248 Quotes by W. Edwards Deming

A system must be managed. It will not manage itself. Left to themselves in the Western world, components become selfish, competitive. We cannot afford the destructive effect of competition.

It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.

All models are wrong; some models are useful.

Management’s job is to know which systems are stable and which are not.

You must not run your Organization as a functional hierarchy. You must understand it as a System.

When we cooperate, everybody wins.

To optimize the whole, we must sub-optimize the parts.

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

Retroactive management emphasizes the bottom line.