Out of the Crisis

Business and economics

First published: 1982
Print length: 507 pagesMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Engineering Study, 1986

Description

Out of the Crisis examines managerial practices that W. Edwards Deming believes create or deepen organizational crises. Rather than treating such crises as inevitable, the book focuses on decisions made by managers and explains what they should do differently. Deming presents his proposed way out, offering leadership guidance aimed at changing how organizations are directed and managed. The emphasis is therefore not merely on identifying failures, but on assigning management an active role in correcting them. Readers looking for Deming’s approach to organizational improvement will find a sustained argument about managerial responsibility, changed practice, and a path beyond recurring crisis.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Academic · Dense · Direct · Technical

Pace

Measured

Tone

Cerebral · Earnest

Structure

Argumentative

Focus

Argument · Ideas · Information

Emotional intensity

2 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 4 / 5
Ideas: 4 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 4 / 5

Themes

Knowledge and truthPowerTransformationWork

About W. Edwards Deming

W. Edwards Deming was an American statistician, industrial engineer, management consultant, and writer whose career joined technical analysis to practical questions of leadership. After helping develop sampling methods used by federal statistical agencies, he turned increasingly to industrial production and management, drawing on Walter Shewhart’s work in statistical process control. Deming became an important influence on postwar Japanese industry and a leading figure in the quality movement. His management writing treats organizational failure less as an unavoidable event than as the result of decisions, incentives, and processes that leaders can change. Out of the Crisis exemplifies this approach, combining criticism of prevailing managerial practice with detailed prescriptions for reform.

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Engineering Study
Language: English
ISBN: 9780911379013

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