The Corporate Bartender!Oh. My. God. Today's TCB is EPIC! We're talking about Deming, we're talking about bourbon, we're talking about disruption. Everything from big ideas, to systems thinking. I mean, this episode is amazing ! (I know I say that a lot). We've got Doug Hall on the program. Don't know Doug? You need to. Stick around!He's the author of Proactive Problem Solving, the founder of Eureka! Ranch and Brain Brew Distillery. Doug is an innovation expert, and the author of seven other books. He started life as a chemical engineer, and is on the board of the Deming institute.This was a BANGER conversation, my favorite of 2025 so far, and I know you're gonna dig it!If you want to skip straight to the interview, 3:47 is your spot!TCB Layout:0:00 - Show Open & Intro0:58 - Titles1:26 - Kickoff 3:47 - Doug Hall Interview53:45 - Wrap & CloseWebsite: https://doughall.com/Join our community!https://the-corporate-bartender.mn.co/Theme Music by Hooksounds.comGood Feels Stories Copyright Paramount/CBS

We had a great, great time at the Deming Logging Show on Saturday! Lots of cool stuff to recap & people to thank!!

Macho Vs HoganRock Vs AustinCena Vs OrtonThere are some rivalries that stand the test of time. Tonight however, we determine if we have a rivalry on our hands, or if we have formed a brand new Mega Powers.You guys have seen Cephus Intercontinental Title tattoo? Well, we have the owner of the other viral championship tattoo, Mr Winged Eagle Himself, Justin Deming. Join us tonight as we chat tattoos, wrestling and life in general. Only on The Dad World Order Podcast!

This week we're excited to present a conversation with cinematographer Peter Deming, who recently joined us for two special screenings of David Lynch's Lost Highway, courtesy of Deming's personally owned 35mm film print. This conversation was moderated by FLC programmer Dan Sullivan. Most of Lynch's later films straddle (at least) two realities, and their most ominous moments arise from a dawning awareness that one world is about to yield to another. In Lost Highway we are introduced to brooding jazz saxophonist Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) while he lives in a simmering state of jealousy with his listless and possibly unfaithful wife Renee (Patricia Arquette). About one hour in, a rupture fundamentally alters the narrative logic of the film and the world itself becomes a nightmare embodiment of a consciousness out of control. Lost Highway marked a return from the wilderness for Lynch, and the arrival of his more radical expressionism—alternating omnipresent darkness with overexposed whiteouts, dead air with the belligerent soundtrack assault of industrial metal bands, and the tactile sensation that everything is really happening with the infinite delusions of schizophrenic thought. Lost Highway is a Janus Films release.

KGMI's Adam Smith talks to Bob Larsen about the 2025 Deming Logging Show.

KGMI's Adam Smith talks about the 2025 Deming Logging Show, Bellingham Vegan Restaurant Week, the Pride Paddle Out event in Bellingham, and Slumbering Sun performing at the Shakedown.

Deming Logging Show June by KGMI News/Talk 790

In this episode, we delve into the long and distinguished career of Deming Lindsley, a retired Lieutenant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Division of Law Enforcement. Known for his expertise in Fish and Wildlife Law, Lindsley served as a primary instructor at both the State College and the Division's Training Academy for decades. His engaging personality and sense of humor made him popular among both colleagues and students, and he continues to guest lecture today, leaving a lasting impact on countless officers – including our host!     Our Sponsors: Thin Green Line Podcast Don Noyes Chevrolet North American Game Warden Museum Hunt Regs SecureIt Gun Storage XS Sights “A Cowboy in the Woods” Book Maine's Operation Game Thief International Wildlife Crimestoppers   Here's what we discuss: ·       Taught Fish & Wildlife Law at state university and Law Enforcement training Academy. ·       Authored a charging reference guide for judges ·       No bail in New York ·       Patrolling with Dad ·       Growing up the game warden's kid ·       Assigned first patrol in 1972 ·       Promoted to Lieutenant in just four years ·       Teaching at Academy vs. College ·       The unintentional getaway driver ·       A news crew ride-along catches a poacher red-handed ·       “You don't need a license to jack deer.” ·       Attempted bribe doesn't go as planned ·       Little green lies ·       Even municipal employees can be tempted ·       “Don't go down to the cellar.” ·       Keeping up with changing Fish & Wildlife laws ·       People want to talk about animals and laws ·       More lightning strikes than black bear attacks. ·       “I never had to go to work.” ·       Spearheaded one of the first Critical Incident Response teams ·       Sent to NYC on 9/11 ·       Awards and plaques of thanks from all over ·       Tried to enforce the spirit of the law, rather than the letter of the law ·       Not all violators are criminals ·       Teaching generations of conservation law officers ·       A namesake K9 ·       “Do the job. You'll never regret it.”   Credits Hosts: Wayne Saunders and John Nores Producer: Jay Ammann Warden's Watch logo & Design: Ashley Hannett Research / Content Coordinator: Stacey DesRoches   Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Google Waypoint Stitcher TuneIn Megaphone Find More Here: Website Warden's Watch / TGL Store Facebook Facebook Fan Page Instagram Threads YouTube RSS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The blog postI'm honored to share that my workshop, "The Deming Red Bead Game & Process Behavior Charts: Practical Applications for Lean Management," has been accepted for the 41st Annual International AME Conference, taking place this October in St. Louis.The conference theme--Gateway to the Future: AI and Beyond--is both timely and forward-looking, and I'm grateful to contribute a workshop that brings us back to foundational thinking: systems, variation, and learning.While AI is the shiny new thing, timeless management principles still matter--perhaps now more than ever.

In this episode, Doug Hall, founder of Eureka Ranch and Brain Brew Distillery and a recognized innovation expert, discusses his book, "Proactive Problem Solving." He shares practical strategies for identifying and resolving challenges using systems thinking. Inspired by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Hall emphasizes engaged leadership and empowering those closest to the work. The conversation focuses on moving beyond simply fixing problems to proactively preventing them.

Download Your Free Webinar & Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/Could water fasting be the missing sacred ritual in your healing journey?Dr. Katie Deming welcomes anthropologist and Hydration Foundation founder Gina Bria, who reveals how water fasting serves as both a powerful healing tool and a sacred ritual.They explore water's three roles as physical material, cellular fuel, and information carrier. Showing how fasting creates space for deep transformation. You'll hear stories of people who experienced not just physical improvements but spiritual awakenings during their fasts.Chapters:03:45 – The Power of Ritual11:28 – Stripping Away Distractions15:26 – Identity Through Fasting20:33 – Fasting Through the Ages33:51 – Connection to AncestorsGina shares her anthropological research on fasting as a vision quest across cultures. Dr. Deming adds clinical insights from guiding patients through water fasts, describing the surprising shifts that happen when someone pauses their busy life to turn inward. Many focus solely on physical symptoms while missing emotional and spiritual aspects of wellness. Water fasting can help dissolve fear, connect you with inner wisdom, and reveal gifts you didn't know you had. Listen to discover why this ancient practice is resurfacing now and how it might help you connect with both your ancestral wisdom and future self.  Connect with guest, Gina Bria: https://hydrationfoundation.org/Send us a text with your question (include your phone number) Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatieMORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Download Your Free Webinar & Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to EnrollWork with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comFollow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Take a Deeper Dive into Your Healing Journey: Dr. Katie Deming's Linkedin Here Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER:The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose...

In this enlightening episode of The Lisa Fischer Said Podcast, Lisa welcomes radiation oncologist and energy medicine practitioner Dr. Katie Deming. Together, they explore how Western medicine and holistic practices can coexist to support true healing. Dr. Deming shares her personal journey from science-based skepticism to embracing intuition, energy healing, and even spiritual communication in her medical practice. From cancer treatment to energetic alignment, this conversation offers a fresh and compassionate perspective on what it means to heal—body, mind, and soul.  

BONUS: From Waterfall to Flow—Rethinking Mental Models in Software Delivery With Henrik Mårtensson In this BONUS episode, we explore the origins and persistence of waterfall methodology in software development with management consultant Henrik Mårtensson. Based on an article where he details the history of Waterfall, Henrik explains the historical context of waterfall, challenges the mental models that keep it alive in modern organizations, and offers insights into how systems thinking can transform our approach to software delivery. This conversation is essential for anyone looking to understand why outdated methodologies persist and how to move toward more effective approaches to software development. The True Origins of Waterfall "Waterfall came from the SAGE project, the first large software project in history, where they came up with a methodology based on an economic analysis." Henrik takes us on a fascinating historical journey to uncover the true origins of waterfall methodology. Contrary to popular belief, the waterfall approach wasn't invented by Winston Royce but emerged from the SAGE project in the 1950s. Bennington published the original paper outlining this approach, while it was Bell and Tayer who later named it "waterfall" when referencing Royce's work. Henrik explains how gated process models eventually led to the formalized waterfall methodology and points out that an entire generation of methods existed between waterfall and modern Agile approaches that are often overlooked in the conversation. In this segment we refer to:  The paper titled “Production of Large Computer Programs” by Herbert D. Benington (direct PDF link) Updated and re-published in 1983 in Annals of the History of Computing ( Volume: 5, Issue: 4, Oct.-Dec. 1983) Winston Royce's paper from 1970 that erroneously is given the source of the waterfall term. Direct PDF Link. Bell and Thayer's paper “Software Requirements: Are They Really A Problem?”, that finally “baptized” the waterfall process. Direct PDF link.   Mental Models That Keep Us Stuck "Fredrik Taylor's model of work missed the concept of a system, leading us to equate busyness with productivity." The persistence of waterfall thinking stems from outdated mental models about work and productivity. Henrik highlights how Frederick Taylor's scientific management principles continue to influence software development despite missing the crucial concept of systems thinking. This leads organizations to equate busyness with productivity, as illustrated by Henrik's anecdote about 50 projects assigned to just 70 people. We explore how project management practices often enforce waterfall thinking, and why organizations tend to follow what others do rather than questioning established practices. Henrik emphasizes several critical concepts that are often overlooked: Systems thinking Deming's principles Understanding variation and statistics Psychology of work Epistemology (how we know what we know) In this segment, we refer to:  Frederik Taylor's book “The Principles of Scientific Management” The video explaining why Project Management leads to Coordination Chaos James C. Scott's book, “Seeing Like a State” Queueing theory Little's Law The Estimation Trap "The system architecture was overcomplicated, and the organizational structure followed it, creating a three-minute door unlock that required major architectural changes." Henrik shares a compelling story about a seemingly simple feature—unlocking a door—that was estimated to take three minutes but actually required significant architectural changes due to Conway's Law. This illustrates how organizational structures often mirror system architecture, creating unnecessary complexity that impacts delivery timelines. The anecdote serves as a powerful reminder of how estimation in software development is frequently disconnected from reality when we don't account for systemic constraints and architectural dependencies. In this segment, we refer to Conway's Law, the observation that explicitly called out how system architecture is so often linked to organizational structures. Moving Beyond Waterfall "Understanding queueing theory and Little's Law gives us the tools to rethink flow in software delivery." To move beyond waterfall thinking, Henrik recommends several resources and concepts that can help transform our approach to software development. By understanding queueing theory and Little's Law, teams can better manage workflow and improve delivery predictability. Henrik's article on coordination chaos highlights the importance of addressing organizational complexity, while James C. Scott's book "Seeing Like a State" provides insights into how central planning often fails in complex environments. About Henrik Mårtensson Henrik Mårtensson is a management consultant specializing in strategy, organizational development, and process improvement. He blends Theory of Constraints, Lean, Agile, and Six Sigma to solve complex challenges. A published author and licensed ScrumMaster, Henrik brings sharp systems thinking—and a love of storytelling—to help teams grow and thrive. You can link with Henrik Mårtensson on LinkedIn and connect with Henrik Mårtensson on Twitter.

Apply for the Nov 2025 Japan Leadership Experience - early registration rate now through May 31st! https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/ How much of the Toyota Way is dependent on Japanese culture?And how much of it all comes down to… being human?There are questions I've explored with 130+ global leaders who've joined my Japan Leadership Experience programs. To help you answer this question, I've invited Tim Wolput – Japanologist and Toyota Way Management expert, to Chain of Learning.Together, we take a deep (and fun!) dive into the differences between classical Japanese and Western management and explore the cultural and historical roots of real lean leadership.In this episode, we travel through Japanese history—from Confucius' teachings to samurai and rice farming traditions, and Deming's influence on Japanese management. If you've ever wanted a masterclass on Japanese management and Toyota Way principles—and how you can apply these lessons to create a culture of excellence—these two episodes are a must-listen.YOU'LL LEARN:Misconceptions about the Toyota Way management practices and applying the principles across culturesDeming's influence on Japan and the development of the Toyota Production System and Toyota WayThe way of the samurai: Focus on the process, not just the outcomeShu-ha-ri: The process towards mastery and turning knowledge into wisdom by learning through doing The power of leading through influence and “doing the right thing”: true leadership inspires growth, not just resultsSubscribe so you don't miss Part 2, where we continue along this path of learning to explore the nuances of Japanese concepts like kata and obeya and their relationship to lean management practices today.ABOUT MY GUEST:Tim Wolput is a Japanologist and Toyota Way Management expert passionate about helping people transform themselves, their organizations, and the world for the better. Since 2023 Tim has been my in-country partner for my immersive Japan Leadership Experiences. Originally from Belgium, Tim has lived in Japan since 1999 where he attended Tokyo University Graduate School and studied traditional Japanese mathematics. Tim is a certified Toyota Way Management System instructor and consultant to global organizations on Lean, Agile, and Toyota Production System (TPS).IMPORTANT LINKS:Full episode show notes: ChainOfLearning.com/42Connect with Tim Wolput: linkedin.com/in/timwolputCheck out my website for resources and working together: KBJAnderson.comFollow me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson Learn about my Japan Leadership Experience program: kbjanderson.com/JapanTrip TIMESTAMPS FOR THIS EPISODE:03:53 Biggest misconceptions about Toyota Way management practices05:10 Katie's perspective Japan versus the west08:46 The meaning of Shu Ha Ri and the traditional way of learning10:23 Deming's influence on Japan and The Toyota Way13:05 Why Japan embraced PDCA15:45 Difference in mindset between Asia and the west17:28 The working culture in Japan and how work together in the community22:17 Power of the supplier relationship23:40 Japanese leadership style29:15 Concept of doing the right thing30:56 How to focus on processes as the way to get results34:13 Powerful words of wisdom about the way of the samurai Apply for the Nov 2025 Japan Leadership Experience - early registration rate now through May 31st! https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/ 

Directed by Deming Chen, ALWAYS follows Gong Youbin, a child born into a poor Chinese family in the countryside of Hunan who hasn't seen his mother since he was three months old. However, Gong finds a way to interpret his world through the eyes of poetry, an outlet that allows his imagination to express his feelings. In this 1on1, we speak to Chen and producer Hansen Lin about the line between childhood and adulthood and the power of poetry.

Dan Deming looks at crude oil as it continues to hover around the $60 level, saying demand won't be as strong as last summer and production is plentiful. He argues the “overarching theme” of bitcoin is institutional investment as it climbs above $93K.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

The Filmographers interview director Nathan Deming and producer Adam Stunkle of the Wisconsin-shot indie film, “February.” We discuss Mike Leigh and the London Film School, realities of low-budget filmmaking, working with nonprofessional actors . . . and, naturally, Steven Soderbergh! Join our Pateron! Social media Instagram @thefilmographers Bluesky: @thefilmographers.bsky.social Letterboxd @filmographers YouTube @TheFilmographersPodcast Website: https://filmographerspodcast.com/ Credits Keir Graff & Michael Moreci, hosts Kevin Lau, producer Gompson, theme music Cosmo Graff, graphic design

Dustin A. Deming, MD - Personalizing Treatment Pathways for Refractory Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Informed Decision-Making When Disease Has Progressed

Download Your Free Webinar & Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness  https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/What would you do first if you received a cancer diagnosis? Dr. Katie shares why a 30-day water fast would be her first response to cancer—and why many health experts like Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Jason Fung agree. Dr. Deming presents six compelling reasons why prolonged water fasting creates powerful healing opportunities for cancer patients. She explains how cancer as a metabolic condition responds to fasting, why it helps detoxify the body on physical, emotional and mental levels, and how it flips the script on cancer's parasitic nature. You'll hear real examples of clients who experienced profound healing through this approach, including one whose brain tumor completely disappeared.Key Takeaways:How to shut down your cancer's fuel sourceLetting go of years of toxic buildupWhat a stronger gut means to youClarity comes when the noise inside quiets downDr. Deming transparently shares her journey from skepticism to conviction based on client outcomes she never witnessed in traditional medicine. Her honest assessment of water fasting challenges common medical assumptions while offering hope to those seeking alternatives or complementary approaches.Dr. Deming explains the science behind water fasting while acknowledging safety considerations and proper supervision. Listen and expand your understanding of what's possible when we create the right conditions for our bodies to heal themselves naturally.Send us a text with your question (include your phone number) Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatie Don't Face Cancer Alone"The 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer" workshop series provides you valuable insights and strategies to support your healing journey - Click Here to Enroll MORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Download Your Free Webinar & Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to EnrollWork with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comFollow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Take a Deeper Dive into Your Healing Journey: Dr. Katie Deming's Linkedin Here Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER:The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose...

