Oct 21, 2016
Beginning in 2014, The Deming
Institute has recorded podcasts on a monthly basis,
featuring 20 to 30-minute interviews by Tripp
Babbitt with members of the Deming Community who
are advancing the use and explanations of Dr. Deming's
ideas.
In our October
podcast, TJ Gokcen, CEO of Acquate, a software company in Sydney,
Australia, shares his learning journey, from collegiate swimmer to
software developer, ever in alignment with the Deming
philosophy.
For many, Dr. Deming was
discovered in 1980 through the NBC television
whitepaper, If
Japan Can, Why Can’t We. Throughout this documentary
are tell-tale signs of a failing US economy, one heavily dependent
on manufacturing, from the production of machine tools to the
fabrication of automobiles. To no surprise, many
of the earliest examples of the application of Dr. Deming’s
management philosophy were in
manufacturing. Meanwhile, attendees at his
seminars who came from outside of manufacturing environments might
have struggled to see the significance to their
professions. Credit Dr. Deming with continuously
striving to demonstrate the unlimited applicability of his
management theory, ever mindful of the trap of having attendees see
the statistical tools he presented as his core
message. Credit TJ Gokcen with a simple, yet
insightful explanation of how he has been applying Dr. Deming’s
philosophy to both the design of the software developed by Acquate
and the internal operation of Acquate.
In this 30-minute episode, TJ skillfully guides listeners through the technical jargon of software development, from agile to scrum to waterfall to kanban techniques, and then proceeds to the heart of how he believes Acquate differentiates itself from other software companies. Using one of Dr. Deming’s favorite questions about “how to wash a table?,” TJ provides parallels for how his developers probe their clients, question after question, wanting to know more and more about “how will the software be used.” For those who wonder how Dr. Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge applies to software, this podcast will open minds and doors to amazing possibilities. For those who appreciate the wide applicability of Dr. Deming’s philosophy, this podcast will provide a brilliant reminder.