W. Edwards Deming's “Making AnotherWorld”

To answer W. Edwards Deming's challenge to “make a new world,” statisticians in today's competitive environment must broaden their focus to include not only a comprehensive set of statistical tools but also an overarching framework in which those tools and other improvement methodologies are integrated, sequenced, and deployed for maximum effect. This article addresses how this can be done through a holistic approach to improvement designed to change the way an organization works and its people think. This holistic approach will mean that statisticians will have more impact on their organizations and more opportunities for leadership than ever before, but only if they see their activities in this larger context pioneered by Deming and extended by Six Sigma and other improvement methodologies.