In 1945, the world was in a shambles. American companies had no competition. So nobody really thought much about quality. Why should they? The world bought everything America produced. It was a prescription for disaster. — W. Edwards Deming Copy Share Image
Declining productivity and quality means your unit production costs stay high but you don't have as much to sell. Your workers don't want to be paid less, so to maintain profits, you increase your prices. That's inflation. — W. Edwards Deming Copy Share Image
Absence of defects does not necessarily build business... Something more is required. — W. Edwards Deming Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The only useful function of a statistician is to make predictions, and thus to provide a basis for action. — W. Edwards Deming Copy Share Image
Sub-optimization is when everyone is for himself. Optimization is when everyone is working to help the company. — W. Edwards Deming Copy Share Image
Rational behavior requires theory. Reactive behavior requires only reflex action. — W. Edwards Deming Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