How can we improve attendance when every school has a different process? In this episode, John Dues continues his exploration of Deming's philosophy in action, focusing on chronic absenteeism. As part of their third PDSA cycle, John's team shifts from individual interventions to process standardization—mapping how each of their four campuses handles attendance interventions. The surprising discovery? Each school follows a different process, revealing hidden variation and inefficiencies. By visualizing these systems, the team is not only grasping the current condition but also setting the stage for a reliable, scalable, and effective process. This methodical approach highlights how understanding systems and reducing variation are key to meaningful improvement. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.1 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today, I'm continuing my discussion with John Dues, who is part of the new generation of educators striving to apply Dr. Deming's principles to unleash student joy in learning. The topic for today is Mapping the Process. John, take it away.   0:00:26.7 John Dues: Hey Andrew. It's good to be back. Yeah. For the folks that have been following along for the past several episodes we've been working towards defining this problem more narrowly in terms of this chronic absenteeism issue we've been talking about. And for the last few episodes we've been talking about how the team didn't have enough information to write that precise problem statement. And we took a look at gathering additional information by running a couple PDSA cycles in those first two cycles that we've discussed so far. We know we had zeroed in on a handful of students and ran PDSAs with them and their families about their obstacles getting to school. And then we left off talking about how we were going to shift gears in PDSA cycle three. And instead we were going to focus on standardizing our process. So creating a process map for how we intervene with kids with our attendance teams across the network. So that's what the team is currently working on. But just as a sort of quick reminder to folks, and especially if you're watching, we have this model that we've been working through, this four step improvement model where you set the challenge or direction, grasp the current condition, establish your next target condition, and experiment to overcome obstacles.   0:01:48.1 John Dues: And then like we've talked about several times, we're doing this with the team and that includes people working in the system, people with the authority to change or work on the system, and then at least one person with significant knowledge of the System of Profound Knowledge, like an SOPK coach. And we've been using this model that's on the screen to sort of symbolize or I guess visualize what those four steps look like. You're sort of marching up this mountain towards this challenge or direction. And we've also talked about this long range goal that we've had and we've taken a look at some data where we have our chronic absenteeism rate mapped out over the last eight years or so. We have this long range goal. So this is the direction of the challenge where we're trying to take our chronic absenteeism from above 50% down to 5%. We have the data going back to the 2016/17 school year. Then we also talked about how there's this, not surprisingly, there's this sort of pre-pandemic level of chronic absenteeism, which was again too high. It's not where we wanted it, but we have this major shift up where we've seen this significant jump in chronic absenteeism since the pandemic hit.   0:03:15.0 John Dues: So in those four years, 2020/21, 21/22, 22/23 and 23/24 we were up in the 51, 52, even up into the close to the 60% range in chronic absenteeism at the height of the pandemic. So for PDSA cycle three, really doing two things. So, and we're going to talk about this in the episode today. If you remember back way at the start of this series, we looked at something I called a system flowchart. So we'll kind of revisit that and then we're going to take a look at two process maps that were created by two of our school teams to sort of map their current process. And then we'll walk through, sort of we'll take that, we'll walk through what the plan is for this PDSA cycle three. So let's start by looking back at this system flowchart. I'll sort of reorient you to this. So we have up on the, and this is the current state. So up on the top we have the target system which is attendance. And then we have this aim that is sort of a three part aim.   0:04:42.7 John Dues: We want to define strong attendance for students and staff, make sure everybody's on the same page. We want to ensure that students, families and staff have a shared understanding of what it means to have strong attendance. And then we are working on improving and creating systems that identify and remove barriers to strong attendance for students and staff. And then over on the left hand side we have sort of inputs. So these are things that contribute or their conditions that impact our system. And then in the middle we have our core activities. So the things that are happening that impact attendance and then there's outputs, both negative and positive outputs that come out of this system. And then we get feedback from our customers, we do research on this feedback and then we make design if it's a new system or redesign if it's a current system. And some of these things, some of those contributing conditions are, Ohio has a set of transportation laws. You know, there's our school model and our the way we operate our school hours, our expectations regarding student attendance, our various intervention systems, neighborhood dynamics, how far our families live from school.   0:06:03.4 John Dues: These are all things that contribute to our sort of inputs into our system. And then we have these core activities. And remember, we could just zero in on attendance systems. But there are many other parts of our system that impact whether or not kids come to school. So for one, many of our families are always going to be new to our system. So for example, in our middle schools, where they start with sixth grade some number of those kids are going to be from our elementary schools. Some number of those kids are going to come from other neighborhood schools, but they're all going to be new to that middle school. So whether they're coming from our elementary school or not, you have to think about how is the student and family being onboarded to our system. Another thing we're looking at is school culture and trust. You know, how much trust is in there, in the school. Do they have a strong culture between teachers and families or teachers and students, or the principal and teachers? Then there's academic systems how engaging are classes, those types of things.   0:07:05.7 John Dues: Then we have the attendance intervention systems, which is obviously a core focus. We have health and wellness and changes around mindset since we went through the pandemic. And then finally the third sort of, or sorry, the third, not the third, but the sixth core activity that we talked about was transportation. So we've talked about lots of problems with our busing system this year. So that's another thing that has a big impact on attendance. And so what this group, again is working on the core activity is the attendance intervention systems. What's the process for that? But I had mentioned in an earlier episode that we have another group that's working on transportation and busing and how we can improve that. So the whole point of the system flowchart is there's many, many things that go into something like an attendance rate. And many of these things are very challenging. Some are largely out of our control, but much of it is largely in our control. And we're trying to pull the levers that we think are most important when it comes to student attendance.   0:08:09.2 Andrew Stotz: And just one thing on that, one of the things I just find so frustrating and it's part of this class I'm teaching tonight is how do we scale a business. And one of the ways that's critical to scaling is simplifying. And sometimes, like, when I look at all of this complexity, on the one hand, you're like, okay, well, that's our job, right? Our job is to manage complexity. And that's the reason why we don't have a thousand competitors coming in, because it's complex and it's difficult. And on the other hand, it's like the simplifier in me is like, how do we simplify this? You know, like, I'm just curious about how you see complexity versus simplification. And in particular, it may just be in this stage, you're just putting everything up there, and it's just overwhelming. Like, oh, my God, there's so much involved in just fixing one thing, you know? What are your thoughts on that?   0:09:11.5 John Dues: Yeah, that's, I mean, that's a really good question. It's, I mean, I think it is a complex system because there's so many moving parts. And I think part of the nature of a complex system versus something like a complicated system is that when you try to impact some part of the system that has these ripple effects into other parts of the system, many of which are unattended or unintended consequences. So, yeah, I mean, I think one thing we have working in our favor is very stable senior leadership. So we're pretty good at understanding how we all work. We have a pretty good historical knowledge of how our school system has worked over time. And we have a pretty good holistic view of all of this complexity. Not that we're all able to improve it all at once, but I think we have a pretty good grasp of what's going on. And even a team like this there we could move faster perhaps, but I think we're trying to be pretty deliberate about the changes that we're making.   0:10:24.7 John Dues: And we're also deliberate about the levers that we're trying to pull for improvement. And these things change over time. So even something like transportation, I mean, the reason that we're working on that now and that we've chosen to work on that now is because the transportation that we're getting from the district is so untenable. Whereas 15 years ago, when I was a principal in our system, while the busing wasn't perfect, it was pretty consistent. You know, most days it dropped off at about the same time. It picked the kids up at about the same time every day. And while it was nowhere near where you would want it to be overall, it wasn't my biggest pain point as a principal. Now kids are literally missing hours or buses aren't showing up at all. And so we have to figure out a way to make this work. And to your point this was a system when charter schools were set up in Ohio, is just basically like the district, the nearby district, which is usually a big urban district, is going to do the busing for charter schools.   0:11:35.5 John Dues: And there really wasn't any more thought to it than that and so from the district's perspective, they they have to manage a lot of complexity. They have their own schools, they're busing for charters, which there's about 15,000 kids in charter schools in Columbus. And then they're also busing for private schools. And the district itself still has a very large geographic footprint, even though the number of students that attend there are about half what it was 50 years ago. So they have very spread out buildings, some of which are far below capacity, but they still have students attending them. So they haven't shrunk that geographic footprint. So that's a challenge as well. And at a time when it's become very difficult to find bus drivers. So I don't take lightly, like the challenges that the district is facing in this, but we got to get kids to school as a... Just as a basic starting point to be being able to do school well.   0:12:31.8 Andrew Stotz: Okay, keep going.   0:12:33.8 John Dues: I mean, it's also a really good segue. We'll take a look at a couple of the process maps. So we have our four campuses. We have something different going on. So even though our four campuses are geographically pretty proximate to each other, they have four different processes going on with their attendance intervention system. So take a look at this first process map, which is pretty simple from start to finish. What is that? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. It's really nine steps and it really...   0:13:08.6 Andrew Stotz: And for the listeners out there that can't see it, he's got a process map, State Street. And what it shows is some circles and some squares and some tilted squares. I don't know what those are called.   0:13:23.5 John Dues: Yeah, I mean, it's just the circles are the start and end points.   0:13:26.9 Andrew Stotz: Okay.   0:13:27.8 John Dues: The squares are the steps in the process. And then the diamonds are, when there's a... Some decision has to be made in the process.   0:13:37.0 Andrew Stotz: Okay, great.   0:13:38.0 John Dues: So we're not going to go through all of these steps. But if you are watching this is a pretty simple process at one of our campuses, while there are multiple people sort of involved, it's also true that one person is driving a lot of this work. But the point is, especially for people that are watching, when you sort of walk through these 10 steps, you're going to see that this map is going to look very different and less complicated than the map at one of our other campuses. But the point is, especially if you can see things visually that you can tell just by looking at the two maps, there are two very different processes going on. And these two schools, this first one is actually an elementary school that feeds into the middle school. That is the map that we'll look at second, so this is the first process map. And then when we look at the second map, we can see very quickly, just visually speaking, there are far more steps, it's far more complicated. There's far more decision points. There's a lot more detail here, and there's a lot of interfacing between multiple people that all play a role in this particular process.   0:14:55.4 John Dues: And it's not that one is right and one is wrong. It's just that when you have these two campuses doing it differently, there very likely is inefficiencies.   0:15:06.8 Andrew Stotz: And are they mapping the same thing? And they...   0:15:10.6 John Dues: Yes, it's the same process. It's how they intervene as the state requires for kids that have some type of attendance issue. And there's different thresholds that mean different parts of the process kick in as a result. But they're operating within the same state process that you have to follow. But even so, you can see that they have a very different sort of illustration of what that process looks like. And if I had the other two campuses, we'd have four separate versions. And remember all these steps and you know, all these decision points. There's documents that exist. There's meetings that happen. There's agendas for those meetings. There's agendas for meeting with parents. There's letters that have to be mailed. And so you can imagine if everybody is creating separate forms, separate meeting agendas, keeping this information in different ways. There's probably a way to design this that's far more effective and efficient by pulling from the four different processes to create one process. And oh, by the way, if you do that, it makes training easier for anybody new that's going to take on some of the clerical roles or some of the interfacing with parents.   0:16:26.9 John Dues: And then if you have one process that you're working from, then you can also share best practices as they emerge as you're working. But if you have four variants, it's much harder to share that information.   0:16:43.4 Andrew Stotz: And you know, it's questionable whether this is a core function. It is an important process. Is it the core?   0:16:54.8 John Dues: Yeah, I mean, I would say it's a, I guess depending on how you define core. I mean, it's a required process. It's a process that the state requires and a lot of the sub steps are required components. Now, interestingly, this, the setup for this attendance intervention system came out of some legislation called Health...House Bill 410. And it's been in place for maybe five years or so, four or five years. And they're changing it right now. So there's new language.   0:17:30.2 Andrew Stotz: Just when we got it set.   0:17:32.2 John Dues: Just when we got it set. But we at least know the likely changes that are coming. So Ohio operates on a two year budget cycle. So in this new budget that will likely pass on. Well, it has to pass by June 30th. Right now there's language in there that changes this process for schools and actually gives schools way more leeway. So we'll sort of be ahead of the game because we're going to have our own process mapped and you know, we can remove some of those things that are a little more cumbersome on the school teams. And to your point, those things that were compliance related but didn't have really impact on improving attendance, we could just remove those now. We'll have some more freedom there.   0:18:13.8 Andrew Stotz: I mentioned about the core thing because there's a great book I read called Clockwork by Michael Michalowicz and he talks about identifying what is the core function in your business and then really focusing in on that. And it's interesting because one of the benefits of that is that if you don't do that, you can get caught up in every process like, and then all of a sudden it's just everything is seen as equal.   0:18:43.6 John Dues: Right. Yeah.   0:18:44.6 Andrew Stotz: Anyways, keep going.   0:18:45.9 John Dues: Yeah, it's one of those weird things and I'll stop sharing. Yeah, that was the last visual. But that's one of those things where like I said for the last five years or so these things have been required. And I think you'd be hard pressed to find a school system that would say these, the way things are outlined as requirements for schools to do on this front are not effective but people do them because they're required. And you know, I think with this updated language, we'll have some more flexibility to do this how we want to do it.   0:19:20.4 Andrew Stotz: And how does this, just to clarify how it fits into that mountain diagram, this is trying to assess or deal with the obstacle or is this the current state? I noticed that it said current state for the process map. But is the purpose of what you're... The original one you show. But is the purpose of what you're doing trying to overcome the, identify and overcome the obstacle?   0:19:46.8 John Dues: Well, I would say this is a part of grasping that current condition. You know, we did that early on in terms of that system flowchart, in terms of what the whole system looks like. And now what we're doing is learning about the processes at each individual school. Well, I'd say when you map out a process like this, and I think people would probably, my guess is, is that senior leaders would often say, well, no, we have a process and you know, everybody follows the same thing. And then if you actually mapped it like that, step by step, what you would see is tons of variation, tons of variation.   0:20:23.9 Andrew Stotz: So one of the benefits of that is it's not only, it's about facing the reality or understanding the true current state. Like everybody can say, no, no, no, we all know what the current situation is. No, we don't.   0:20:41.2 John Dues: No, you don't. And every time I sit with a team and make these process maps, we'll say, okay, what's the next step? And you know, maybe a couple people will pipe up and then someone inevitably goes, well, no, wait a second, that's not what we do. What we do next is X, Y or Z. I mean, it's... And that happens over and over and over again with this with this process just seems to be a part of it. It's not a bug. It's actually a feature of this mapping exercise.   0:21:08.5 Andrew Stotz: And many people try to solve these problems by just jumping in rather than taking the time to really, truly understand the current state. You know, what's the risk of the action taker?   0:21:22.7 John Dues: Well, yeah, I mean, I think what happens a lot of times is like when people don't really understand a process like this is they start blaming people for things that aren't going right. That's what typically happens.   0:21:35.8 Andrew Stotz: I want people to take responsibility around here.   0:21:38.3 John Dues: We have to hold people accountable, but you can't hold them accountable to a process that's unknown. Right. It's not well specified, but that's what typically happens. So, so yeah, so the objective for this PDSA cycle, so we're on this third cycle. So those first two were focused on talking to individual kids, interviewing with individual kids. And we said well let's actually look at our process for how we're intervening from a school perspective as a team at each of the schools and let's standardize that process.   0:22:13.1 John Dues: So that's what we're doing. We're sort of mapping it from start to finish, gathering feedback from key stakeholders as we sort of map a standardized process that works across all four schools. And really one of the things that we're doing right now is we're saying can we develop a process? And we have these four dimensions that we're looking for to sort of meet. One is functional, one is, is it reliable? Third, to your point about the business talk you're giving tonight is is it scalable? You know, does it work across the entire school and across the entire school system? And then is it effective? And we're basically, the attendance improvement team basically is going to put together the process and then they're going to put it in front of our senior leaders and we're going to rate sort of the process across those four dimensions and they've sort of predicted what they think is going to, how it's going to hold up when it's sort of tested by those senior leaders.   0:23:12.8 John Dues: So that's kind of what we're doing right now. So step one is mapping the four campuses and then we're going to map one standardized process, at least a rough draft. And again, so once that initial network wide or system wide map is created, we're going to put it in front of that senior leadership group. We're going to give them a brief survey, sort of a Likert scale across those four dimensions and see, see what they think basically. So that's our next step right now.   0:23:40.6 Andrew Stotz: Exciting, exciting. I want to tell a little story to wrap up my contribution here and that is after many years of living in Asia, I started to realize that everything's connected in Asia, people are connected. If you want to be mean to somebody, it's going to come back around to you. And if you want to push on somebody, it's going to come back around because everybody knows everybody. And I like to picture it like a circle. Let's just say a bunch of people in a circle facing the same direction. And then let's say they all put their right arm on the right shoulder of the man or woman in front of them. So now we have a circle that's connected in such a way. And if you think you're going to get something done by squeezing on the shoulder of the person in front of you, the problem you're going to face is that that's going to transmit all the way around the circle until all of a sudden you're going to be squeezed. And that is my visualization of the way influence works in Asia. Yeah, but I feel like it's the same type of thing when you just say, I want to hold people accountable and we need responsibility around here.   0:24:57.8 Andrew Stotz: What ends up happening is that the only choice that someone has is just to squeeze on the person in front of them. And when they do that, it just transmits a squeeze all the way around. It builds fear, it builds distrust and all of that. And so that. That was a visualization I was having when you were talking.   0:25:16.4 John Dues: Yeah, I mean, I think... And it can be convicting a little bit there. There's a Dr. Deming quote that I'll share to sort of wrap this. Before I do that, I think again, I go back to we... There are these unknown things about how to improve attendance. And so this PDSA, this plan, do study, act cycle, we're using one, again, was intervening with kids and trying to work with a handful of kids that had attendance issues and just see what works and what doesn't. We've shifted gears in this third cycle to something very different. But this is all part of one comprehensive effort by this team to put this new system in place. And all of these pieces of information are important, but this and this mapping, the process thing I think is a great... And I think maybe a lot of people wouldn't think about that as a PDSA to plan a new process, but you can absolutely use it in that way. But the Dr. Deming quote that I think of when I do process mapping is "if you can't describe what you're doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing."   0:26:21.7 John Dues: And I think that's true. Again, it's not to convict people, but I think often when we say, well, that's this thing is going wrong, we need to hold people accountable. And then you ask that person that's making that claim, well, what is the process for this thing? And they often can't tell you. Or they do, it's so vague that nobody could.   0:26:45.3 Andrew Stotz: Or they say, that's not my responsibility. My responsibility is to hold you accountable for getting the result.   0:26:51.4 John Dues: Right. Yeah. And, and, and many people, many organizations don't write these things down. You know, they don't write them down and share them with folks. So that's just some of these simple things are as part of the power making things exciting.   0:27:05.1 Andrew Stotz: Exciting. Well, yeah, how about we wrap it up there and so what are we going to get next time?   0:27:10.7 John Dues: Yeah, I think so. What we went through quickly here at the end was the plan for this PDSA cycle. So by the time we get back together, will have the process map for the system and we'll have had the feedback back and we'll be able to compare that to what the group predicted.   0:27:28.8 Andrew Stotz: So ladies and gentlemen, we're watching it in real time unfold the applications of Dr. Deming's principles. And isn't that what we want? You know, obviously we love theory and we love ideas, but we really need to be all thinking about how we apply these things. And so from my perspective, I'm really enjoying this series and I'm learning a lot. And as I mentioned before, I've been improving some of my thinking and some of my teaching in particular, based upon the discussions that we've had. So on behalf of everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for this discussion and for listeners remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And also you can find John's book, Win Win: W. Edwards Deming the System of Profound Knowledge and the Science of Improving Schools on Amazon.com This is your host, Andrew Stotz. And I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming. I know you've heard it before, but I'm going to say it again. Until we have joy. "People are entitled to joy in work."

