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Excellence Quotes by W. Edwards Deming

14 Excellence quotes by W. Edwards Deming

All Excellence quotes W. Edwards Deming’s page

W. Edwards Deming’s approach to excellence is rooted in systematic quality and steady refinement. These 14 concise statements distill his philosophy, offering a clear, data‑driven perspective for anyone keen on building lasting performance.

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Quality is everyone's responsibility.

W. Edwards Deming

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Quality begins with the intent, which is fixed by management.

W. Edwards Deming

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You do not install quality; you begin to work at it.

W. Edwards Deming

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Quality is pride of workmanship.

W. Edwards Deming

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Improve quality, you automatically improve productivity.

W. Edwards Deming

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Quality starts in the boardroom.

W. Edwards Deming

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'Quality' means what will sell and do a customer some good - at least try to.

W. Edwards Deming

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You cannot inspect quality into the product; it is already there.

W. Edwards Deming

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It's not enough to do your best; you must know what to do & then do your best.

W. Edwards Deming

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Quality comes not from inspection, but from improvement of the production process.

W. Edwards Deming

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For Quality: Stamp out fires, automate, computerize, M.B.O., install merit pay, rank people, best efforts, zero defects. WRONG!!!! Missing ingredient: profound knowledge.

W. Edwards Deming

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Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

W. Edwards Deming

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Quality is made in the board room. A worker can deliver lower quality, but she cannot deliver quality better than the system…

W. Edwards Deming

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What should be the aim of management? What is their job? Quality is the responsibility of the top people. Its origin is…

W. Edwards Deming

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More by W. Edwards Deming

Absence of defects does not necessarily build business... Something more is required.

W. Edwards Deming

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In Japan, a company worker's position is secure. He is retrained for another job if his present job is eliminated by productivity improvement.

W. Edwards Deming

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We are here to make another world.

W. Edwards Deming

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It is a mistake to assume that if everybody does his job, it will be all right. The whole system may be in trouble.

W. Edwards Deming

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Innovation comes from the producer - not from the customer.

W. Edwards Deming

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The only useful function of a statistician is to make predictions, and thus to provide a basis for action.

W. Edwards Deming

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A leader is a coach, not a judge.

W. Edwards Deming

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It does not happen all at once. There is no instant pudding.

W. Edwards Deming

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Sub-optimization is when everyone is for himself. Optimization is when everyone is working to help the company.

W. Edwards Deming

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We know what we told him, but we don't know what he heard.

W. Edwards Deming

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Rational behavior requires theory. Reactive behavior requires only reflex action.

W. Edwards Deming

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A manager of people needs to understand that all people are different. This is not ranking people. He needs to understand that the performance…

W. Edwards Deming

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