Yoda and Deming on Innovation

Image credit: Lucasfilm

I never met the late Dr. Deming who is considered by many to be the master of continual improvement of quality. But my Father-in-Law did have the honor of meeting him at a quality conference during the early 80’s. Deming was close to 90-years old at the time and did not feel any need for beating-around-the-bush. In fact, he was quite frank and straightforward during the Q & A session. According to my Father-in-Law, it was even slightly uncomfortable. For those of you who are not familiar with Deming, he reminds me of a character who could also be blunt with people: Yoda. Consider the following quotes.

Quotes by Dr. Deming

Quotes by Master Yoda

Image credit: Lucasfilm

What does this have to do with innovation? Actually, quite a bit. There is an innovation methodology that DISHER has adopted called Innovation Engineering. It applies the system thinking of Dr. Deming to strategy, innovation, and how people work together in companies. One of the biggest blockers of innovation is bureaucracy. Innovation Engineering addresses this as a system innovation challenge– with a defined methodology to bust the bureaucracy. It also addresses how to effectively take an idea to market. Ideas are nice. But they are 5% of what you need to make an innovation reality. Innovation Engineering gives people the education, tools, and coaching they need to transform and accelerate their idea into something that ships.

Creating a culture and the capability of innovation across an organization takes more than empowerment, inspiring speakers, or the desire to innovate. In order to create a culture of innovation, you need to build a process that make it possible, practical, and easy for everyone to innovate everywhere in everything they do.

It is a proven system. Over 35,000 people have been trained in the Innovation Engineering methodology including companies that you would recognize such as: 3M, Nike, Proctor and Gamble, Kimberly Clark, Toyota, and others. That is why we are excited to be conducting an Innovation Engineering Workshop overview at our Zeeland facility on March 19 from 8:30 to 10:30 am. Click here for more details on the workshop.

We hope to see you there. May the Force be with you!

Written By: Kevin Pinner, Business Lead – Business Solutions | Manufacturing Tech Services

Kevin enjoys improving processes – manufacturing or business processes. When he isn’t doing that, he enjoys playing soccer, running, mountain biking, and driving old sports cars. Kevin has a BS in Industrial Management and MBA in Finance. Kevin leads the Disher Manufacturing Tech Services and DISHER Business Solutions Teams.