“Tomorrow will be very important,” Dan Deming says, if the market can stay green, the low point this week could be the bottom for “a while.” He warns investors not to read “too much into it,” though, waiting for several days of consolidation to see a new pattern. He also looks at commodity prices, including crude oil and bitcoin.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/ About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Download Your Free Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness  https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/What could lead a respected radiation oncologist to walk away from traditional medicine?In this bonus episode, Dr. Katie Deming appears on "Conversations with Dr. Cowan and Friends" podcast. Dr. Cowan explores Dr. Deming's remarkable journey from treating cancer with radiation to helping clients heal through a whole-person approach addressing physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of wellness.Dr. Deming shares her unique path—from her early athletic career as a springboard diver and professional triathlete who trained at the Olympic Training Center, to her profound experiences helping patients transition through medical aid in dying, to her own spiritual awakening that fundamentally changed her understanding of healing.Chapters:13:29 – Internal conflict and the decision to leave oncology17:59 – A shared death experience that changed her perspective32:00 – Discovering and working with a powerful shamanic mentor42:21 – Launching a virtual integrative cancer healing practice52:00 – Reflections on death, fragmentation of the soul, and spiritual alignmentHer perspective bridges Western medicine and alternative healing modalities, offering insights into what she believes truly causes cancer—from mitochondrial dysfunction and toxicity to unprocessed emotions and subconscious programming.Listen and learn how addressing root causes rather than symptoms can lead to profound transformation, and why creating peace within the body might be the most important first step toward wellness.Connect with Dr. Tom Cowan: https://drtomcowan.com/Send us a text with your question (include your phone number)MORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Download Your Free Ultimate Guide to Water Fasting to Heal Cancer and Chronic Illness https://www.katiedeming.com/prolonged-water-fasting/6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to EnrollWork with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comFollow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Take a Deeper Dive into Your Healing Journey: Dr. Katie Deming's Linkedin Here Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER:The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, c...

In Episode 43, We try something a little different!  Mikey sits down with Casey Deming of Georgia Bushcraft to discuss his events, his future and some of his other brands in a relaxed setting around a campfire.  Let us know your thoughts if we should continue the Campfire Conversations and who you would like to see on a future episode of the Shack!Georgiabushcraft.comGriffinpockettool.comBushcraftcoffee.comOutpostOconee.comSupport the show

