248 Quotes by W. Edwards Deming

Without theory, there are no questions.

When people try to do what they can not do, they wish to give up.

It does not happen all at once. There is no instant pudding.

Transformation is not automatic. It must be learned; it must be led.

We must understand variation.

Management by results is confusing special causes with common causes.

Nobody should try to use data unless he has collected data.

Managers don’t like giving appraisals, and employees don’t like getting them. Perhaps they’re not liked because both parties suspect what the evidence has proved for decades: Traditional performance appraisals don’t work.

A system must be managed. It will not manage itself.