My introduction to Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge came through a friend and co-worker as we attempted to transform a foundering Internet company into a “real business” with profits and growth. This was toward the end of the initial Internet revolution when business measures such as profit and revenue had been replaced with bizarre measures like “hits,” “clicks,” and “eyeballs.”

The first step involved hiring two “experts” from Apt Leadership to train our senior management to allow us to better compete in the marketplace. The initial 4-day class introduction consisted of viewing endless hours of videos done in the 80s and early 90s by a slow talking, ancient guru by the name of W. Edwards Deming.

As I said last week, up until this point in time:

“I adopted management theories focused on individual recognition/punishment and altered my views based on the latest management book lauded through the business press. I believed working hard, relying on experts, tracking and monitoring tasks, managing personalities, upbeat slogans, and keeping positive would lead to success.` ~ from 5/15/09 blog entry, “My Initial Forays Into Management“

What started as a slow and painful snooze-fest quickly evolved into a radical reflection on my personal belief systems and management/life theories. During the 4-day process (some of which I missed), I began a personal transformation process as I gained insights into the ideas of Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge. It became apparent to me that Deming’s approach made more sense than the management theories I had developed on my own. In particular, the Red Bead Experiment led me to question many of my strongest beliefs in how to manage individuals and lead a company.

The change did not happen overnight. With these new insights, I began to reflect actively on my understanding of how to manage a business and recognized the shortcomings of my historical approaches to managing people. My basic assumption was if Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge is so good, how come nobody uses it? My interest in management theory grew intensely, the more I read, listened, pondered, and reviewed.

Next up: Back to school (later this week).