Dr. Khwaja Moinuddin grew up in India with what he calls a “normal childhood”. He attended high school and then received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in his home town. With some convincing and soul searching he then came to the United States and attended Texas Tech university where he obtained his Master's degree and began working toward obtaining a PhD. Khwaja tells us about his time at Texas Tech including how, when funding grew hard to get, he overcame his fears and adversity and found a job that helped him stay in school. Even so, while working on his Doctorate degree he secured a job with 3M and, as he tells us, he learned a lot and even today he is grateful for the opportunities he had at this company. Eventually, however, under the advice of others he did finish his PhD, but not in Mechanical Engineering as such.   Khwaja began learning about organizations, how they worked, why often they didn't work well and he developed ways to help people at all levels of organizations learn how to stop being so resistive to change and thus develop more positive attitudes and constructive methods of accomplishing tasks.   We get to hear much wisdom from Khwaja on leadership, resistance to change and how to better accomplish tasks by being more open to new ideas. This episode is a MUST for everyone if you are at all open to learning some new ideas and growing to be better in whatever you do at work, in life and at play.       About the Guest:   Dr. Khwaja Moinuddin is a renowned leader in Continuous Improvement, Change Management, and Business Transformation, with over 22 years of hands-on experience driving measurable impact across diverse industries. His mission is clear: to help organizations embed a culture of excellence, resilience, and continuous learning - not as a temporary initiative, but as a way of working. Whether leading large-scale change programs, coaching executives, or transforming operational models, he has built a reputation for delivering tangible business results and lasting cultural shifts. With deep expertise in Continuous Improvement, Change Leadership, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Dr. Moinuddin partners with organizations to challenge the status quo, eliminate inefficiencies, and create high-performing teams. He has worked across multiple industries, functions, and global markets, collaborating with executive leaders, middle managers, and frontline employees to break down silos and drive sustainable transformation. His holistic approach ensures that strategy, execution, and people engagement work in tandem, because real change happens when employees at every level take ownership of improvement. A passionate thought leader and author, Dr. Moinuddin has distilled his years of experience into two books that serve as practical guides for transformation:   "I.N.S.P.I.R.E. - An Adaptive Change Excellence Model and Guide of the people, for the people, by the people" – A framework for leading people-centered, high-impact change initiatives. "Are You (Really) Listening?: Decoding the Secrets of Unheard Conversations" – A deep dive into the power of listening as a critical leadership and change management skill.   Dr. Moinuddin's philosophy is simple: transformation is not about tools, it's about people, mindset, and discipline. If your organization is struggling with change fatigue, leadership misalignment, or resistance to new ways of working, he can help you turn obstacles into opportunities and create a culture where excellence thrives. Let's connect and explore how we can drive real, measurable business impact, together!     Dr. Khwaja Moinuddin's journey is a testament to the power of perseverance, continuous learning, and an unstoppable mindset. Born and raised in a simple middle-class family in Pondicherry, India, a former French colony - he completed his schooling and earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering before moving to the U.S. to pursue his Master's in Industrial Engineering. At Texas Tech University, he excelled academically, achieving a 4.0/4.0 GPA in his major (Manufacturing) and an overall GPA of 3.83/4.0. While pursuing his degree, he also worked as an intern for Rhodia Inc., a chemicals manufacturing company, gaining valuable hands-on industry experience. Khwaja began his career as an Industrial Engineer with 3M, where he learned the foundations for his expertise in Continuous Improvement (CI) and Change Leadership. Over the years, he obtained multiple professional certifications, including Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certified Change Practitioner, Certified Prince2 Practitioner and Certified Scrum Master. His career took him across the globe, leading large-scale transformation initiatives in world-renowned organizations such as Ocean Spray Cranberries, Shell, Maersk, GARMCO, HSBC, and PDO (Petroleum Development Oman). Despite a demanding global career, Khwaja pursued his passion for learning, earning a Doctorate in Management Studies and a second Master's degree in Psychology while working full-time. His belief "To Learn is to Breathe" has shaped his leadership philosophy, helping organizations embrace change, embed a culture of excellence, and achieve breakthrough results. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Khwaja is a devoted husband and father. He fell in love with and married his wife, Sangeetha, while in the U.S., and together they have a 15-year-old son, Tanish. They now reside in Chennai, India. Dr. Khwaja travels frequently for his consulting work, and he continues to inspire businesses, leaders, and professionals to transform their organizations, and themselves - with an unstoppable mindset.   Ways to connect with Dr. Khwaja:   https://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/contributor/khwaja-moinuddin https://www.journeytowardsexcellence.com/ https://www.khwajamoinuddin.com/ https://www.journeytowardsexcellence.com/ https://www.khwajamoinuddin.com/     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hello again, everyone. I am your host once again. Michael hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're with us, wherever you happen to be in the world, and wherever we happen to be talking in the world. And today we're actually talking to Dr Khwaja Moinuddin from India. So it's a long distance boy signals travel a lot faster today than they did when we used covered wagons or Coney pony expresses. So I'm really grateful for the fact that we get to use Zoom and computers and do things in such a meaningful way. So anyway, here we are. Kwaja has written two books, and I know he's going to tell us about those, so I'm not going to give a lot of that away. He has been a transformational leader. He also has a background in mechanical engineering, and that fascinates me, because it seems to me, it's interesting going from mechanical engineering to being a transformational subject matter expert and expert by any standard. So I'm going to be curious to hear about that. But anyway, meanwhile, Khwaja, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset, and thank you for being here.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 02:28 Thank you. Thank you, Michael, it's, it's indeed an honor to be on your podcast. And you know, as as we have been discussing, I'm no expert by any means. I have just gathered years and years of experience, 22 plus years of experience, and I'm still learning and continuous improvement, transformation. It's an ocean. So the more you know I learn, the more I feel like I don't know much. Yes, there is to learn, yes.   Michael Hingson ** 03:05 Well, I know exactly what you're saying. I think if we stop learning, then we have really let ourselves down and let the world down. We need to continue to learn. And I very much enjoy doing this podcast, because I get to learn so much from so many people. It's really a lot of fun. So I want to again, thank you for being here and looking forward to all that we get to talk about today. So let's get to it. I'd like to learn a little bit about maybe the early Khwaja Growing up and so on. Tell us a little bit about you growing up in India and so on.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 03:38 Yep, I'm from a very small town in Pondicherry called Pondicherry in in India, the closest big city is Chennai. It's about 160 kilometers south of Chennai. It used to be a former French colony. Now the place has been changed. I mean, the name has been changed from Pondicherry to Puducherry. But growing up, I'm the youngest of two kids. I have a brother. He's four years older than me, and my parents were typical middle class, lower middle class, both working parents. They worked really, really hard to put me and my brother through to school. They took care of us, they protected us. So I'm really grateful for my parents, my mom, my dad and my brother also could be quite me, you know, when I was young. So I'm really grateful to my family, because we were just the four of us in our family. Growing up, I went to a public school, initially, I went to a private school, and. Uh, but then my parents couldn't afford the fees, so we moved to public school, and I did all my schooling and my bachelor's in mechanical engineering in Pondicherry. So born and brought up in Pondicherry, which was a small fishing village, didn't know much about the real world until, you know, I graduated and stepped out of India for the very first time to go to the US to do my master's degree. My childhood was, was, was normal, you know, on a living on a on a coast. So I really enjoyed living near the beach. We didn't live very far away from the beach, just maybe, you know, maybe 100, 200 meters away from the beach. Growing up, I had a lot of friends, so we would be, would take our bicycles and and, you know, ride all over the town because it, you know, it wasn't as crazy as it is now with all the traffic and stuff, it was less congested. And the good thing about Pondicherry, an interesting fact is, because it was designed by the French, all the streets in Pondicherry are at right angles to each other. So you would never get lost if you are in Pondicherry, in the middle of the Pondicherry, because wherever you go, if you take a right turn and another right turn and another right turn, you will end up at the same place. So you will never get lost. That's an interesting fact in Pondicherry. How about Pondicherry?   Michael Hingson ** 06:39 So it certainly is a whole lot easier to travel around pontichery than it is to travel around Washington DC by any standard, I think. So yes, there's a lot of Angular streets and streets that go in different directions in Washington. So yeah, I think I'd like pot of cherry that's pretty good. So did you learn to fish?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 07:03 Not, not, yeah. I mean, I did learn how to fish, but more swimming. Used to go to the ocean almost every day. You know, I think I practically spent a lot of time on the beach with my friends and in the playgrounds. Our playgrounds used to be huge growing up, unlike now, they have become so small and condensed with all the, you know, development, the real estate that's growing in India, in Pondicherry and in India in general. But, but yeah, I did learn how to fish, you know, not using, like a fishing rod in the in the US, but using, you know, the the fishing, the the thread, you know, the nylon wire, fishing net, yeah, yeah. Not, not the net, but the wire, just was the single wire,   Michael Hingson ** 07:58 well, so you what, what got you into mechanical engineering?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 08:05 Well, you know, as, as all of my fellow Indians would say, in India, you are either an engineer or a doctor first. So, so I really had no choice. I had to become an engineer or a doctor. I didn't score enough to become a doctor, so I naturally became an engineer. But since I have to become an engineer, I was looking at, you know, all the different fields of engineering. What fascinated me was, you know, the field of mechanical engineering, because I heard from several of my friends and colleagues that mechanical engineering is an evergreen field, and typically, mechanical engineers can fit anywhere. And they were really, really they were, they were 100% correct. And I'm glad I chose mechanical engineering and I really liked my subject, because that what I am today would not be if I hadn't learned about mechanical engineering. Well.   Michael Hingson ** 09:07 So you, you got your bachelor's degree, but then you, as you said, you stepped out and you, you actually came to the United States and went to Texas Tech to do your advanced degree. What made you do that? That's moving a long way from home, yep.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 09:23 So some of my my my friends and my seniors, also, when I was doing my mechanical engineering, they were talking about something called as a GRE or a TOEFL. It sounded Greek, like Greek and Latin to me. I didn't know what it was. I had no intention of going to the US initially. My intention was to get a job and earn a lot of money and and I was almost done studying at that point of time, you know, learning subjects like thermodynamics and lot of advanced mechanics. Engineering stuff for four years really wears you out. But my my seniors and and my cousin also, and my uncles and a lot of my relatives, they said, you know, if you don't do your masters now, and if you go straight away to work, you may not have the inclination to learn more. So they really, they really prompted me or nudged me to do my Masters also, and and my mom, of course, she has been a great, great, great driving force behind me. She She encouraged me to always, always, always learn. She herself has, you know, so many degrees I cannot, I don't even know how many degrees she has. She has master's degrees and Bachelor's degrees in in, you know, all sorts of areas. And to this day, you know, she she keeps learning, and she has been a teacher for about 45 years now. So so my mom, along with my relatives and my friends. They said, You know, you need to study more so. So, you know, I had actually got a job, you know, in my fourth year. And I got a job through on campus interviews, you know, like a career fair in the in the US, similar to a career fair in the US. So I gave up that job and I wrote GRE and TOEFL. I worked hard. Got I did not get like flying colors, but I got, I got good grades in GRE and TOEFL, and then I applied to universities. Initially I was going to be an aerospace engineer, but then my friends also told me that maybe that's a difficult field to get a job in in future, because it requires, you know, us, security clearance and stuff. So you're you're better off doing something which is related to mechanical engineering, or even mechanical engineering. I didn't want to go too much into technical stuff, so I explored industrial engineering, and I found, you know, the courses and all that stuff were really to my liking and to my interest. So, so then I chose industrial engineering and Texas Tech specifically because of the industrial engineering program they had. So then and, and that's one, one thing led to another. And then I landed in Texas Tech University.   Michael Hingson ** 12:26 Well, that must have been fun. So you had lots of new experiences. You learned about football and all sorts of other things in addition to your academic studies. Yes,   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 12:36 yes. Red Raiders. Go Red Raiders. Yeah, right.   Michael Hingson ** 12:40 Well, and I, I went to UC Irvine. I don't know, I still don't know if we have a much of a football team today. We have a good basketball team, but go anteaters anyway. So it's, it is interesting how our lives change and how we end up, how God gives us different opportunities? And then, of course, the issue really is us taking those opportunities and moving forward with them. When you You certainly did. You stepped out and you moved to the United States, you went to Texas Tech, you got your bachelor's, and where did you get your PhD?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 13:19 So I got my master's from Texas Tech, and I was, I also started to do my PhD in industrial engineering in Texas Tech, but unfortunately, I didn't finish, because the the department ran out of funding, and I had to search for a job. So I started to, I got my job in 3m as an industrial engineer. But I also did an internship in another company called Rodia, which is a chemicals manufacturing company. But then, you know, while I was doing, while I was, you know, still pursuing my full time job, I really wanted to go back to Texas Tech and complete my PhD, because I had completed all my coursework, except for the which was the dissertation which was pending. And you know, at that time, one of the professors told me, quadra, try and complete your PhD, otherwise you will regret it. I still remember his words to this day. I should have, you know, looking back, I should have stayed back in Texas Tech and finished my PhD. I should have, you know, borrowed some more money and finished my PhD in industrial engineering in Texas Tech. But nevertheless, what I did is I did my doctorate, professional doctorate in management studies in Indian School of Business Management. So slightly different. But, you know, I didn't, I didn't actually want to go for an MBA. So I want I did the doctorate in management studies because I was more interested in organizational behavior, operations. Management in that field. So I got it in 2012   Michael Hingson ** 15:07 Wow. So you, you, you did complete it, even though, again, it went in a slightly different direction. But what was your interest that that took you into a little bit more of a business oriented environment, because you had clearly been in mechanical engineering and in that discipline for most of your studies.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 15:25 Yes, yes. So, you know, when I was doing my master's degree in Industrial Engineering, you know, and I got interested in continuous improvement, lean, Six Sigma, transformation, change management in that field, more as I was doing my masters in industrial engineering. And then when I got my first job in in 3m 3m is a great company, as you know, you know, I learned all the basics of my lean, Six Sigma change management, you know, hands on in 3m and I'm still grateful to this day that my very first job was in 3am actually, it's a funny story, because, you know, I got the job in 3m on the same day I was interviewed. So the I was very lucky. I think the the line manager really liked me, and he said, kwaja, I'm going to hire you on the spot. So I was, I was really, really, you know, ecstatic on that day, and I still remember that feeling to this day, yes. So what interested me to coming back to your question was when I was working in 3m they have a good mentorship program. So they asked me, you know, how do you want your career to be? You know, where do you see yourself in five years? In 10 years? In 15 years? How do you see yourself growing? And I said, I want to grow in the technical field. I want to become like a subject matter expert in Lean, Six Sigma, Black Belt, Master, Black Belt. And I want to grow in the technical field. And I remember the mentor, she told me, kwaja, while that's a good thought, but you will not grow much if you are purely technical, you will grow more if you combine your technical expertise with management, how to lead people, how to manage people, how to do change management with people so she actually, you know, planted the seed in me to do more of, you know, people management role. And for that, she prompted me to do more courses in people management, leading teams, how to work and collaborate with, you know, cross functional teams. And that interested me, and I started to search for courses that would give me that exposure. And then, you know, given the fact that also I took some courses in my master's, or when I was doing my PhD in industrial engineering, it prompted me more to move away from technical rather than getting a PhD in industrial engineering, to do adopt rate in management studies. And hence I, you know, slightly moved into the people management, operations management, into the softer stuff of managing people and getting stuff done through people, through others.   Michael Hingson ** 18:14 Well, nothing, nothing wrong with that. I know my background was in physics. But along the way, there came a time that I was confronted with an opportunity to take a job that wasn't directly related to physics, and I chose to do it. But out of that, I ended up being put in a situation once where I had to make a choice to either go find a new job or change from doing kind of human factors studies and other things related to a product going in instead into sales, and I chose to go into sales, but my reasoning was, It's difficult enough for blind people to get jobs. Finding a new job would be really a challenge, whereas an opportunity was being offered, and it was a good opportunity, so I accepted it. So again, I know that many times we do find that there is a an opportunity that comes along that maybe we don't expect, and if we take it, it's the right way to go.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 19:14 Yes indeed. And your story has been fascinating, Michael, to be honest with you, it has been, you know, it's very inspirational. Your story, me and my wife, we were sharing, you know, how you how you overcame adversity, that's really, really, really inspirational.   Michael Hingson ** 19:33 Well, thank you. And I, I appreciate that. And you know, to me, it's just how we live life, and we sometimes we're presented with challenges and and we have to deal with those challenges, which is, of course, our role, and if we don't, then we're the losers for doing it. Well, in your case, did you ever have a defining moment or a situation where, if, since we call this unstoppable mindset, where. Kind of a mindset really affected you and to help you through it.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 20:05 Yeah. I mean, many, many, many, many situations, there's never a dull day in continuous improvement, so it's full of challenges. Always, always. You know, in every organization I have worked for, there have been challenges in terms of, you know, how to deploy continuous improvement, how to take people with you in the journey of continuous improvement. But one of the things you know early on, when I was doing my my master's degree, is, you know, I think that that laid the foundation also for me to become more resilient and more adaptable. You know, when, when my department said they didn't have funding I wanted to, and this was, you know, when, when I was doing my master's degree, not, not, you know, when I went into my PhD, when I was doing my master's degree, after a semester, they said they didn't have enough funding. So a lot of my colleagues, you know, those who are in engineering, whether mechanical or industrial or or chemical or petroleum engineering, they would they were searching for jobs. I think it was the summer of 2001 and since it was summer, a lot of professors were on were on vacation, and I went door to door, knocking on every professor's, you know, Office, Office door. And almost everybody you know, kind of, you know, either shoot me away or said, you know, we don't have funding. Or, you know, their doors were closed because they were on vacation. So one of the, one of the things I did, you know, you know, I was very, very frustrated. I couldn't sleep. So I thought, What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing wrong here? Why am I not getting the funding. Why am I not getting a research assistantship? So as I was laying on my on my bed that that night, one evening, I thought to myself, and an idea came to me, why don't I go into Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center, which is slightly far away. It's, you know, we have to walk, like, at least half an hour to get to the Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center. And it's predominantly, you know, biology, Health Sciences Center. So nobody, none of my colleagues, had gone there to look for a job. So I thought, why not go there? Maybe I will find some luck. So initially, you know, I was told, No, you know, you don't have a biology background or, you know, we don't have jobs here. But on the third day, one professor, you know, as I was, I thought, you know, my day, on that day also is going to be a disappointment. Around five o'clock that evening, when I was about to go home and I noticed one professor's door was open. His name is branch Schneider, so if he's, if he's watching, you know, I'm grateful to him also for this brand Schneider. He is the professor in oncology department in Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. So I approached him, his door was open, and I told him, I'm searching for a job. Any job? Would you be able to give me a job? He thought, he thought about it, and without hesitation, you know, he said, I do have a job, but you may not like it. And he said, You know, it's it involves washing dishes, bakers. Are you comfortable in doing it? I said, I thought about it, and I said, I can do it if it helps me to get in state tuition. And he also thought about it, and he said, Yeah, I think that should not be a problem. And once I agreed to do that, then he said, I don't want you to just do that. I want to use your engineering skills to help me with research. You know, doing some reports, research, reports and analysis using your engineering skills. Would you be able to do that? I said, That's my specialty. I would be glad to do that. So, you know, one thing led to another, and then, you know, he gave me the research assistantship, and you know, I was able to continue with my with my master's degree without, you know, burdening my parents. Because, you know, I had got a huge loan to go to the US, as you know, going to the US during those times is not, is not cheap. It's very expensive. So, you know, I think that's what, that's what laid the foundation. So I thought, you know, nothing is impossible. So if I can do that, I think I can convince people to do change management, at least my change management skills, and, you know, my Lean Six Sigma skills to do the continuous improvement in organizations. So I think that one moment, I think, was, you know, when, when I got that. I didn't realize that, you know, when I got back to my room and I told my friends that, you know, I had got this job, everybody's jaw dropped. They said, You have done something impossible. So they said, you know, we are now going to go to Health Sciences Center also. So I think a lot of our engineering guys went and knocked doors in Health Sciences Center, and they began to get jobs there. I   Michael Hingson ** 25:24 remember once, one of the first jobs my brother ever got. He was, I think, in high school. He had gotten to high school, and he went to apply at a restaurant for a job, just to earn some money. And the owner said, Well, you know, let me think about it. Would you go outside and we got some weeds out in the in the area around the restaurant, would you just pull the weeds? And my brother said, Sure, why not? I don't have anything else to do. So he went out on like, in a half hour, he had, excuse me, he had pulled all the weeds. The manager came out and was just absolutely amazed that he had had done all of that. And he said, Well, okay, and I thought about it, I'll give you a job. And of course, he was really being tested. Would he go out and do whatever he was asked to do? Which Which he did do? And when he came home and told my parents, and I was there at the time about that, they said, you understand that this guy was just testing you to see whether you would do whatever needed to be done to help the restaurant. And you passed, and he got the job. We never know where things are going to come from. And indeed, yes, we should be open and be willing to explore. It's always a good thing when we do that. I haven't thought about that in years, but you just reminded me of that story, and it's a great story, and for me, it was a lesson that you've got to do sometimes different things, and when, when you're really asking for someone's assistance, you also need to look at what they're asking you to do, and you need to do what they're asking   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 27:01 yes, unless it's to shoot No, I'm not going to go out and   Michael Hingson ** 27:07 shoot someone. But that's a different story. But well, that's great. Well, now, while you were in the United States, you also went off and got married, huh?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 27:18 Yes, I did.   Michael Hingson ** 27:21 Well, that was a that was a good thing. That's another good reason to have come to the US. Yes, now, is your wife from India or the US?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 27:33 Well, it's a, it's an interesting story. Once again, we she, she is. She's two years younger to me, and, you know, we met at a birthday party, and in, you know, at a professor's daughter's birthday party. And I initially thought I knew her from somewhere, so I was very, very shy to to approach her. But then some of her, some of her friends, or, I think some of my friends who knew her, they asked me if you know I would be okay to drop them to their house. So when I was, when I was driving, I looked at her through the, you know, the rear view mirror, yeah, and I, I liked her a lot, so, but I didn't know whether she was looking at me at that time or not. But then later, I told her that I was looking at you when I was driving. And then, you know, one thing led to another, and you know, we dated. She's from India, so she was also doing her master's degree. When, when, you know, at the time, you know, I was doing an internship in in a chemicals manufacturing company in Vernon, Texas, which is in the middle of nowhere. And I used to drive three hours from Vernon to Lubbock because I thought Lubbock was in the middle of nowhere. But then, when I was when I was working in Vernon, which is just no like a small town of 10,000 people, then when I used to drive back to Lubbock, it was like heaven, Paradise. I could see many people in Lubbock. So when I was driving back and forth. And I was in, I met her in this, in this party, and then we started to date. And then, you know, we got, we got married in the US in 2000 we were dating for a very long time. We lived together also for for a long time, we got to know each other. And then we got married in 2008   Michael Hingson ** 29:42 Ah, well, that's great. Congratulations. How long have you been married now? Thank you.