The dangerous downside of Deming
(I just couldn't resist the alliteration)
Deming's practices and views have two sides. One is good and needs to be
even more widely applied.
The other is horrid -- and is of particular concern to two fields: research
and design. (Or any filed that requires delving into the unknown or
creativity).
Statistical Quality Control (SQC) is fine when you know precisely what you
are doing and when everything that needs to be controlled can be controlled.
But I have seen devastating results when well-meaning managers tried to
apply these methods outside of their proper domains.
One manager of a research group where I once worked required the research
group to list the number of scientific breakthroughs they expected to
achieve each quarter, and then tried to hold them to it.
And the realm of engineering design tried to define the design process. As
one course syllabus I just read stated "grades will be based upon adherence
to formal methods. Intuitive design will not be permitted." (Although at
first I thought I agreed with this statement, it turns out that my
definition of proper process is precisely what they mean by "intuitive"
process. I agree that we don't want uninformed design, but that's not what
they mean -- they mean it has to fit the formal requirements matrix and
minimization methods.)
Design is complex. It has many stages, each of which might very well require
very different knowledge, skills, and techniques. Engineering design, for
example, algorithmic design, and SQC are completely appropriate at some of
the more technical components and during the manufacturing stages. They will
destroy the effectiveness at other stages.
Much though I respect Denning's teachings and the work today that has
derived from them (we teach them in my MBA program), these methods are the
enemy when it comes to the place where designers or researches normally
flourish.
It is these managerial attitudes that make it so difficult for designers to
find their place in many companies, which is why so many major products are
so badly designed from aesthetic, suability, and even functional grounds.
And they are best kept away from research groups.
As for job shops and craft work: apply with great delicacy.
All tools have their opposite, conflicting sides. This is one example.
Don Norman
Breed Professor of Design, Northwestern University
Co-Director MMM Program. MBA + MEM: Operations+Design
Co-Director Segal Design Institute
[log in to unmask]
www.jnd.org
March and September-October 2009
Visiting Distinguished Professor
Department of Industrial Design
KAIST
Daejeon, Republic of Korea
|