Edward Deming knew human psychology drove quality outcomes. He also knew that fear destroyed systems. Most would label this as “people problems;” but Deming established that the true issue was leadership and the systems they built based on their unique psychology. In fact, he argued that the majority of problems were system issues, not individual failures from a company’s employees.
"85% of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better." - W. Edwards Deming
Yet manufacturing still struggles with the same human factors behind their processes because they haven’t been able to systematically measure and optimize them. Today, we can.
Why Deming's Human Insights Never Scaled
Surveys and interviews provided psychological insights but with critical limitations:
Small samples only: couldn't see underlying traits, mindset, and dysfunction across the organization
Response bias: dysfunctional leaders don't give honest feedback
Time lag: analysis completed after psychological states changed
Result: Could diagnose human problems but couldn't systematically solve them.
What's Available Now
Remote psychological intelligence delivers:
70+ psychological traits, mindset types, dysfunction patterns
Real-time monitoring across entire ecosystems
Complete timeline view - past, present, and future psychological states
Full ecosystem coverage - vendors, customers, employees
The Problem Manufacturing is Facing
Leadership dysfunction destroys free cash flow and consistent output but stays invisible until the damage is done.
Fear-based decision making creates the quality problems Deming warned against.
Supplier relationships fail based on psychological misalignment discovered only after problems emerge.
Worker engagement fluctuates based on unmeasured mindset compatibility.
The Solution
Predict teams that avoid fear-based decisions before implementing quality systems. (We call this building a “coalition of the willing” capable of breaking structural limits.)
Map psychological compatibility between departments to eliminate silos.
Identify cognitive capacity for leadership versus execution roles.
Select suppliers based on psychological alignment with quality requirements.
The Bottom Line
Deming was right about human psychology driving manufacturing outcomes. The missing piece was systematic measurement and the optimization of those human factors.
Your quality transformation doesn't need better processes. It needs actionable human insights from data that's causal to outcomes.
And that’s what we provide.