February 17, 2026
Spreadsheets vs soul: round one
Poor Deming never stood a chance
Quick goals beat big-picture thinking—and the comments are on fire
TLDR: The article says Drucker’s goal-driven style (popular as OKRs) beat Deming’s systems thinking in U.S. offices, and the comments explode over why. Readers split between “Drucker is usable,” “Deming is deeper,” and “Wall Street killed long-term quality,” with extra heat over whether Deming belongs only in factories.
Who knew a management history lesson would turn into a full‑blown comment brawl? The post argues why Peter Drucker’s "goal-and-metrics" style (think: set a few objectives, track numbers) beat W. Edwards Deming’s "fix the system" approach in the U.S.—especially via OKRs, short for Objectives and Key Results. The crowd didn’t just nod along—they split into camps and started swinging.
On one side, readers cheer Drucker for being easy mode. As one quipped, Deming reads like a science lab report while Drucker feels like a step‑by‑step setup guide. Others argue Deming was the real deal—his ideas shaped Toyota and modern quality control—so comparing him to "spreadsheet goals" is apples to oranges. One commenter flat-out called the piece a “trivial treatment,” flexing that Deming’s lineage from Walter Shewhart is the bedrock of industrial quality.
Then came the spice: some say U.S. management never took Deming seriously because Wall Street rules everything—if it doesn’t move the stock this quarter, it’s not real. Cue jokes about “stock go wheeeeee” and bonuses. Another hot take tried to cage Deming inside the factory only—"manufacturing, not engineering"—which set off pushback from folks who’ve seen Deming-style thinking work beyond assembly lines. Verdict? OKRs may rule the office slides, but the comments want leadership with a soul—not just prettier dashboards.
Key Points
- •The article compares Peter Drucker’s and W. Edwards Deming’s management philosophies and their relative influence in the U.S. and Japan.
- •OKRs are presented as a Drucker-aligned framework that simplifies organizational complexity by focusing on measurable key results.
- •John Doerr’s 'Measure What Matters' is cited for spreading OKRs from Intel to Google.
- •Deming criticized management by numerical targets in 'Out of the Crisis,' advocating leadership and systemic change instead.
- •Deming supported the use of statistical techniques (from Walter Shewhart) and emphasized understanding the system for lasting improvements.