Understanding Special Cause LO4557

Bob Luttman (rluttman@zork.tiac.net)
Tue, 2 Jan 1996 20:42:46 -0500

Replying to LO4508 --

>I have a Deming related question to raise, I hope this is a good place for
>it.
>
>I need some help understanding "special causes" as W. Edwards Deming would
>define them. I can't quite find what I'm looking for in the books I have
>at home. I am in the process of defining something I believe to be an
>opportunity for improvement. However, I struggle with the question of
>whether my idea would be considered "tampering".

[SNIP]

First, Deming would probably say that what is happening NOW is tampering.
Work is being inspected and reworked without a meaningful process for
understanding the system at work here. Performance appraisal, in general,
is where Deming was probably most controversial. He was adamant that
performance ratings and reviews were bogus and statistically invalid. His
reply othe comment that these people are "unteachable" or "incompetent"
would be "by what measure?", especially when the data is skewed by the
behind the scenes file manipulation.

As to whether these people are special causes: NO. Special causes are
those events that are not normally a part of the system, these people most
certainly are and so is all the working around and fixing that goes on to
"get the job out". Deming - and most quality people - have the same view
of things as LO people: look at the system. In this case the training,
work assigning, managing, reviewing, and improvement of these people. If
they clearly are "unteachable" Deming would get rid of them, but only if
they were truly incompetent. He felt that most problems are system - and
therefore management - problems.

As an aside, and I know nothing about what you are designing, this CAD
system sound enormously complicated, mught a better - i.e. simpler - CAD
system be in order?

--
Bob Luttman
Principal
Robert Luttman & Associates * 50 Keith Street * West Roxbury, MA 02132
Phone/Fax: 617.327.6253 * email: rluttman@zork.tiac.net * Web:
www.tiac.net/users/rluttman/RLA.html