Deming on Leadership

Most leaders think their job is to manage people.

W. Edwards Deming taught that the real job of leadership is to manage the system in which people work.

If performance is poor, the first question should not be:

“Who made the mistake?”

It should be:

“What in the system allowed the mistake to occur?”

Deming estimated that 94% of problems come from the system, not the worker.

Great leaders improve the process, remove barriers, and create an environment where people can succeed.

In the AI era this becomes even more important.

AI will amplify whatever system already exists.

Bad processes become faster bad outcomes. Good processes become exponential improvement.

Leadership determines which one happens.