I really enjoyed talking with John Willis on his Profound podcast. We talked about testing and the role Deming’s philosophy plays in helping me to test. I learned from the conversation. Thank you, John Willis. Please click on this link to listen to the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1758599/12422563
Category Archives: Dr W. Edwards Deming
The Theory of Knowledge helps us learn from our work
To illustrate how the use of theory leads to learning W. Edwards Deming told the story of Chanticleer the cockerel[1]. Chanticleer crowed every morning, and after he crowed he saw that the sun rose. This led him to develop the theory that the sun rose because he crowed, however, one day he forgot to crow …
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A chart for measuring the quality of “spinning plates”
Quality metrics can be like measuring the wobble on spinning plates. The engineering teams are merging to the main branch, code is being deployed and you need metrics to show if there are issues with this process that require your attention. The teams working are rather like spinning plates. The teams are working and management …
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Using plan-do-study-act to improve testing
Testers and developers can use the Deming Cycle to improve the quality of their testing. The Deming Cycle was initially used in the manufacture of telephones and has had a big influence on software development. The cycle has four steps: The cycle should be repeated with the knowledge accumulated. The Deming Cycle can be described …
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We need to remove barriers to good work
If we want to make good quality software we need to remove barriers to good work. Dr Deming‘s 14 Points for management were the basis for lessons for top management in Japan. Dr Deming said that “the 14 Points apply anywhere, to small organisations as well as to large organisations[1]”. Point 12 is to “remove …
How to deal with a complaint about quality
How a company responds to a complaint about quality needs careful consideration. A model that we can use to explore this issue is Dr Deming’s Red Beads Experiment. We can extend the Red Beads Experiment to include a complaint from customers. I explored the Red Beads Experiment in a previous blog post The blog post …
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Should we practice continuous learning?
I enjoy working in an organisation where we are learning from the work we do. An example of this would be using retrospectives to enable the team to learn from their work and taking this knowledge forward to help the team. Until recently I have called this approach continuous learning. It sounded right, as it …
Don’t ask “Why did the tester miss that bug?”
“Why did the tester miss that bug?” is a question I have heard in many places but it is the wrong question. W. Edwards Deming’s philosophy shows that if something has gone wrong we need to look at the process and not blame the individual. A tester can be working in a system that the …
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One cycle to inspire them all
I have worked in lean or agile teams for a number of years and developing my knowledge of lean and agile has helped me. The Deming Cycle is something I have found helpful to understand because it is a part of agile and lean and it is also about continuous improvement of quality. Engineering teams …
Improving quality creates a chain reaction
W. Edwards Deming wrote that improving quality results in a chain reaction “lower costs, better competitive position, happier people…and more jobs”. Deming worked in Japan after World War Two where he helped rebuild the Japanese economy. He received honours from the Emperor of Japan and the President of the USA. His work underpins agile, lean …
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