Oh, it was a matter of luck.

Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure and lacquer box
1960





During the following extract the interviewer, Priscilla Petty, asked him to show her the Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure, awarded him in Japan in 1960. It was a rare honour. But, despite all that he had accomplished for Japan, and had begun to accomplish for the West in the latter years, he suggested that, after all, maybe it had just been “a matter of luck.” Finally, look out for what he said when she asked him what he thought of a medal awarded him by the American President in 1988:


Priscilla Petty:
I asked Dr. Deming to show me the medal he received from the Emperor of Japan for his contribution to their economic recovery after World War II.


Narrator:
In 1960, the Prime Minister of Japan, acting on behalf of Emperor Hirohito, awarded Dr. Deming Japan’s Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure. The citation on the medal attributes Japan’s industrial rebirth and its worldwide success to W. Edwards Deming. No honour among businessmen and industrialists in Japan is more coveted.

Priscilla Petty:
How did you feel when he gave that to you?


Dr. Deming:
Oh, totally unworthy.


Priscilla Petty:
You felt unworthy.

Dr. Deming:
Yes.

Priscilla Petty:
Why?

Dr. Deming:
Oh, it was a matter of luck.

Narrator:
Quite obviously, a grateful Japanese people don’t share Dr. Deming’s humble view that it was only “a matter of luck.” Each year, since 1951, the Japanese have awarded a medal named in Dr. Deming’s honour to those companies which have attained the highest level of quality. His presence at an award ceremony like this one to the Kajima Corporation is considered the ultimate honour. And it’s a strange paradox that thisAmerican, who is a national hero in Japan, until recent years was virtually unknown in the United States—a prophet without honour in his own country.

Priscilla Petty:
I asked about another medal from our President.

Dr. Deming:
Well, the medal from the President of the United States came 28 years after the medal from the Emperor of Japan.28 years later—that is all he had to say about it.

Yes, it was very late in life that the Western world began to appre-ciate the genius of this man. But, as the saying has it: “Better late than never.”


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THE DEMING DIMENSION: Management for a Better Future Henry R ...

THE DEMING DIMENSION: Management for a Better Future
Henry R. Neave, Ph.D.
INAUGURAL PROFESSORIAL LECTURE,
2 MARCH 2000
W. Edwards Deming Professor of Management
Nottingham Business School
The Nottingham Trent University