A man with a knack for systems thinking and with a shrewd sense of humor, W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) is considered one of the leading thinkers on organizations of all time. A national hero in Japan from the 1950s on, he became widely recognized in his native America and the West only when he was already in his 80s. Today, Deming is credited with having been instrumental to unleashing the Japanese productivity miracle after WWII. He was instrumental...