The most striking part of this is the systematic quality improvement they implemented. They went from an expert saying that long-term balloons were impossible, to making it a reality by understanding the true engineering variation causing failures.
We should look at every endeavor in this manner to improve quality. Look up W. Edwards Deming, wonderful stuff on quality control that can be applied to software just as well as manufacturing.
Deming's career arc has been interesting. Neglected in the US to revered in the Japan to revered in the US to forgotten in the US. Maybe now that we don't fear Japan so much, we don't feel the need to obsess about his views on quality.
Many of his ideas stand the test of time. He just doesn't fit neatly into any academic curriculum.
Such is the flaw of academic curricula. Extreme specialization in a world of complexity.
Quality in Deming's point of view requires a deep multidisciplinary understanding: statistics, psychology, engineering, business, economics, and more.
The true irony is that now, more than ever, coming out of a recession and having a corporate and manufacturing issue in the US, we need the manufacturing and quality prowess that Japan exhibited post-WWII. We need Deming.
I believe his main problem was that he was a horrible writer. We need someone to take his ideas and clarify them much better than he could.
His writing was fairly disorderly, even in his best work. Conversely, a lot of insight is compressed into his 14 points.
I think a lot of the issues he explains go way beyond manufacturing. When I think about the problems with performance reviews, I go back to him. Same with training and leadership.
Yes! Absolutely agree. They're generalizable to almost any kind of work. I've been meaning to start a blog implementing his work in the relevant field of Software development.
I started my career in IT at P&G a long time ago. One of my mentors got me started on a few business books, and worked Deming into the equation. An interview with Robert Reich (yes, the same one) and him was included in a training class there too. The writing resonated quite a bit then.
Who am I? That's a much deeper question. :-) Someone who has drifted between data, technology and finance over a 20some year professional career.
We should look at every endeavor in this manner to improve quality. Look up W. Edwards Deming, wonderful stuff on quality control that can be applied to software just as well as manufacturing.