Deming's System of Organizational Knowledge

Understanding Your Organization
(Also known as Deming's System of Profound Knowledge)

Make sure that you're heading in the right direction.

© iStockphoto/Fertographer

Because of recent budget cuts, Janet asked her assistant to find the cheapest flights and rental cars whenever he's organizing trips.

However, problems quickly surfaced from this seemingly innocuous goal.

The cheapest flights involved several layovers, which meant that salespeople were arriving at client offices feeling tired, bruised, and demoralized. This affected their performance. Then, if they took a client out for dinner, they were forced to drive them in a budget rental car, which diminished their reputation. Sales were starting to fall.

This simple example highlights what can happen when you don't fully understand how team objectives relate to the overall goals of your organization. Although Janet's assistant was meeting his objective of saving money, it was affecting the company's overall performance.

This is where Deming's System of Organizational Knowledge is useful. This model helps you think about your organization from a general perspective, so that you can meet your team's objectives in a way that is consistent with your organization's goals.

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