LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE RED BEAD EXPERIMENT

1) It's the system, not the workers. If you want to improve performance, you must work on the system.

Red beads were the result of a bad system; the Willing Workers were not the problem. The system is the problem. Dr. Deming stated 94 percent of the problems come from the system rather than the worker. Yet most efforts at improvement are aimed at the worker.

2) Quality is made at the top. Quality is an outcome of the system. Top management owns the system.

The systems developed by top mangers of an organization have far greater impact on the success of the organization than the best efforts exerted by Willing Workers. The decision to produce white beads in the first place; the decision to purchase beads from a particular supplier; the decision to use rigid procedures; and the decision to rely on mass inspection - all these decisions made by top management resulted in a system that contributed more than the Willing Workers to the waste, the lack of quality, and to going out of business.

3) Numerical goals and production standards can be meaningless. The number of red beads produced is determined by the process, not by the standard.

The production standard of three red beads per day was impossible to achieve. The Willing Workers could not affect the number of beads produced; meeting the standard was beyond their control. The "Voice of the Customer", translated by management into a goal of 3 red beads or less, had no effect on the number of red or white beads produced. No method was given.

Even if the goal is "possible", there is little to be gained by announcing such a goal to the workforce. If the goal is based upon what you expect can happen, then 50% of the time you will come in better than the goal, and 50% of the time you will come in worse (and set