Total Quality Management

"Since OBE and Outcome-based Religion share what appears to be a disproportionate number of similarities, one must question the origin of these principles.... [T]he quest begins by looking into the lives of two men, Edwards Deming and Peter Drucker. Deming (now deceased) and Drucker (in his mid 90s) are enshrined as internationally renowned experts in business management and gurus of business methodology. These two individuals were among the primary players in a select group of Americans (Though Drucker is a U.S. citizen, he is actually Austrian.) who are lauded as part of the almost super-human effort that developed systems-based management philosophies that first gained public recognition in post-World War II Japan. The popular story is told of the Americans who developed a cutting edge business methodology that was rejected by western business but eagerly embraced by the Japanese....

"While this story is partially true, the reality is that Deming’s approach is primarily based on “process” and “continual process improvement”, and Drucker’s 'Management by Objective' is purely outcome-based. However, though the approach of these methodologies originate from a different source point, Drucker’s outcome-based philosophies 'back-map' into the very process principles incorporated by Deming. For example, Drucker’s theme of 'building community' with 'knowledge workers' equates precisely to Deming’s quest to implement a 'team spirit' in order to 'cultivate corporate loyalty and a shared identity'....

"Drucker’s 'Management by Objective' was not an original idea, but rather emanated from within the ranks of 19th Century esoteric Germanic philosophy. The outcome-based, systemic concepts can be traced directly to the teachings of Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Wellhausen, Blavatsky, and others who were heavily influenced by Germanic paganism. In turn, these same principles were then adopted by the Fabian Socialists in the early Twentieth Century and easily communicated to the likes of John Dewey, 'The Father of Progressive Education' (thus the origin of OBE). 'Disturbingly, a deeper look into the basic tenants of this system reveals far darker, more esoteric undercurrents. This is no secret even to secular business sources that have the courage to make an honest evaluation of the system. For instance, in an article in The Journal of Organizational Change Management, David M. Boje and Robert D. Winsor address Total Quality Management (TQM)-- the lodestone of the Deming/Drucker methodology:

"This same article states, 'TQM seeks to perfect control systems that produce and enforce uniformity within the products, parts, workers, suppliers, and the overall system of production. The problem is that a majority of this control, in line with Taylor's (1911) principles, is directed toward workers' bodies, souls, and spirits.” (8) ... This aspect of the Drucker /Demming methodology seeks the same results---a paradigm shift—a change of mind from the old to the new, from the past to the future, from individualism to group dynamics, and from nationalism to globalism. ...

"...the esoteric side of this issue comes to the fore when one begins to direct management principles toward the worker’s body, soul, and spirit. This methodology crosses a threshold from the secular to the religious; and once one delves into religious arenas with humanistic methodology, the situation quickly transitions from mundane to esoteric levels.

"(In the 1950s, the American public was not exactly enthusiastic about embracing Druckerism or Demingism. As a matter of fact, the previously mentioned esoteric undercurrents were critical components in the rejection of Drucker’s methods by American industrial magnets. However, esoteric mysteries were at the core of the Eastern religions, and thus these aspects were more of an incentive than an obstacle to the Japanese mentality. ... With the success of TQM and 'Management by Objective' in the East, General motors opened their doors to Drucker and the implementation of his plan. Once the first doors were opened, the floodgates opened. Today, the little manufacturing left in the United States struggles under the curse of Drucker/Demming philosophies, and these very philosophies are a major contributor to the mass exodus of American manufacturing jobs to the low cost labor pools of third world and Pacific Rim nations.)

"In reality, there exists a very logical explanation for the esoteric nature of the Drucker/Deming methodology. These individuals based their philosophies on “General Systems Theory” (GST).