> most of it is about managing process variability. Yes, and this specific article acknowledged that and stated that this is a niche reflection "about [how Dem

> most of it is about managing process variability. Yes, and this specific article acknowledged that and stated that this is a niche reflection "about [how Deming's] work goes far beyond the data tools and statistical methods of Statistical Process Control (SPC) he helped introduce to the practice of business — and in many cases, seem in direct opposition to those ideas." As in, this is the thesis statement of the article. Some notes in the article: > Editors Note: This is an investigative note, and only nominally part of the Becoming Data Driven in Business series. A fair warning — this essay is not intended to be as useful as prior essays in the series. The author also notes this article will be incongruent with the prior articles in the Deming series of articles. The "official" list of articles in the series don't even list this article: -3) You Aren't Learning if You Don't Close the Loops — An article about the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle, sometimes called the ‘Shewhart cycle’ or ‘Deming cycle’. -2) Process Improvement is Trickier Than You Think — The organisational and political dynamics you’ll face when you attempt to due process improvement. -1) The Disaffected PhD Skunksworks: A Story About Process Improvement — What it's actually like to due process improvement when the organisational dynamics work against you. 1) Goodhart’s Law Isn’t As Useful As You Might Think — Goodhart’s Law says “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” It turns out that the field of Statistical Process Control have long developed methods for protecting against this effect. We look at those ideas, and then examine a particular instantiation of the approach in the context of the Amazon Weekly Business Review. 2) How to Become Data Driven — What does SPC have to say about becoming data driven? The central idea it uses is deceptively simple: in order to become data driven, SPC practitioners argue, you need to understand variation. We talk about why that is. 3) Operational Excellence is the Pursuit of Knowledge — Knowledge is defined as ‘theories or models that allow you to predict better’. It turns out that the mindset necessary for operational rigour stems from the pursuit of ‘knowledge’. The beginning of ‘knowledge’, in their view, is a deep understanding of variation. This piece covers the practical implications of this mindset. 4) There is No Truth in Business, Only ‘Knowledge’ — We look at some of the more philosophical implications of pursuing ‘knowledge’ over truth, particularly in business. As it turns out, assuming that there are no stable truths in business is a pretty good hack. (Idiosyncratic numbering intentional, negative numbers are the "pre-series" to the series. This article itself was published 20 days after the "final" article of the series."