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 29:48 Well. We have known each other now for 21 years since 2004 Yes, and we have been married since 2008 so 17 years. Wow. Congratulations. Thank you, thank you. And we have a son, 15 years old. And yeah, we, we are still, you know, happily married to each other, and she, you know, she has been a great support for me, not only in times of happiness, but but especially, you know, when I get frustrated, when when I'm not in such a good mood, or when I feel dejected, she has supported me tremendously, and she's still supporting me tremendously, but   Michael Hingson ** 30:30 I bet that goes both ways.   30:33 Yes,   Michael Hingson ** 30:35 you have to be more stable than you.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 30:41 Yes, well, I think she's more emotionally matured also. Then I don't want to tell her that, but she may know after this podcast   Michael Hingson ** 30:52 well. So you do a lot of work in working with people involved in resistance and change and continuous improvement, and you deal with people with resistance and change. How do you push back? And how do you push beyond that? How do you get people who are so resistive to change to to agreeing to change? You know, the reason I ask is that we all we all hear people talk all the time about how change is important. Changes is necessary, but none of us really want to change. How do you deal with that?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 31:26 Yes, so, you know, over the years, this is what, this is what I have learned also. And you know, I, I did my masters, my second masters in psychology, and that helped me a great deal. Also, I've always been, you know, fascinated with the psychology of human behavior. So I always wondered, you know, even when working in 3m or in my first company as an intern, I always wondered, you know, why? You know, even if a change is good, why are people resisting? And years and years passed by, I always, I always thought that, you know, we can, we can always convince people with rational, logical stuff, with data. But then I found out, you know, through through trial and error, I don't get convinced using logic. I have my own ways to resist. So when I learned about how I am resisting, I thought that's natural. Then how people, other people would resist. Because, you know my girlfriend at that time, who is my wife. Now, when she used to suggest something I would resist, that. She would say, quarter, you're not organized, you know, let's, let's get the house organized. And I would resist it because, you know, getting organized is a good thing, but then I had my own way of doing stuff. So, you know, to this day, I still resist, by the way, and she's still trying to convince me to get organized, but you know, I know why I resist. You know why I'm resisting. I know how I resist. So you know that, that you know early on, helped me, that, you know, people resist because we are trying to change them. It's not the change, but it's we are trying to change them into something that they don't want to so, for example, you know, one of the one of the line managers, or one of the leaders in a company that I worked for, he was completely against continuous improvement. He was telling me, I have been doing continuous improvement quadra, for 20 years, I don't need you to come and tell me how to do my job and how to improve it. And he was very open about it. I'm so glad he was. He was so open about it. Because, you know, I have also seen people who resist very covertly. They would say yes in front of you, and then, you know, go back and do their own stuff, or, you know, they won't do anything at all. So I wanted to understand him, why he felt that way. And, you know, I went on, you know, plant walks with him, and he was very proud when we were when we were walking around the plant, he showed me all the improvements that he did. So I told him, Bill, his name is Bill, what you're doing is continuous improvement. Bill, so I'm not trying to tell you to do your job. I'm here to tell you how to I'm here to help you how to do your job in a more structured way. And that's what CI is all about. So when I said that, immediately, he said, you know, guaja, I wish somebody you know, in your place, had told me that earlier, because people who had before you, who came before you, they were all about tools and templates. And I hate to use tools and templates. I'm more of a practical guy. So then that was a learning for me, also that, you know, that was an aha moment for me, that people, you know, certain people, have. Certain way of learning, and certain people have certain way of improving, but we all want to improve. So if we guide people in the right direction, and we talk their language, you know, we use their frame of reference, we use their language and and we see what are their pain points, and we try to help them overcome those pain points, then people would naturally, you know, you know, get the we would get the buy in for for the change, and people would not resist so much. So at the end, you know, what happened is Bill became a huge supporter of CI, not only a huge supporter of CI, he passed my green belt exam. Also, I coached him, and he passed my green belt exam. And he was, he was very happy. Initially, he was, he was, he was reluctant to even attend my course. But then, you know, after he went through the course, and then, you know, after we built the rapport. And then I, and then I told him, I'm not trying to replace you or, or I'm not trying to steal your job or, or I'm not telling trying to, you know, tell you how to do your job, because that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to help you. And continuous improvement is a more structured way of doing things, because you may be doing in trial and error, and by doing trial and error, you know, you may be making some costly mistakes, but when we apply it in a structured way, we can avoid 19 99% of errors, most of the time. So he really liked that approach. And he liked my approach of making things very, very practical, not speaking, you know, in heavy technical terms, not using the jargon and explaining it to him, you know, in his own language. That's what helped, you know, reduce the resistance. And over the years, what I have done is also, you know, adapt my way of how I'm approaching resistance. One of the courses which I took, and it was a certification course, also was, you know, instead of waiting for resistance to happen to you, we should approach resistance proactively. You know, when we announce a change, we should naturally expect resistance, and when we have resistance, it's a good thing. I have never, I never heard about it before, before I attended the course. I thought always resistance is bad. I thought resistance is something that we need to fight. We need to convince people, and those people who resist, they don't know what they're talking about. I used to see them as, you know, almost like enemies at workplace. This guy is against CI, why doesn't he or she gets CI, why are they, you know, resisting so much. Why are they criticizing me so much? I used to take it personally also. Later, I learned, you know, not to take things personally as well. So what I what I found, was that we should surface resistance proactively, whether you know it is in work life or in personal life, you know, when we are trying to do something out of the ordinary. When we are trying to improve something, we should expect resistance. And if there is no resistance, then that means either the resistance has gone underground, right, which has gone into COVID stage, or people have not understood the why. You know, what is this change? What is this? How is this going to affect me, people have not understood what you're talking about. So when we explain things, we should naturally expect resistance, and resistance helps in improving, you know, what is whatever we are trying to implement, you know, whether it is like a ERP implementation or, you know, Lean Six Sigma, or a transformation project, digital transformation, anything that we are trying to do, if people are resisting or if people are expressing concerns, it's a good thing. That's what I have learned over the years. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 38:50 at least, at least then they're open and they're talking to you about it, which is important. So how do you deal with the person who says, you know, like, like, Bill, I've been involved in continuous improvement, and maybe they really have, but you're talking about change, but in reality, what we have is working, and I'm not convinced that changing it is really going to make a difference. And you know, how do you deal with that?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 39:21 Yep, again, you know, over the years, I have so many stories this. This story, again, is some of the organizations I have worked in this. This particular person was, was saying the same thing. You know, it was one of the TETRA pack manufacturing lines, you have seen the TETRA pack, right? So the the TETRA pack where juice is packed, or milk is packed, or any beverage is packed, right? So these Tetra packs, when they were producing those Tetra packs of juice, they had. An issue of the juice packs being either overweight or underweight. So they had this continuous issue on the line, not just one line, but I think three or four of the lines, so consistently, it would be either overweight or underweight. And if you are consistent, if you are having the overweight or underweight, you would be audited, and you would get into all sorts of trouble. And moreover, you know, you're losing money if you if the pack is overweight and if the pack is underweight, somebody can, can, you know, file a claim. Customer complaints would increase. So this, this particular line manager, he said, you know he was, he was avoiding me. And I know that he would, he would avoid me so, but he, you know, at that point of time, he had no choice. So he said, kwaja, I have a few ideas, you know, I don't before, you know, you come and tell me, you know, continuous improvement, blah, blah, blah. I have a few ideas. I want to test them. And he gave me, he gave me, you know, the his thought process, and he wanted to try that before, you know, he before he agreed to listen to me. So I said, Bob, I'm all for it, please. Please, go ahead and let's see whether you know what you're trying to do. Works or not. So basically, in, you know, in our language, what we call it as as an experiment in continuous improvement terminology, we call it as an experiment. He was trying to do, you know, an experiment with one factor at a time, meaning that, you know, he would try to change one variable, and he would try to see whether that has any impact on, you know, the over overfilled packs or under filled packs. So he wanted to change one variable at a time, and there were three, four variables at that time, which he thought were, you know, suspects. So he wanted to change those variables and see what the impact would be. So I told him, Bob, yeah, let's, let's, let's try that. And I told him, you know, very politely, if that doesn't work, would you be willing to try what I am asking you to do? Because I have an idea. Also, he said, Yeah, let's, let's, let's do that. So I worked with him. I worked with him on the line, with his supervisors also. And he tried, you know, one factor at a time. He trained. He changed this, he changed that. It didn't work. So reluctantly. But then the good thing was, he was open minded also, reluctantly, he said, Okay, let's, let's sit in my office and let's talk. So I told him about a concept called Design of Experiments, DOE, in that, in that me using that you know, methodology, you can basically, you can basically have three, four factors which you can vary them simultaneously, and then see the impact on over packing and under packing. So when I explained to him, when I when I taught him about the concept him and his supervisors and the line operators, he said, Yeah, let's let's try. Let's see if this works. And at the end of the day, we were both trying to improve the process. We were both trying to get rid of this problem, sure, so we should be rolling. And then it worked within, within a few days, the problem got resolved. So what I learned from that is, sometimes, you know, you need to let people you know hit the wall before you offer them a solution. So that's something that I have learned. But of course, you know, in this case, it was not such a costly mistake. It was not, it was not like a disaster, but it was the controlled disaster. So, so what   Michael Hingson ** 43:28 was the actual change? What what change was made that fixed the problem? Or what was your idea that fixed the problem because he was changing variable at a time, but that was one example   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 43:39 at a time. Yep. So we had to do the root cause analysis. And through the root cause analysis, whatever variables that he was going after were not the root causes because he was not using a structured methodology. Okay, when we use the structured methodology, we went into root cause analysis. We did a structured like a fish bone diagram. I don't want to go into the technical details, but we did the in depth root cause analysis, and then we did something called as a design of experiment, where we chose three factors and we varied it simultaneous, so it is a controlled experiment which we did, and immediately, you know, it's not that you know you would do that, and you would get result. One month later, you would get results immediately, you would see the result immediately when you do that experiment versus what he did, it involved a certain bit of time. It would take one week for us to see a change. So when I showed him this and this versus this, he was really impressed. And from that day onwards, he became a huge supporter of CI, in fact, you know, the plant in which I was working in, you know, with the support of, you know, one of the plant managers, Tim, his name, I'm I'm still, you know, in touch with him, and you know we share thoughts with each other. I see him as a huge mentor. Also, you know, we got plant of the Year Award for a plant to talk. About to be shut down, back in 2009 so that's, that's, you know, how we were able to, you know, build the, get the buy in from all the line managers and, you know, get started on the continuous improvement journey. Because the the the management had told that if you don't improve within a few months, you would be shut down. So we all work together, and we did experiments like this, and we were able to turn around a plant, of course, you know, not just me, so I just played one small role in that we did as a team. It was a team effort,   Michael Hingson ** 45:34 and that's how you really overcome resistance to change when, when people see that you bring something to the table that works, then they're probably more apt to want to listen to you.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 45:49 Yep, indeed. We need to know what we're talking about. You know that that builds trust? Definitely.   Michael Hingson ** 45:54 Yeah. And then the issue is that you what you're talking about is is, in a sense, different than what they understand, and it's a matter of establishing credibility. Yes, which is, which is pretty cool. Well, so tell me about your books. You've written two books, and you've written I n, s, p, i R, E, and you've, you've written another book, tell us about those.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 46:25 Yes, so I, you know, I have always wanted to share my knowledge, and I have always been sharing my knowledge, you know, through training, through coaching, I have conducted so many training sessions, so many and I have learned also, you know, from from shop floor employees, frontline employees, from middle managers. I have learned so much from them. And also executives, top executives, you know, leaders from various industries. You know whether it is manufacturing or logistics or, you know, back offices, banking, you know, pure manufacturing or logistics container, container shipping business, or aluminum rolling business. So I wanted to write this book to share my knowledge, because when I see that change management or change is being implemented very poorly, that really frustrates me. So I wanted to share this, and I have seen, you know, numerous books being written on this. You know, numerous frameworks, also, you name it. You know, there are so many books out there. What I wanted to do is give a simple framework, which is, I, N, s, p, i, R, E, which is, you know, if you have to implement change you need to inspire employees. There are no two ways about it. If we can talk about logic, we can talk about change management, we can talk about what's in it. For me, everything, but in my experience, if anyone is, if any employee or if any individual is not inspired by the change, the change is not going to go anywhere. They may do out of compliance, but we will not really get their hearts in it. And that's why I, you know, came up with this framework called Inspire, which is I basically is inspired the need for change in employees. N is navigate the organization and build a coalition. And stands for that. S is to surface resistance proactively, meaning, as we discussed, don't wait for resistance to hit you. You know when you least expect it, and then, and then, you know the change goes nowhere. Surface resistance proactively. And P is plan, your implementation. You know, when I say plan, not just, you know, like a, like a 20 step bullet point, there are so many plans that need, that need to come together, like a communication plan, resistance management plan, a training plan. There are so many plans that need to work together. And again, depending on the complexity of the change, you know, I never advocate, you know, over complicating stuff. And then you have, I, which is implementation When, when, you know, this is where rubber meets the road, if we don't implement the change in a structured way, you know, leaders are not role modeling on the shop floor. Leaders are just, you know, we call it as EMR. And this is, again, from another framework called Aim. Aim, you know, basically what we what we mean here is you can express. Leaders can express about the change, role model the change and reinforce the change. EMR, so if leaders are just expressing the change, it will lead to one times the improvement, but if leaders are role modeling the change, it will lead to three. Times the change acceleration. And if leaders are reinforcing the change, it will lead to 10 times accelerating the change. So that's what I talk about, in terms of implementation, you know, experimentation and stuff, which is i, and then you have reinforce and sustain, which is r, and then E stands for evaluating and learning. You know, after we close a change initiative, after we signed off on a change initiative, have what have we learned from it? What have we learned from it, and what, what if we had a, if we had a chance to make a do over, what would we do differently? What have we learned from it? And what would we do differently, and if we were to do implement another change, what are the learnings that we can take from this change that we have implemented and apply the learnings in our next change? And also, you know when, when leadership transitions, many, many changes, what? What happens? And you know this is what I have experienced, and this frustrates me a lot as well. Is, you know, when leadership changes, the change gets, you know, messed up. I want to say fucked up, but you know, and I don't know if I'm allowed to say that. You know, every leader, every leader, wants to come in and you know, right or wrong? You know, I'm not blaming a leader wants to leave their mark in the organization, which is good, but what they what they inadvertently do, is undo the change which their predecessors have done. And then people get confused, you know, they say it as a flavor of the month. Or they say, Okay, let's wait until this leader moves on, so that, you know, we can, we can, you know, just wait until this change passes away and it leads to, you know, production of morale and lots of issues. So this is what I talk about in my book, as well, how to avoid these, these situations. So it's like a practical framework where you know which anybody can take and apply to any change of any complexity, and you know if, even if it is very, very simple change which is going to take maybe 10 days or five days only, they can quickly go through the Inspire framework and see, you know, what are the gaps and whether we have, whether we are implementing the change in a proper, structured way. And these are in this is just a framework, you know, and you know, we don't have to use all the tools that I have mentioned in the book. We can pick and choose the tools which are relevant for the change that we are trying to implement.   Michael Hingson ** 52:38 What is the the key to making change sustainable when maybe leadership changes or the company environment shifts,   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 52:48 yes. So, you know, as Dr Deming said, constancy of purpose, right? So, so if I'm a leader, Mike, and you know, if I'm changing my role, and if I'm going to, you know another function or another department, whether in the same organization or in a different organization, and let's say that you know, Mike, you are taking over my role. What is the constancy of purpose? You know? Are we? Does the organization, you know, it starts from our organization level. Does the organization have a constancy of purpose, and is it aligned with the vision and mission and whatever I have, whatever changes I have implemented, have I communicated them to you? Is there a smooth handover between me and you, so that you understand what are the changes I have done, what are the improvements I have done, and you know how you can take it forward and continuously improve upon it. So one thing is completely undoing and the other thing is continuously improving upon it. So that, you know, people see it as a natural, continuous improvement, rather than continue, rather than, you know, abruptly undoing something and then, and then, you know, starting from, you know, scratch, starting from scratch, and saying that, Oh, no, no, no, no, whatever this person did is total crap. And now we are going to change or revolutionize the whole organization where, which, you know, nine out of 10 times is, is, you know, you're just rehashing what this person has done into something new, into, you know, a different framework or a different bottle, however you want to frame it. So the there has to be a smooth hand over. So that's, that's, you know, point number one, and point number two is the the employees, the middle managers have the middle managers and the in the whole leadership team. They have an obligation. They have a accountability to make sure that, you know, they are aligned, to make sure that if one of their leadership team members is moving on, whenever a new leadership team member comes on board, to onboard them in a structured way, not to leave them, you know, hanging, not to, you know, not to let that person. Know, implement his or her own way completely. You know, let on board them and let them know what has happened in the organization. How they can, you know, continuously improve upon it. I'm not saying that, you know, revolutionary change is not required all. I'm saying that there are times when a revolution is required, but most of the times, continuous improvement is good enough. You know, when, when we, when we continuously improve. It keeps the continuity going. And people don't see it as you know, change after change after change. You know, we don't, we don't induce change fatigue in the organizations if we, if we do it as a continuum   Michael Hingson ** 55:40 makes sense, and it's all about and it's all about communication, yep,   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 55:44 indeed. And that's where, you know, that's why I have written my second book, which is, which is about active listening. You know, I'm a bad listener, I have to be honest. So I used to be a very, very bad listener. Now I'm just a bad listener. So I have continuously improved on my listening skills, and at least I know now that you know, I'm aware of my how I need to improve my listening skills. So over the years, I have done, I have I have learned the techniques of how to listen and when and when I say listen, it is not to many people, many of us, you know, even even now. Also sometimes I catch myself, you know, trying to listen to reply or listen to respond. So when I catch myself doing that, I consciously, you know, try to listen to the person. So again, in this book, I have shared, you know, the the techniques which would help anybody to become a better listener, which, you know, one is one of the requirements for being a great leader, how to listen to people and how to listen to people, truly, truly listen to people. So I talk about simple, simple techniques in the book. You know, for example, paraphrasing, remembering, listening without judgment, right? Or suspending judgment, as I say so. You know, I rank these techniques in increasing order of complexity, suspending judgment being the most difficult, you know when, when someone starts speaking, or, you know, even if, even when we see someone immediately, in the first five seconds, we judge that person. And, you know, right or wrong, we judge that we and in this book, also, I talk about, you know, why we are prone to judging people, and why we have such a such a difficult time in suspending judgment. So if we are aware that you know, let's say that you know when I'm talking to you, Mike, if I catch myself judging you right, so at least I know that I'm Judging You right. So at least I can I know that I'm judging you, and I should not do that. I should listen to you, and I should try to understand where you are coming from, instead of saying, instead of just thinking in my mind, oh, whatever Mike is saying is it doesn't make any sense. So maybe initially it may not make sense. But you know, when we open our ears, we have two years, and that's for a reason, and only one mouth. So we need to listen, and we need to completely understand where the other person is coming from, whether you know it is in personal life or in work life. You know, when we, if we don't listen to the teams whom we are managing, and if we just say, you know, do as I say, it's my way or the highway, people will do because you know you are their line manager. But it won't last long. No, the minute you, you know, change your team, or the minute you go out, people will, people will be, you know, good riddance. So, so that's what they'll be thinking. So how to listen to people, and also it will help the leader to grow. You know, over the years, when I listen to my wife, I have understood my own shortcomings, and if I had listened to her 20 years back, maybe I would have been a different person. Maybe, maybe I would have been a more mature person. So this is what, you know, I talk about in the in the book as well. How can we truly, truly listen? And some techniques like paraphrasing. You know, when, when our mind wanders, you know, it will be good to paraphrase the person to whom you're you're speaking so that you know you you remember, so remembering, paraphrasing, empathy, for example, you know, not just talking about KPI, KPI KPIs to the team members. Understand how they're doing. You know, are they having any personal issues? How is their family? You know, work is not, you know what, what? Work is a part of our life. But you know, we spend eight to 10 hours at at a workplace. So we need to know the team members whom we are managing, and we need to listen to them. If somebody is, you know, performing badly, right? It's very easy to give them a negative feedback. But. So if we listen to them, and if they feel heard, maybe they are going through something, or maybe they are not getting enough support. If we listen to them, and if we create that environment of active listening in the whole team, suspending judgment and listening actively, then we create a more stronger bond, and the team would would become like a world class team. This has been my experience. So this is what I have shared in my, in my in my second book,   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:29 and certainly words to to remember. Well, we have been doing this an hour now, and I think it's probably time that we we end it for the day. But if people want to reach out to you. How can they do that?   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 1:00:43 Well, I am there on on LinkedIn, and people can reach me through email, and I'll be more than happy to, you know, respond to anything they need. And I'm I know if people want to reach out to me to conduct any training sessions, my website is also their journey towards excellence. You know where I have my offerings. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:04 what is the website? What is the website called, again, journey towards excellence. Journey towards excellence.com, okay, and your email address, khwaja.moinuddin@gmail.com and spell that, if you would   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 1:01:21 Yes, please. K, H, W, A, j, A, dot, M, O, I n, u, d, d, I n@gmail.com,   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:32 great. Well, I hope people will reach out. I think you've offered a lot of great insights and inspiration for people. I appreciate hearing all that you had to say, and I knew I was going to learn a lot today and have and I always tell people, if I'm not learning at least as much as everyone else, I'm not doing my job right. So I really appreciate your time, and it's now getting late where you are, so we're going to let you go. But I want to thank you again for being here, and I do want to thank everyone who is listening and watching us today. We really appreciate it. If you would, I'd love it. If you'd give us a five star review. Wherever you're watching us and listening to us, if you'd like to talk to me or email me about the episode and give us your thoughts, feel free to do so. At Michael H, I m, I C, H, A, E, L, H i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I, B, e.com, or go to our podcast page. Michael Hinkson, that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, o, n.com/podcast, love to hear from you if any of you have any thoughts as to someone else who might make a good podcast guest. And quad you as well. Would love it if you let us know we're always looking for more people to come on and be guests on the show. But again, kwaja, I want to thank you for being here. This has been wonderful.   Dr Khwaja Moinuddin ** 1:02:47 Thank you. Thank you so much, Mike, and it's been a real pleasure talking to you, and it's an honor to be part of your podcast. I wish I had met you earlier and learned I would have learned so much from you, I would definitely, definitely, definitely, you know, reach out to you to learn more. And you know, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you definitely for the opportunity.   **Michael Hingson ** 1:03:15   You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to inter

