The Red Beads Experiment: Systems, Not People, Are the Problem
2024-12-17
Dr. W. Edwards Deming's 'Red Beads Experiment' vividly illustrates the impact of systems on individual performance. Employees pick beads from a mix containing mostly red beads, with performance measured by the number of red beads. Results show that despite employee effort, system flaws (high proportion of red beads) lead to huge performance differences, with management wrongly blaming individuals. The experiment highlights the importance of systemic issues, emphasizing management's focus on system improvement, not individual assessment, for true efficiency gains.