Deming’s philosophy on management that was first published in the 1950s. His leadership fundamentals revolve around the concept of “Everything is a system, and we are part of it.” Below are the leadership competencies that are elaborated by Scholtes (The Leader’s Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done) from Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge.

• The ability to think in terms of systems and knowing how to lead systems;
• The ability to understand variability of work in planning and problem solving;
• Understanding how we learn, develop, and improve, and leading true learning and improvement;
• Understanding people and why they behave as they do;
• Understanding the interdependence and interaction between systems, variation, learning, and human behavior. Knowing how each affects the others;
• Giving vision, meaning, direction, and focus to the organization.

Today, 50 years later, his vision of leadership is even more relevant in the global, complex, fast pace world we live in. Simply, we as leaders need to understand the system, as we need to be integrators, not insulators; team players, not team captains; communicators, not commanders.

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