Entrepreneurial Data-Driven Growth Strategies are no longer optional—they're essential for scaling and sustaining a successful business. In this episode, we sit down with James Childress, a seasoned CPA and growth advisor, to explore how entrepreneurs can harness data to drive profitability, efficiency, and sustainable growth.For founders, startup leaders, and small business owners looking for answers to critical business challenges, this conversation is a goldmine. James helps you understand and implement Financial Systems for Entrepreneurs that support long-term success. He explains the power of Data-Driven Business Decisions and shares actionable insights on Scaling a Business with Systems, all rooted in decades of experience.We also explore the foundational wisdom of W. Edwards Deming Business Principles, and how they still apply in today's age of Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and real-time analytics. If you're searching for guidance on Profitability Optimization for Startups, Entrepreneurship and Financial Planning, or Strategic Forecasting for Entrepreneurs, this episode answers your questions with clarity and expertise.Whether you're studying Enterprise Growth Strategies Class 12 Entrepreneurship, developing Growth Strategies in Entrepreneurship, or working in Data Analysis as a Data Analyst, this conversation will deepen your understanding and give you tools to grow.You'll walk away knowing how to align your data systems, improve Decision Making, and embrace Data-Driven Marketing strategies—all while building a more resilient and impactful business.

Why would any leader choose to take on a transformation that requires rethinking how they lead, how their organization functions, and how they learn? In this episode, we dive deeper with Cliff Norman and David Williams, co-authors of Quality as an Organizational Strategy, exploring Chapter 11: “Getting Started.” They share powerful stories, practical steps, and the deep-rooted challenges leaders face when shifting from conventional methods to building true learning organizations grounded in Dr. Deming's philosophy. This conversation highlights why improvement cannot be delegated, why leadership transformation is essential, and how to begin the journey—with clarity, commitment, and courage. TRANSCRIPT 0:00:02.1 Andrew Stotz: My name is Andrew Stotz and I'll be your host as we dive deeper into the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Today we are going to continue our conversation with Dave Williams and Cliff Norman about their book Quality as an Organizational Strategy. I found this book fascinating because I think it's addressing something where there's been a bit of a hole and that is how do we think about the strategy of our business? And so we already had our conversation in a prior episode about the overview of the book, but today we're going to be talking about specifically, now this is kind of funny because we're going to be talking about the back of the book and that is chapter 11, getting started. Dave, why don't you take it away?   0:00:53.3 Dave Williams: Well, thanks, Andrew. Thanks for having us back on the Deming podcast. So, as you mentioned, part of the way that the book is laid out is that it describes kind of the foundations that are behind quality as an organizational strategy and begins sort of with an introduction that explains a good bit about how Dr. Deming had this provocation of a need for leaders to transform the way that they approach leading organizations. And part of that was to move not just from process based improvement projects, but to start to think about major systems in the organization and to pursue quality as the overall strategy and create a continuous improvement organization or learning organization. And so the book lays some of the foundation behind the science of improvement or behind profound knowledge that underpin the thinking, walks through quality as an organizational strategy, as a method of five interdependent activities. Then at the end it comes back full circle to say, well, this is great, now you've learned about these theories and methods. But a natural question for any leader would be, how do I get started? And one of the first things that we talk about in that section actually is about why leaders would want to do this transformation.   0:02:30.9 Dave Williams: And this actually came from a conversation that Lloyd and Cliff and I had in 2020 where we were talking about getting on this journey of building the book. And we all kind of recognized that this was really, really hard work. And we were curious or we, we didn't have a good answer of what was our theory about why somebody would deviate from the way in which they work today and embark on a transformational change of the way that they approach leadership, the way that they approach organizations. And actually I ended up going on a journey of interviewing a whole host of leaders who had been influenced by Deming, who had been involved in improvement in healthcare, folks like Dr. Berwick and Paul Batalden and Brent James. I interviewed some folks in the UK and other places, like John Seddon, and asked them, oh and I should Blaine Godfrey, who had been the lead of the Durand Institute, and I posed the question, what causes somebody to want to embark on this change? And many people actually had a hard time articulating it. But the answer that emerged, or actually Blaine Godfrey was the one that kind of framed it the best, I think, for us, was a number of things.   0:03:57.7 Dave Williams: Sometimes it's something like a book like this comes out and people read it and it's interesting and new. Sometimes it's an event happens, a patient safety event or a major accident or something of which causes people to have to change or do something different. Sometimes it's a discouragement with a desire that you know you could do better, but you don't have methods or know how to. So there were a host of things that we listed, and those are some of a sample of them that might invite somebody to say, the way that we're working today is not getting us to the level that we want to. And now we want to embark on something different. And we might look to something like quality as an organizational strategy as a method for us to transform the way that we're working and build on the shoulders of Deming's philosophy and the science of improvement and do it differently.   0:04:56.0 Andrew Stotz: And when I look at the book, you guys are bringing together a lot of different stuff. It's not just a Deming book. It's Deming is a part of this, and that's fascinating. One of the questions I have is when we look at, let's say, a business owner, a business leader is looking for answers, as you said, maybe it's an event, maybe it's a discouragement, maybe it's a feeling like we can do better. Maybe it's just being beaten by competitors. They come to a point where they start looking for answers and they find some fantastic books, authors, ideas, consultants, all this and I think about whether that's Peter Drucker or whether that's the Lean movement or whether that's, let's say Taguchi or something like that is the teachings that you guys are talking about - and I'm going to specifically ask about the teachings of Dr. Deming. Is it more or is it more difficult or less difficult to implement than other books or styles or methods that someone's going to come across?   0:06:08.7 Cliff Norman: I have to quote one of my colleagues here who probably knew about more about Deming than anybody in API or all of us combined, that's Ron Moen, who did, I think it was 88 seminars, four-day seminars with Dr. Deming. Dr. Deming once told him, he said, Ron, I believe you've been to more of these and I've been to. And it's kind of a joke. He had a great sense of humor. But you know, Ron told me the problem with Deming is he's asking us to change. And there's all sorts of things out there that require the management and the leadership, they really don't have to do anything different. And there are several things out there. In fact, Philip Crosby, one of the three gurus during when they launched, he was more the evangelical and had a way of talking to management so that they understood it, which that was his contribution to all that. But when Six Sigma came up and black belts and all that, and Crosby looked at him and says, that's not going to change the system. He said, all you're doing is killing a bear for management, killing a bear for management, and then you'll get a black belt.   0:07:19.9 Cliff Norman: You know, And I thought, wow that's pretty profound. Because the management at that point doesn't have to do anything, just have the black belt ceremony. There's absolutely no change on their part. Where Deming, as Ron says, he's kind of a pain. You've got to learn about variation, you got to learn about Shewhart charts. You've got to be able to put together a family of measures for your organization. You've got to understand your organization's system. You need to understand psychology, you need to understand theory of knowledge and how people learn how they change. And nothing else out there puts that on leaders. And so that was a question that Dave was lending back to. Why would somebody do this to themselves? You know, why would they take on this whole extra thing to learn and all the rest of it. And for the people that I know that have made that, that bridge, the pure joy that they get and the rewards they get from people who are learning and that they're leading and that they're changing and they're able to go to other organizations and repeat this and call them up and say, thank you so much for helping me learn how to be a real leader.   0:08:35.8 Cliff Norman: I mean, that's the reward in it. But it requires a real change on the part of the leader. And I don't know of anything else, Andrew, that actually requires that kind of in depth change. And there was one of our leaders, Joe Balthazar, he had Jane and I do four years in a row with his leadership team, teach them the science of improvement. The same curriculum, same leaders, four years in a row. And the second year I was doing it, I said, don't we need... No, no, Cliff, I want you to do exactly what you did last year. He said, it takes years for people to understand this. And I thought, wow, this is unbelievable. But on the fourth year, the VP of sales walked up to me and he says, I think I figured it out. And I thought, wow. And it does it literally... Because you've got to depart from where you've been and start thinking about how you're going to change and let go of what's made you successful up to this point. And that's hard, that's hard for anybody to do.   0:09:47.2 Cliff Norman: And anybody's been through that four day seminar knows when they crossed that path that all of a sudden they had to say, you know what I've been doing, I can see where I've been, the problem and not the solution. And that's tough for us. That really is tough. And Deming says you have to give up that guilt trip. And once you understand the theory of variation, once you understand systems, once you understand psychology and theory of knowledge, it's time then for you to move on and let go of the guilt. I hope that makes sense. But that's the difficulty in this.   0:10:17.6 Andrew Stotz: It reminds me of two, it made me think about two things. I mean, I was just a 24 year old guy when I attended the seminars that I did, and they weren't even four day. I think they were two-day ones at Quality Enhancement Seminars in, what was it, George Washington, I think. But the point that I remember, as just a young guy who I was, I pretty much admired all these business leaders. And then to see Dr. Deming really nail em to the wall and say it's about you changing. And whether he was saying that directly or whether that he was implying that through the Red Bead experiment or other things, it's about you shaping the system. That really blew me away because I had already read some books and I was pretty excited. And then it also made me think about, let's say there's a really good book, I would say Good to Great by Jim Collins that highlights some things that you can do to succeed and make your business better. And you can just buy that book and hand it to your management team and go, hey, implement what you learned from this book.   0:11:20.8 Andrew Stotz: Whereas with the Deming book, it's like there's just so much more to it. So I guess the answer to this is it is more takes time. There's more thinking going on. And I think that's part of the whole point of what your book does, is to help us map it out. So why don't we go through and think about this and kind of maybe step by step through what is the starting point and how do we go?   0:11:45.4 Cliff Norman: Andrew, I just got to add to what you just said there and go back to Joe Balthazar at Hallmark Building Supplies. He shared with me that, and he's the one that said I want you to do these four year seminars dedicated Deming's idea of Profound knowledge. And he said, Cliff, the day I made it, I knew I'd made it. Is my son Joey spilled his milk. He's about three years old. And he said, I started to do my normal leap across the table and he said I was about mid air. And I thought, oh my, this is what they do. This is part of their system. This is common. And I'm treating this like it's special. And that was so profound for him. And when, when you move beyond the Shewhart chart and you see events in your life around you relative to the theory of variation, common and special cause variation at a deep way like that, that's the kind of transformation you want to see in a leader. And Joe will tell you he's forever grateful for Deming and everything he's learned, and I think that's the reward. But people need to be willing to go on that journey, as Dave was saying.   0:12:53.0 Andrew Stotz: So Dave, why don't you walk us through a little bit of what you guys are teaching in that chapter.   0:13:00.3 Dave Williams: Sure. Well, one of the next steps obviously is if somebody, if a leadership team thinks that they want to go on this journey, there's some considerations they got to think about. As we've already sort of alluded to or touched on, this is a leadership responsibility and a leadership change. And so there's got to be will amongst the leadership team in order to say we want to work together and work hard to do this work. That this is not something that, similar to Cliff's example of say, having black belts, that we can just hand it off, somebody else will do it, and we can just keep going about our business and hope. It's important that leaders spend time recognizing and thinking about the fact that this is going to involve them doing work, doing effort, changing the way that they think, changing the way that they practice. And I like to say it's good hard work. I mean it's going to be something that's deeply rewarding. But it does require them to have that will. And with will then it's going to come time and energy, right? They've got to make the space, they've got to create regular routines and opportunities for them to learn just in terms of content, learn in terms of practice or application and learn in the process of doing the improvement work and doing the change to the way that they work in the organization.   0:14:38.0 Dave Williams: So there's going to be a need to build in that ability. And then a third thing is to ask whether you think this is something that you can do on your own or whether it might be useful to have help. And help may be an internal, a consultant, but likely not to promote consulting it but, but there's a good chance that you're going to need somebody that has both experience in improvement and helping people do results-driven improvement as well as somebody who has experience doing system wide change through a lens like QOS. And, and the advantage of that often is it it gives you as a leadership team to focus in on your job of thinking and looking and learning and allow somebody else to be an external intervener, somebody who comes in and creates some of the support, some of the context, some of the ways that can make it easier for you to step back and look at your organization in a different way. And so many times those are some of the things that should be considered as teams working through it. Cliff, what would you add or improve upon.   0:16:07.3 Cliff Norman: The idea of external help. Deming was pretty black and white about that. I was kind of surprised. I went back and read one of his quotes. He said, "I should mention also the costly fallacy held by many people in management that a consultant must know all about a process in order to work on it. All evidence is exactly the contrary. Competent men in every position, from top management to the humblest worker know all there is to know about their work except how to improve it. Help towards improvement can come only from outside knowledge." And I was reflecting on that today with Jane who's been involved in this for 40 plus years also. I said Jane, when he said that, I think it was accurate because at that time she and I were going to Duran seminars. There's only two books out there with methods. One was Ishikawa's book on Guide to Quality Control. And the other was Feigenbaum's book. And then of course you had Duran's book on The Quality Handbook, which was a nice doorstop. But there wasn't that much knowledge about improvement. And the worst part where Deming was really getting to was there's very few people you'd run into that actually under the Shewhart methods and charts and understand the difference between special and common cause variation.   0:17:27.0 Cliff Norman: And so you had to bring that kind of knowledge in from the outside. And frankly, we've had people go off the rails here. You know, Dr. Deming in the teaching of statistics has identified analytic studies which is focused on looking at data over time and trying to understand that and simple methods and approaches and then what he calls enumerative statistics, which is use of T tests, F tests and all the rest of it, which assumes that under the IDD principle that data is independent and identically distributed. Well, if you have any special causes in the data set, it blows up both of those assumptions and the use of those methods doesn't offer any help in prediction. And as Dr. Deming often said, prediction is the problem. And then go back to Shewhart. And Shewhart said, things in nature are inherently stable, but man-made processes are inherently unstable. So when Dave and I first do a Shewhart chart for a client, we don't expect for it to be stable. We expect for to have special causes. And as Dr. Deming said and also Dr. Juran, that when you get a stable system, that in and of itself is an achievement, that means nobody's messing around with the system anymore.   0:18:43.0 Cliff Norman: And you see this in the simplest things, like in an office, somebody will walk in and they think that their body is the standard for what the internal temperature should be for that room. So then they walk up and they start tampering with the thermostat. And by the end of the day everybody's irritated because we've had so many bodies up there with their standard. Moving the funnel on us here, and just leaving it alone would probably all be better off. But you have to learn that. And I think that's what Dr. Deming was saying, is that that kind of knowledge is going to come from the outside. Now the good news is is that since he wrote that in 1986, we've got a lot of people out there and some of them are in organizations that do understand the Shewhart methods and can understand the difference between common and special cause variation. They do understand the difference between a new and analytic studies and statistics and they can be of help. So the Deming Institute has a room full of these people show up, but they're at their gatherings annually. So we're a lot further along than we were in 1986.   0:19:45.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. So let's go through that for just a second. Some considerations you've talked about. You know that it's a leadership change. Right. And you gotta ask yourself, are we ready to work on this? And you know, this is not a hands-off thing. The second thing you talked about is time and energy. Are we ready to make the space for this? We have to have regular meetings. You know, we've gotta really... There's some work involved here. And then the third part you've talked about is outside help. And you mentioned about this story of Joe Balthazar and how he asked you to do the same topic over and over for four years. And imagine if he was telling his team, let's meet and try to implement some of this stuff on our own. Everybody dig into a book and then let's try. It would be very difficult to make that kind of progress compared to bringing an outside person. Which also brings me to the last thing that you said, Cliff, which was the idea that Dr. Deming had mentioned, that you need an outside person to truly change something. Everybody's got the expertise on the inside.   0:20:44.5 Cliff Norman: I appreciate you summarizing that because my job and working with Joe and leadership team, I was meeting with him every month. But what the four years that Jane and I spent were the next levels of his leadership. You know, it wasn't the leadership team. And I'm glad you brought that up because it was the very next level that he wanted exposed to this and the VP of sales that came in, he was new, so he had to be part of this group because he wasn't there originally. And so there was that ongoing... He wanted that next generation that was going to take over for him and the others to really understand this. So I'm glad you summarized that for me to help.   0:21:30.5 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. And I think one of the starting points too, I mean, the body of work, not just this book, but the other books that you guys have been involved in and produced provide a lot of the starting points for this. So there's a lot there. Dave, where do we go after these considerations? And the people say, okay, yeah, leadership says, we want to make this change. We're ready to make some time for it. We're willing to get outside support and help. Where do we go next.   0:21:57.7 Dave Williams: Right. Well, one thing that we typically invite a leadership team to do is to take kind of a self assessment of where they sort of see their baseline in relation to the methods and activities of QOS. So in chapter one of the book, there's actually a table that is 10 different categories. And then each leader takes it independently and they rate their level of agreement with different definitions from 0 to 10. 0 being this really isn't present, and 10 is, I'm very, very far along on this journey that in the book that's out now, there's a summarized table, it's on a page. But actually in the QOS field guide that we're working on publishing this year, there's a much more detailed version that we use in practice that has deeper definitions, but basically it works its way through purpose and leadership and systems thinking and measurement and all the things that are tied into QOS and what... And as I mentioned, we have each individual member of the leadership team take it independently and then we bring those scores together to learn together.   0:23:32.5 Dave Williams: And there's different ways in which you can display it. In the book, we show an example of a leadership team's scatter plot where it shows the rating and then it also shows the standard deviation amongst that exists between the leadership team. It's very, very common for leaders to not be in agreement in terms of their score in each of the different areas. You know what I said, It's a 0 to 10 scale. Typically, in my experience using the tool, people tend to be between a 2 and a 6 and hovering around a 2 or a 4. But it sort of looks like a buckshot or shotgun blast where there's a very... If you were to put dots where everybody scores, where there's variation that exists. And that's good because it's useful for the team to pause and think about why they assess the organization the way that they did. Looking at it through this new lens, where are the places that there's agreement and also where are the places that there's variation? And that helps them to be able to think about the fact that through this process, they're likely to both improve their assessment of the organization, but also increase their agreement about where they are and what they need to do to move forward and what they need to do to improve.   0:25:05.2 Dave Williams: And so that's a useful starting point, gets everybody kind of on the same page, and it's something that we can use at intervals as one of the ways to continually come back and evaluate progress towards the destination of pursuing quality as an organizational strategy.   0:25:23.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, I mean, I imagine that self assessment, it helps you too when you work with companies to be able to really understand, okay, here are starting point with this company is really, they just really don't know much about all of this stuff, whereas you'll have some other clients that basically, wow, okay, there's a lot of knowledge here about it, but how's the implementation and all that? So are we ready to change? Are we prepared to devote the time and energy? Are we going to get outside help? And where are we now? What's our starting point that's great to help us understand exactly how you step through it. What comes next?   0:26:03.5 Cliff Norman: Well, in that very first milestone, in that table, is it table three, Dave? Anyway, the very first milestone is to establish formal improvement efforts. And the reason for that is that unless people experience what it takes to develop, test and implement changes in the organizations, they really can't appreciate the structure that comes with quality as an organizational strategy. Because it's very difficult for many organizations to launch three or four improvement efforts and then bring them to fruition. And there's all sorts of stuff that happens. And then you find out very quickly whether you have managers or leaders, and organizations they've brought me in, they say, let's do some leadership training. I said, no, let's just do some improvement and then we'll find out if we have leaders or not. And one group, I won't mention who it was, but they had five people on their leadership team and they had to replace two of them because they found out they couldn't actually manage an improvement effort. And then the CEO was wondering how they actually manage their organization, which they weren't either. And so it's a rather, it's an important test in the front.   0:27:22.2 Cliff Norman: But as Dr. Juran says, it's real important to develop the habit of improvement. And if you don't know what that is, if you've never experienced it, then it's hard to say to people, gee, I need a purpose that aligns my improvement efforts. I need to understand my system so I know where those improvements are going on. I need to build an information system, get information from customers outside, people inside. I need to put together a strategic plan that actually makes improvements on purpose. That's a lot of work. And once you understand how complicated it can get in terms of just doing three or four improvement efforts and then all of a sudden you got a portfolio of 30 to do your strategic plan. Now that needs some structure, that needs some guidance and all the rest of it. But I'll just go back one step further. My own journey. I was sent by Halliburton at Otis Engineering to go see Dr. Deming 1982 in February. And coming back, I had an audience with the president of our organization, Purvis Thrash. And I went on and on about Dr. Deming. He said, Cliff, you know what I'd like to have? I said, what's up, Mr. Thrash?   0:28:27.5 Cliff Norman: He says, if you'll take this 50 million dollar raw material problem and solve this for me, I'll be a happy man and I'll give you all the quality you want. But go take care of that problem for me first and then come back to me and talk about Deming and Juran and anything else you want to talk about. So I put together four or five people and over about three months we solved his 50 million dollar raw material problem. And then he had a meeting of all executives and I was sitting with the managers in the back row and he called me to the front and he says, Cliff, will you sign this card right here? And I says, well Mr. Thrash, what is this? He says, well, I'm giving you authority to sign $50,000 anytime you need it to get all the quality we can stand here at Otis Engineering. One of the vice presidents said, well, I don't have that authority. He said, you didn't save me $50 million. You know, but once that happens, Andrew, once you do that, then you've got people that are willing to help you. And then once that takes place, I can't tell you how important, it allowed me then to bring in Lloyd Provost to help me.   0:29:36.2 Cliff Norman: And they weren't about to pay out money. They didn't like consultants, in fact, they were anti-consultant. But you saved us $50 million. I gave you $50,000. And Lloyd doesn't make that much. So get him in here, do whatever you need to go do. And I just think it's so critical that we have that demonstration project that people understand at the leadership level what we're talking about when we talk about design and redesign of the system.   0:30:00.0 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. I mean, I appreciate in the book you're talking about this concept. I'm not going to call it quick wins, but the idea is we need to get results. You know, this isn't just about talking about stuff so that's one thing that as you just illustrated, that's one point. The second thing you mentioned, is this person a leader or a manager? You know, and I think for the listeners or viewers out there, they're probably... When they heard you say that, they're probably thinking. Okay, wait a minute. Are my team managers or leaders? How do I know? What would you say? What differentiates the two?   0:30:37.2 Cliff Norman: I was fortunate to hang around Dr. Maccabee, as Deming did, and I asked Dr. Maccabee that question. He said, Cliff it's actually pretty easy. He said leaders have followers, and if you have followers, you can be anywhere in the organization, be a leader, but if you don't have followers, you're not a leader. You might be a manager with authority. You're not a leader.   0:31:02.7 Andrew Stotz: Can I ask a little bit more on that? So I'm thinking about my own business, which is a coffee factory, and I have people that are running the business, but I also have people that are running departments like the roasting department. And that area when they're overseeing this and they're doing a very good job and they're keeping things up and all that. How do I understand in a sense you could say, are they followers? Well, not really. They're people working for them and they have a good time and so do I view that person as not necessarily a leader, but more of a manager, or how do I look at it in my own company?   0:31:35.5 Cliff Norman: It could be a manager, which is essential to the organization. And that's another big difference. You see, the leader can't delegate their relationship with the people who are followers. You can't do that any more than a teacher can dedicate her class to a substitute teacher. Anybody that's ever watched that knows that chaos is getting ready to break out here because that teacher has a relationship with those students. She knows them all in a big way. And when the substitute comes in is game time in most classrooms and so forth, the managers have skills and things that they're applying and they can actually delegate those. Like when I was a foreman, I could have somebody come in and take over my department and I say assign all my people tomorrow. And they could do that. Now, in terms of the people that I was leading that saw me as a leader in that department, they didn't have that relationship.   0:32:30.2 Cliff Norman: But management or skills and necessary things to make the organization run like you're talking about, the coffee is not going to get out the door unless I have people with subject matter knowledge and competent managers to make sure that the T's are getting crossed, the I's dotted and the rest of it. But the leadership of the organization that has followers, that's a whole different person. And I think it's important. That could be anywhere in the organization. Like I had at Halliburton, I had a VP of engineering. Everybody went to him, everybody. He had 110 patents. You know, he built that system. He built the whole organization. So the CEO did not have the followers that the VP of engineering had. And it was well earned. It's always earned, too.   0:33:16.7 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Okay, that's great. Leaders have followers. Leaders cannot delegate their authority. They have a different relationship.   0:33:24.0 Cliff Norman: They can't delegate the relationship.   0:33:25.8 Andrew Stotz: The relationship. Okay.   0:33:27.4 Cliff Norman: Yeah. Very important.   0:33:34.3 Andrew Stotz: So now let's go back to what, where we were. So we were saying some of the considerations. Are we ready to change? Are we prepared to devote the time and energy? Are we ready to get outside help and where are we now? And that self assessment that you talked about helps us to understand what's our starting point. I always tell a joke with my students about this when I talk about. I'd say, imagine you go to London and you're going to go visit your friend and you call your friend up, you say, I've arrived and I'm calling from a phone booth and just tell me how to get there. And the friend says, well, where are you? And you say, I'm not really sure. Well, do you see anything around you? Yeah, well, there's lots of buildings, but I don't really, you know. Well, do you see any names of any streets? No, I don't really see anything. But just tell me how to get there. There's something missing. If we don't know where we are, it's very difficult to get to where we're going. So now we understand where we are. We got that scatter plot that you guys have that you've talked about. Dave, where do we go next?   0:34:26.6 Dave Williams: Well, so Cliff already mentioned one of the fundamentals. And sometimes I think this is something that people struggle with because they want to jump into something new. But one of the best starting points is to focus in on improvement. And there's a number of different reasons for that. So one is that I don't know about you all, but in my experience, if I ask people, like, hey, I want to create some improvement projects and get started on improvement, I always tell people, like, if you remember the old Stephen Covey exercise where he put the rocks and the stones and the sand into a jar and poured water. And like you would do it in different orders. And I'm fascinated that people will stare at the big rocks or the things that are right in front of them, or the things that are on their agenda, or the things that are part of their strategy. And then they'll look to the side and grab some rare event or some extra thing that isn't related to that, but they've always wanted to work on. And where we try to focus people's attention is one, what are you already working on? Can you look through your and ask around, what are the things that are currently in play, projects that exist? And sometimes we won't ask, what improvement projects do you have? Because if you do that, you get a short list.   0:35:51.4 Dave Williams: Those are the things that people defined as an improvement effort, or maybe use some kind of framing to decide it was an improvement project. It may be better to in the beginning of the book, in the first chapter, we talk about different ways that you improve. And there's designing and redesigning a process. There's designing and redesigning a service or a product. There's changing a whole system. And so it can be useful to say, well, what are we doing in these areas? And that may actually create a bigger list of the various things where people are working on something that's about change to the system that may lend itself to be better activated through firing it up as an improvement project. And then, of course, there's a good chance that any organization, especially if they've done some kind of strategic planning, have some strategic objectives or some strategic priorities which they've committed to or already said, these are the things we're going to work on. So kind of crowdsourcing or bringing those together helps us to potentially find the early portfolio of projects without having to look much further, without having to say, what else do you want to work on.   0:37:07.0 Dave Williams: And then if we've got that, if we've got that list, a second thing that we can do is invite people to use the three questions of the model for improvement and reflect on can you answer these three questions? Do you know what you're trying to accomplish? Do you know how a change will result in improvement? Do you know what changes you'll make? What's your theory about how you'll get to improvement? And so having a list of the things that are already present or existing may be one first step. Another second step in the firing up a portfolio of improvement projects is asking the three questions for the model for improvement. And then a third one, if it's an active project is we have a project progress scale that you might use that can help you gauge. So I've got a project where is it on its journey towards achieving its aim or getting results? Those three can help us to sort of get a sense of the work that is at hand and that has already been sort of started in some fashion that is already in progress and maybe to get a sense of the level of definition and the progress that exists.   0:38:22.3 Dave Williams: They may not be the right projects, but that's a good place to start before trying to create new ones. And I'll hand it to you, Andrew.   0:38:30.4 Andrew Stotz: I find that interesting. Both the story that you told Cliff about fix my raw material problem and then, Dave, what you're talking about is as you talk in the book, focus first on improvement. What are we already working on? What's an improvement project we've got? What's a problem we've got? Because a lot of times, let's say in the teachings of Dr. Deming, it's like, no, get your mind right, read this stuff, read this, figure this out, think about this, go to a seminar, talk to other people before you do anything. I feel like that is oftentimes where people get caught is they get caught up in, I need a year to think about this. And can you explain a little bit more about why once we've done our self assessment and we're ready to go, that you focus on improvement rather than the thinking process?   0:39:21.7 Dave Williams: Well, because we want to... Well, one, we know that in order to get results or to get a different result than what we want, we got to change the system that we got. Right. So in order to do that, we've got to do improvement. The other thing is that there's already energy that's being expended here.   0:39:41.4 Andrew Stotz: That's a good point.   0:39:42.7 Dave Williams: The risk that often I find people run into is that they then add other projects that are not strategic into that bucket and take up more energy. I'll tell you an example. I was working with the health system here in the States and we crowdsource just the things that they were calling improvement projects. The health system had 25 active teams that were just the ones that were called out as improvement projects. When we looked at those 25 teams, the vast majority of them were not actually... They had been meeting for months and doing things for quite some time, but they actually weren't doing any changes and, or they've been testing changes for quite some time. So, now just this exercise alone by only asking, what improvement projects do you have? You realize you've got 25 teams that have been resourced or are spending energy or going to meetings or focused on something. They may not be the strategic thing that matters, but that's irrelevant right now. We just know that we already have invested some interest here. The second thing is these folks have been on this journey for quite some time and are not making progress.   0:41:01.7 Dave Williams: So that tells me something about maybe the way that they framed it. Did they charter it well? Did they have the right people in the room or the right team? Did they have the right tools and methods to be able to break down the problem and then figure out what to test and learn? So there may be some difficulty...   0:41:19.4 Andrew Stotz: Or did they even just dissipate their efforts across 25 projects too? Right in their resources, yeah.   0:41:26.1 Dave Williams: Yeah. Or there are overlaps? So there's a number of different factors. There's actually a paper that was published by a health system in the United Kingdom, and it was really interesting. They spent a lot of attention on generating will through training and getting people in the classroom and teaching them about improvement methods. And they fired up all this energy. They had a massive explosion of the number of projects that were started or where somebody went into their software. They had a software platform. Anybody could go and start a project. Well, something like 50% of those projects never actually got to PDSA testing where they changed anything. And then there were a slew of them that were stuck in PDSA testing but never saw any movement in their process measures or their outcome measures. And only a small number actually progressed in achieving their aim. And I asked the Chief Quality Officer about this, and and he admittedly said that it was very exciting that we we're generating will and getting things going, but that alone was only getting them to maybe some early design and some thinking, but they weren't getting them to results.                                                                         0:42:34.8 Dave Williams: And I said, well, what about the ones that were getting results? And he said, well, those are actually ones where we've got an improvement advisor who's got some skills and ability and improvement. There are things that are resourced, there are things that were prioritized. And man, when we did all those things, they moved from planning and organizing and thinking to testing changes and moving in a direction of goodness and getting at least results in their process measures, if not their outcome measures. And so in my mind, I was like, I appreciate you're trying to build this sort of culture, but it felt like a lot of burnt energy at the front end with all these teams getting into training and firing up their software and more energy might have been strategic in copying what was getting to results. And I think that's part of what we're trying to get to, is helping people learn. You've got if you don't have a method to figure out strategic projects, let's look at the ones you got. How are they going? Where are people at? And how effective is the capability that you have within your system right now? And the leaders want to be part of that, and they can learn within that to go, oh, wow, this is our current state.   0:43:47.2 Dave Williams: And so maybe we're going to agree to continue on with these projects. Maybe we're going to sunset some of them, but we're going to learn together about how do we get better at getting better, and how do we learn how to move projects forward and not to have them take two years. Let's try to get them down to four or six months, whether that's through scope or execution. But let's get better at getting better. And then as we're building... Developing the early activities of QOS, we'll eventually get to a point where we'll also be able to identify more strategic projects that are going to move us towards our aim or towards our purpose better. And this will help us as we're trying to build the capability to get there.   0:44:32.7 Cliff Norman: You know, Andrew, early on, when Dave went down this path, he said that we got to make sure that somebody's working on improvement. They're actually making changes. And Jane and I were working with a group, and the CEO said they've been meeting a long time. Could you down there and see what they're doing? Because nothing's happening. And we started looking through their agendas and they had everything well documented, and it was all about getting ready to get ready. And then they'd assign the dessert. Who's going to bring the dessert to the next meeting. And Jane looked at him and says this reminds me of something, Cliff. I said, what's that? Can I share my screen?   0:45:10.9 Andrew Stotz: Yeah. Yep, go ahead.   0:45:13.7 Cliff Norman: I may send this to. You may know about it, but this is Dr. Deming's Diary of a Cat. And everyday...   0:45:20.6 Andrew Stotz: It hasn't come up yet. Hold on one second. Hopefully you've got permission now.   0:45:28.6 Cliff Norman: Let me go back and check here.   0:45:33.9 Andrew Stotz: Okay. It looks like it's coming up. One second.   0:45:38.4 Cliff Norman: It said every day is today. There's no theory days of the week. But today I got up some food in a bowl, it was great. Slept some too. Play with yarn, got some food in a bowl, had a good nap, slept, food, yarn, fun. Play with a shoelace. There's a big change right there. Went from yarn to a shoelace. Some people call that a job shop. And ate, slept, had a good day, slept, ate some food, yarn, so forth. So, and the team meeting looked just like that. But there's really no changes going on relative to improvement. So Dr. Deming would often share this into four days seminar to make sure that we weren't involved in the Diary of the Cat, but we were actually doing something useful in terms of making changes in the organization.   0:46:24.4 Andrew Stotz: That's a great one. And it helps us to understand that we could be busy all day long and not improve anything.   0:46:31.8 Cliff Norman: You know, or actually confuse that with improvement. In fact, we have an operational API that my team, we were embarrassed in our first, wait a second, our first improvement guide we wrote. And Dr. Adamir Pente, who's a professor at the university in Brazil, he sent us a note and he said, I know you guys and he said you're real big on operational definitions, but you've written this book on improvement and nowhere have you, you've defined what you mean by improvement. And then he put together a three part definition that there's a design and redesign system, there's system measures and the change is sustainable and lasting and so we put that definition in the second edition. But I was confronted at a university, I won't mention which one it was, but they had 30 Keystone projects for a advanced degree program for nursing and they were convinced they were doing improvement. And when I had them apply that definition, they came up out of the thirty. They only could find two projects out of the 30 where they were actually designing and redesigning the system, which, that's the first thing Dave said are we designing and redesigning and making real changes? And people think just showing up and going through motions and all the rest of it is improvement. No, it means...   0:48:07.8 Dave Williams: Looks like we've lost...   0:48:11.9 Andrew Stotz: We lost you at the last, the last statement you just made. People are going through all this stuff and thinking that they're improving, but they're...   0:48:22.8 Cliff Norman: Yeah, it's showing up and going through motions and you know, having the meetings and making sure we assign who's bringing dessert. But we're not really designing and changing the system. We're not getting measurable changes of improvement. In other words, we haven't tracked the data over time and we can't say that the changes that we've made are going to in fact be sustainable because we haven't known what we've done to the system to deserve a sustainable change.   0:48:51.4 Andrew Stotz: By the way, what a buzzword these days, sustainability, sustainable and all that. And you just think do people really think about how we're building something that's really lasting and sustainable?   0:49:04.8 Cliff Norman: Well, we have a checklist and actually Jane designed it for the first edition and it literally lays out what changes did you make, which processes did you change, what's going to change in the documentation, whose role statements have been changed in the organization because of this change. And once all that's answered on that checklist, which is in the book, then we can... But we're pretty certain that we've created the structure to make it easy for people to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing. But unless that structure's changed, probably not much going to happen.   0:49:40.8 Andrew Stotz: Just for the sake of time, because I think we want to wrap up in just a bit. But there's so many stuff, so much stuff that we've been through. But I know there's even more in this chapter, but how would you start to bring this together for the person who is a leader, himself or herself, and they're listening to this and they're thinking, okay, I'm ready to make a change and I'm prepared to devote the time and energy because I see the outcome and I'm open to help, whether that's through the book and other books, whether that's through a consultant, whatever that is. And I can even do a self assessment to some extent and know where our level is, which is very low. We don't know much about this type of stuff and that type of thing. We talked about the first focus on improvement. How do they pull this all together and start moving on it?   0:50:35.0 Dave Williams: There's three things that follow the self assessment. The first one is this focus on doing improvement work and setting up a portfolio of projects. And we just kind of talked about many of the different methods that go into that. And like I said, sometimes that when you say that out loud, leaders don't initially get excited by it because they think they have it. But actually it's a powerful opportunity for you to learn about what's currently going on in the organization and about where this opportunity is to reduce a lot of the noise and a lot of the friction that's getting in the way from you getting to results. The second thing that often happens in parallel is that the leaders need to build a learning system where they're going to be able to learn together both about these projects and what these projects are telling them about their organization, about their culture, about their people, and about their capacity to get results, but also that they can start to be learning about the science of improvement and profound knowledge and the activities of QOS that are going to be part of what they're going to work on developing over the course of the first year or two.   0:51:50.6 Dave Williams: And so that typically is, that's making that space and energy. It's a blend of book learning and application and practical. Trying and looking at things within the organization. It's a very applied approach, but it's an ongoing piece of their discovery. And I often argue that this is a real opportunity for leadership because they're going to be able to see their organization in a way that they haven't seen it before. And when we talk about profound knowledge, they're going to gain this profound understanding and expertise about what they're charged with and what they own and what they want to change in a way that they haven't been able to have it before. And so it's a hard work, but rewarding work. And then third is that typically where the, where we invite people to start is to focus in on the first activity, which is to develop or establish or develop their purpose. When this work was initially framed, not everybody was as... Not everybody had a mission, vision and value statement or a purpose statement that wasn't as common, but today people do. But the difference here, and you'll see this in the chapter on purpose, is that organizations that are pursuing quality as an organizational strategy are organizations that are systems that are built to constantly be trying to match a need that exists out in the world.   0:53:34.7 Dave Williams: And so often a learning for people is to step back and have to reflect on, well, what is the need in which we are creating these products and services to match? And if we're creating these things to match the need, how do we understand what's important, what are the quality characteristics that matter? And then how do we define what our mission is in that context? And being able to say, here's why we exist and the need that we're trying to serve, and in what way? And how do we set a vision for where we want to get into the future and what are the tenants or the practical values that exist in our organization, that we want to define how we work together in terms of building in that way. And so purpose is a big focus. It's that clarity of the need, the clarity of the quality characteristics that it takes to match that need. Understanding what are the products and services that we have. I know that sounds a little trivial, but you'd be stunned how hard it is, especially in service organizations, for people to actually describe what it is that they do, what are the actual services.   0:54:54.3 Dave Williams: They might have the name of the service or the class or the whatever, but to actually say this is what we deliver, and then really think about how do I use this as our organization's sort of North Star, our aim, so that everything else that follows is going to be about building a system that produces the results that we want and produces the services that match that need. So going forward, that's going to be very, very important in instructing the direction and instructing the way in which we're going to work as a community of professional people together.   0:55:30.8 Andrew Stotz: So after self assessment, we're talking about focusing on improvement. We're talking about building a learning system, and we're talking about revisiting or establishing or developing our purpose?   0:55:43.3 Cliff Norman: Yeah, I'll just add to what you just said there, Andrew. There's three basic things that have to happen when we start working. Number one is create the habit of improvement. Start improvement right away. Second thing, Dave just went through some detail on building a system of improvement. And Dave called that a learning system, which I thought was interesting because that's what Dr. Maccabee called it when he saw the five activities. Said, these are really methods for building a learning organization. And he said, I've never really seen them before, but this is what will come out of this, which is the essence of what you want. You want people continually learning, as Dr. Deming said, so they can continually improve. But the third thing that has to happen is we have to develop internal capability for them to carry this on, because we're not going to be around with them. We've never advertised. We don't advertise for clients, and we only get word of mouth. And we're only in there to do those three things, get them started on the habit of improvement, start building the system improvement so they can take it over.   0:56:43.4 Cliff Norman: And the third thing, start developing internal capability so they can continue it on into the future. So those three things basically take off on day one. And depending on the organization, I think this is critical. Dave, you asked this question the other day, if the context is such they've got things in front of them are so bad and so challenging that they just need to work on improvement. That's where we're going to be focused. But now if they can chew gum and walk at the same time, we're going to start building the system of improvement. And the first people I want on those initial teams, I want people on there who are going to be future improvement advisors. And more importantly, they perceive them as future leaders in the organization. I don't want a cadre of a whole bunch of improvement advisors. I want leaders in the future who actually understand the science of improvement, understand these methods, so when they go to the next department, the next organization, they can carry this on. So those three things start improving, start building a system of improvement. And the third thing, start developing internal capability. Those have got to take off almost simultaneously, depending on the situation, of course.   0:57:49.8 Andrew Stotz: Well, on that note, that's quite a discussion. I'm so happy that we can have this to go in a little bit deeper into the work that you guys have done. Again, the book is Quality As an Organizational Strategy. I got mine on Amazon and it sent it to me. But I wonder if you have any last words that you'd like to share about what we've talked about today in relation to getting started.   0:58:18.3 Cliff Norman: So, Dave, why don't you talk a little bit about. Because I think this is critical. We've just finished Andrew, the book that's going to be for the people who actually have to build this system. So Dave, just say a few things about that if you would, because you.   0:58:32.0 Dave Williams: About the field guide?   0:58:33.8 Cliff Norman: Yeah.   0:58:35.5 Dave Williams: Yeah. Well, so when this body of work was first created, there was the content of which you see in this book. And then there were also a lot of exercises and methods and applications and examples that existed as well. And it was a pretty thick binder. We have created two volumes. One, the book that you have, which is the description of the theory and the method and gives you some of the tools. And we're now in the process of pulling together what we call the QOS Field Guide, which is a guide that is supporting people that are going down this journey. It follows the same structure as the book, with the exception of the, the Getting started chapter that we had at the end is now at the beginning. And it walks through in great detail various ways in which you leaders and practitioners can approach getting started and building the capacity and then working through each of the activities. And it's equal in size, I mean, it's about the same thickness. But what we tried to do is to give people really pragmatic things to do.   1:00:01.1 Dave Williams: So there are exercises where people are simulating an idea or a concept or a particular piece. There are what we call QOS applications, which are where you're actually taking the theory or the method and applying it to your own organization. There are case studies and things that have been built that might allow you to practice. There's wonderful examples of just about everything from all, from people that we have worked with over the years across multiple different fields, from my background in emergency services and healthcare to education to manufacturing to elevator companies, all kinds of great stuff. And so that will be helpful as people are trying to think about pursuing this journey and working through that first phase of developing QOS and moving into using it. And we're in the stages of having it done to be available later this year.   1:01:08.6 Andrew Stotz: Exciting.   1:01:09.2 Cliff Norman: We've tried to make it useful, Andrew, that the people have to stay overnight with the management and actually get something done and build it without being run off. That everything is there for them to make sure that they make it successfully. That's the thing we kept in mind as we kept writing this second volume.   1:01:25.2 Andrew Stotz: Yeah, I mean, I would say my experience with your guys's writing is that it's applicable.   1:01:34.1 Dave Williams: Well, Andrew, one thing I was going to add on you mentioned a lot of different examples. There are a lot of books in which people tell you a theory, but they don't tell you how to do it. Or they tell you about their own experience, but they don't actually convey the theory. The Quality as an Organizational Strategy book is laying out the theory and the methods of this approach built on the foundations of the science of improvement and profound knowledge and the Deming philosophy. The QOS Field Guide adds to that by giving you the methods and the tools and the things. It doesn't mean that that by itself you can't just go through like it's some kind of self guided tour and all of a sudden magic happens. There's a lot of work and learning and things that have to go into going through that process. But between these two volumes, a leadership team has the tools and methods that put them in position to be able to make this journey.   1:02:41.4 Andrew Stotz: Right. Well, let's wrap it up there. On behalf of everyone, I appreciate Dave and Cliff. All that you're doing and you're sharing with us and taking the time to do that. So from everyone at the Deming Institute, I want to thank you again for joining this and bringing your discussion on these topics. And for listeners, remember to go to deming.org to continue your journey. And you can find this book, Quality as an Organizational Strategy at Amazon and other booksellers. Are there even booksellers these days? I don't even know. They're mainly online these days. So this is your host, Andrew Stotz, and I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming, which is "people are entitled to joy in work."  

