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Comment by mathattack | Hacker News Reader

One of the father's of quality, W. Edwards Deming came out very strong against Management by Objective, even though he was very statistically inclined. In his 14 points [0] he mentions Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management..

His idea is you should focus on the journey (always improve) rather than artificial endpoints. It's a profound idea, and one I've sometimes struggled to come to grips with.

[0] http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/total-quality-management/...

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So how do you know whether you're always improving if you don't measure your performance at consistent points along the way? Just ask everyone if it felt like you improved, followed by a group hug and mutual back-patting?

I dont think he said to eliminate the measurements, he said to eliminate the quotas.

Exactly.

Going by his theory... If you say, "I am paying you to produce 1,000 cars per month" then that's what you'll get. If instead you rely on intrinsic motivation, and improve the system, you will get more than 1,000, and they'll be higher quality.

This doesn't work everywhere. (Certainly not with Sales commission!) But it is worth thinking through the logical implications of it.

"Watch, don't judge, but do watch"

An important distinction. Thanks! And absolutely right, if the objective is to "do X" then you're setting yourself up for a plateau and for resentment every time you try to move that plateau. But if the objective is to "do X% better" then that's a natural exponential growth curve.

Profound indeed, and very similar in principle to the Toyota Production System / Lean Manufacturing.

It’s too bad these methodologies aren’t more prevalent in corporate culture. Imperative Command & Control methods always seems to dominate.

Similar perhaps because he inspired them. :-)

Well, that explains that!

I really should’ve known that already :)

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