In my office I have a file of people I will never meet, but will forever remember. Every now and again, I pull the file out so I can see what they did, and how they did it. I believe in not reinventing what has been done, but learning from those who were successful doing it.
This morning I went looking for Dr. Deming. I happened to learn about him in 1987 while I was reading the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Edwards Deming had just been given the National Medal of Technology Award by President Reagan. Then nearly a decade later I read his name again in a business publication sharing that Ford Motor Company had made him the first non-Japanese CEO of one of their Japanese automakers, and how successful his teachings and philosophy were to the Japanese Industry. What always fascinated me about Dr. Deming was that he was born in the year 1900, died in the year 1993, and was 43 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, but yet… his heart was open to change!
To teach others the philosophy of his heart.
I love the definition of philosophy: The study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of adding such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance of rational argument.
The word “philosophy” comes from the Greek (philosophia), which literally means “love of wisdom.”
For about 15 minutes I read through the notes that I’ve been saving on Dr. Deming, and smiled when I read this: It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. ~Dr. Deming
As soon as I read that quote I put his file away and then reached for my Bible and I quickly turned to : Mark 1:14,15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Man, I love the way God works, and how within the simplicity of a file and a Bible, I found the answer I was seeking.
L.B.
Onward to change!
