Everyday heroes of the quality movement

is an excellent book by Perry Gluckman and Diana Reynolds Roome, subtitled From Taylor to Deming : The Journey to Higher Productivity (isbn 0945320078). As usual I'm going to quote from a few pages:

Look for the flaws in the system not in each other.

When we reduce complexity, we start to see the organism behaving as a whole rather than a series of parts.

The effects of preventative medicine are hard to measure.

Theories are only the beginning. Why do we find it so hard to exercise, or give up smoking, even when we know all the arguments.

Quality and productivity are results, not goals.

Automating complexity is never as effective as removing it.

I'm not trying to be destructive. I just want to open the doors to some breezes that feel a little chilling to start with.

If there are problems in the company, we don't borrow money. We solve the problems.

If you automate without first getting rid of complexity, you cast the complexity in concrete.

We do almost nothing to control our workers productivity. They are already doing their best without being goaded. What we all try to control is the process itself.

You need to know your financial direction as far as it can be known, and make sure that you don't hit any big rocks. But something else is more important: to design the ship so that it can withstand the blows when they come.