Download Your Free Guide - 3 Things You Need to Know About Cancer:  https://www.katiedeming.com/cancer-101/What if a popular health trend is actually harming your gut?Dr. Katie Deming speaks with Monica Corrado, known as "The GAPS Chef" and a leading expert in traditional cooking techniques. She helps us understand the foundations of eating for both physical and neurological wellbeing.You'll discover why our bodies need far more animal fat than most of us consume, and how the plant-based approach many follow for cancer healing might be missing critical building blocks for recovery. Chapters:00:06:17 - Meat stock vs. bone broth 00:12:04 - Fat, brain health, and your hormones00:29:57 - The vegan diet and cancer 00:42:02 - GAPS diet and gut healing 00:56:43 - Why food quality and mindful eating matterDr. Deming and Monica explore how modern eating habits have disconnected us from the traditional foods that nourished our ancestors. They discuss why healthy fat is essential for nervous system regulation, why our bodies are designed to eat meat, and how plants serve as cleansers rather than builders in our diet. Listen and learn why a stick of butter a day might be just what your body needs and how to prepare foods that heal rather than harm.Connect with guest: https://simplybeingwell.com/Her Book: https://simplybeingwell.com/2nd-ed-gaps-complete-bookUse coupon code NEWGAPS2023 for a discountSend us a text with your question (include your phone number)Transform your hydration with the system that delivers filtered, mineralized, and structured water all in one. Spring Aqua System: https://springaqua.info/drkatie Don't Face Cancer Alone"The 6 Pillars of Healing Cancer" workshop series provides you valuable insights and strategies to support your healing journey - Click Here to Enroll MORE FROM KATIE DEMING M.D. Free Guide - 3 Things You Need to Know About Cancer: https://www.katiedeming.com/cancer-101/6 Pillars of Healing Cancer Workshop Series - Click Here to EnrollWork with Dr. Katie: www.katiedeming.comFollow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiedemingmd/ Take a Deeper Dive into Your Healing Journey: Dr. Katie Deming's Linkedin Here Please Support the Show Share this episode with a friend or family member Give a Review on Spotify Give a Review on Apple Podcast DISCLAIMER:The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare p...

