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Comment by vintermann | Hacker News Reader

Deming made me realize that there is actually management literature out there that isn't just fads and slogans.

Would there be any other similar recommendations to Deming's books? I would think that Eliyahu M. Goldratt's books sound similar (specifically, the "Theory of Constraints," alternatively presented through a fictional story in "The Goal").

I'm a fan of Womack & Jones's "Lean Thinking". This is all about Lean manufacturing, which I think is partly rooted in Deming's work. The focus is more on how to optimise the overall system than the management of individuals.

The content of that book isn't directly applicable to e.g. software companies but if you think a bit you can see quite a lot of analogous situations (e.g. warehoused inventory is incomplete projects or not-yet-shipped code, "monuments" could be inappropriate central test / build systems, etc).

If you want someone to translate it to software for you, Reinertsen's Principles of Product Development Flow is about adapting the philosophy to knowledge work.

Ward's Lean Product and Process Development is also a good take on those ideas.

Thanks - I will aim to check them out at some point. Lean Thinking made a big difference to how I approached engineering processes and I'm keen to see what else is out there.

I recommend Russell Ackoff's writings as somewhat related and more to do with how systems of people and processes work (or don't). Here's a great place to start: https://thesystemsthinker.com/a-lifetime-of-systems-thinking...

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