What if your emotional wounds are impacting your physical health more than you realize? In this episode of the Believe Big Podcast, Dr. Katie Deming, a former radiation oncologist turned conscious healer, shares her powerful journey of transformation and why emotional healing is a critical part of cancer recovery. She reveals groundbreaking insights into how trauma can influence disease, the unexpected role of detoxification, and cutting-edge techniques like PSYCH-K and emotional release work. If you've ever wondered how emotions and illness are connected—or how to begin healing on a deeper level—this conversation is a must-listen. Learn more about Dr. Katie Deming athttps://www.katiedeming.com/Suggested ResourcesDr. Deming's Podcast:  Born To HealSunlighten SaunasHealth Mate - Enrich 2 SaunaACE - Adverse Childhood Experience studyBOOK:  Radical Hope by Dr. Kelly TurnerBOOK:  Power vs. Force by David HawkinsBOOK:  Radical Forgiveness by Colin TippingUriel Pharmacy websiteSend us Fan Mail! Click here >Your donations power our podcast's mission to support cancer patients with hope, insights, and resources. Every contribution fuels our ability to uplift and empower. Join us in making a lasting impact. Donate now!

My guest for Episode #525 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Christopher R. Chapman. He's an experienced agile coach and consultant with a background in software development and agile transformation. Episode page with video, transcript, and more Since founding Derailleur Consulting in 2010, he has guided teams and leaders in adopting agile frameworks like Scrum and Kanban while integrating applied systems thinking inspired by Deming and other thought leaders. Christopher is also known for cultivating communities through initiatives such as #SystemsThinkingTO and for sharing his insights in his popular Substack newsletter, The Digestible Deming. In this episode, Chris and I discussed our upcoming collaborative workshops--"From Noise to Knowledge, Executive Leadership Through Data Driven Insight"--scheduled for May 13 in Toronto and June 17 in Cincinnati. We highlighted how the sessions will blend experiential learning, such as the Red Bead Experiment, with practical tools like process behavior charts to help leaders decode variation and improve decision-making. The conversation emphasized the Deming philosophy as a core framework, exploring how leadership behaviors and systemic practices directly impact team performance and overall organizational quality. We also noted the engaging social aspect of the workshops, mentioning optional outings to local MLB baseball games as an opportunity for continued dialogue. The discussion then shifted to our personal journeys with continuous improvement, agile methodologies, and the evolution of leadership roles. Chris shared insights from his transition from software development to coaching senior management, focusing on moving beyond traditional, isolated team interventions toward a holistic, systems-oriented approach. We both underlined the need for leadership to embrace a mindset shift--recognizing that issues within teams often reflect broader organizational constraints. We also debated common pitfalls, such as misinterpreting data due to superficial analyses, and argued for using robust, statistical tools to establish meaningful insights, setting the stage for transformative change in management practices. Questions, Notes, and Highlights: How do Deming's principles transform executive leadership and team performance? What key insights does the Red Bead Experiment offer for practical improvement? In what ways do process behavior charts enhance decision-making in complex systems? How can agile methodologies and Deming's philosophy be integrated effectively? What systemic issues underlie team challenges, and how should leadership address them? How can statistical process control complement traditional metrics in agile environments? What strategies enable leaders to shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive system improvement? How do extrinsic incentives impact collaboration and quality within teams? What methods best embed systems thinking into agile practices? How can workshop formats foster lasting changes in leadership mindsets? This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

My guest for Episode #524 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is John Willis, an accomplished IT management expert with over 45 years of experience. His extensive body of work includes contributions to Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge and co-authoring The DevOps Handbook. See video, transcript, and more Hosts a podcast that I was recently on, "Profound." John focuses his current research on DevOps, DevSecOps, IT risk, modern governance, and audit compliance. Over the course of his career, he has sold companies to Docker and Dell, and he played a foundational role at Opscode (now Chef). In addition, John founded Gulf Breeze Software, an award-winning IBM business partner recognized for its successful deployment of Tivoli technology for enterprise clients. He has authored six IBM Redbooks on enterprise systems management and served as the founder and chief architect of Chain Bridge Systems. Altogether, John has written more than 11 books and launched over 10 startups, cementing his reputation as a significant innovator in the IT industry. In this episode, the discussion navigates the intersection of lean principles, agile methodologies, and Deming's philosophies as they apply to modern IT and operations. John delves into how systems thinking, profound knowledge, and psychological safety underpin effective incident management and cybersecurity practices. The conversation explores practical challenges and the proactive strategies necessary for integrating legacy improvement methods with today's cloud innovations and infrastructure as code. Throughout the episode, John examines the real-world application of these timeless principles, offering listeners actionable insights into continuous improvement and risk management. He highlights the importance of questioning established norms and embracing complexity to drive operational excellence, providing a compelling roadmap for navigating the evolving digital landscape. Questions, Notes, and Highlights: Could you share your origin story regarding Lean and continuous improvement--specifically, what you learned during your early years at Exxon? How have you seen Deming's principle of eliminating fear put into practice in IT and entrepreneurial settings? Is the phenomenon you described established fact or more of a hypothesis? How can we confirm or measure the validity of that knowledge? Why do you consider cyber terrorism one of today's most significant threats? This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

A small group of elite universities holds an outsized influence over the field of economics, shaping research, policy, and the broader economic narrative. But is that concentration of power stifling innovation and reinforcing the status quo? This week, Harvard economist David Deming joins Nick and Goldy to discuss his recent Atlantic article, in which he argues that Big Econ functions like a monopoly—limiting competition, excluding diverse perspectives, and making it harder for new ideas to take hold.  David Deming is the Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Deming is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Social Media: @ProfDavidDeming Further reading: Break Up Big Econ DOGE Is Failing on Its Own Terms David Deming's Substack Forked Lightning The Trouble With Macroeconomics Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Substack: The Pitch