A Study in Profound Knowledge

The Profound Book Club

We learn from reading books together, make a difference through our rich conversations, and have fun throughout the process.

16Volumes Read
∞Conversations
1System of Profound Knowledge
UCLx̄LCLFIG. I — A SYSTEM UNDER STATISTICAL CONTROLUNDERSTANDINGBOOKS READ — IN SEQUENCEa special cause —worth investigating
§ NOW — IN PROGRESS

Now Reading — together

Current Selection
№ XVII
A Selection of
Leadership Is Language
❦
L. David Marquet
The Profound Book Club

Leadership Is Language

— L. David Marquet

Marquet's follow-up to Turn the Ship Around: This is a study of how the words leaders choose either shut down thinking or invite it. A natural companion to the questions about culture, variation, and the psychology of people that run through Profound Knowledge.

Connection to Profound Knowledge

In Leadership Is Language, Marquet explicitly draws on Dr. W. Edwards Deming's critique of command-and-control management and his call for leaders to redesign systems rather than blame people. Dr. Deming argued that most performance problems arise from the system, and that effective leadership means creating conditions where people can think, learn, and improve together. Marquet extends that philosophy into everyday conversations: he shows how leaders' words can either reinforce fear and compliance or invite curiosity, shared ownership, and continuous improvement. These are the very capabilities Dr. Deming saw as essential to quality and transformation.

Meeting Schedulesummer 2026
Fridays · 8:00–9:00 AM Eastern (US) · remotely via Zoom
Week 1Aug 14Chapters 1–2
Week 2Aug 21Chapters 3–4
Week 3Aug 28Chapters 5–6
—Sep 4No meeting · U.S. holiday weekend
Week 4Sep 11Chapters 7–8
Week 5Sep 18Chapters 9–10
Week 6Sep 25Chapter 11
§ NEXT — IN QUEUE

Up Next — starting soon

№ XVIII
StartsOct 16

The Leader's Handbook

— Peter Scholtes

Our next Profound Book Club selection is The Leader's Handbook by Peter Scholtes, a practical and deeply Deming-informed guide to leadership as the work of improving systems—not managing or motivating individuals in isolation. Scholtes explores how leaders can create the conditions for people to do good work: understanding variation, removing barriers, fostering cooperation, and replacing blame with learning. He also makes the case for abandoning performance appraisals and rankings that pit people against one another rather than improving the system in which they work. It should be a valuable foundation for discussing what it means to lead with knowledge, respect for people, and continual improvement.

§ I. — A CHRONOLOGY

Books We’ve Read — in sequence

Each selection connects, in some way, to Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge — whether written by Deming himself, by those who worked alongside him, or by thinkers whose work illuminates the same fundamental ideas about systems, variation, knowledge, and people.

  1. 2023.08

    Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge — John Willis

    Biography · Direct
  2. 2023.10

    The World of W. Edwards Deming — Cecilia S. Kilian

    Memoir · Direct
  3. 2024.01

    Wiring the Winning Organization — Gene Kim & Steven Spear

    Systems · Adjacent
  4. 2024.04

    Win-Win — John Dues

    Education · Direct
  5. 2024.06

    Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn — Katie Anderson

    Leadership · Adjacent
  6. 2024.09

    Deming & Goldratt — Domenico Lepore & Oded Cohen

    Systems · Direct
  7. 2024.11

    Idealized Design — Russell L. Ackoff, Jason Magidson & Herbert J. Addison

    Design · Adjacent
  8. 2025.01

    The New Economics — W. Edwards Deming

    Primary text · Direct
  9. 2025.04

    Rebels of Reason — John Willis & Derek Lewis

    Adjacent
  10. 2025.06

    Sys-Tao — Woody Williams

    Philosophy · Adjacent
  11. 2025.07

    Deming's Road to Continual Improvement — William W. Scherkenbach

    Practice · Direct
  12. 2025.09

    Thinking in Systems — Donella Meadows

    Systems · Adjacent
  13. 2025.11

    Twenty Things You Need to Know — Donald J. Wheeler

    Adjacent
  14. 2026.01

    Out of the Crisis — W. Edwards Deming

    Primary text · Direct
  15. 2026.02

    The Phoenix Project — Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford

    Novel · Adjacent
  16. 2026.06

    Sidewinder — Dr. Ron Westrum

    Systems · Adjacent
  17. 2026.08

    Leadership Is Language — L. David Marquet

    Current selection
§ II. — IN THE OPEN

Conversations — continued elsewhere

Some of what we've read together has spilled out into the wider world — into LinkedIn posts, comment threads, and conversations that pull others into the orbit.

“We can learn a great deal from William Scherkenbach about how to operationalize the Deming philosophy — in business, government, and academia.”

Mike Harris · BlogRead →
§ III. — OF INTEREST

Worth Your Attention — elsewhere

Events, talks, and resources that orbit the same questions we wrestle with in the club — promoted here because they're worth your time.

Event · 18th Annual Forum

In2:InThinking Network Forum 2026

This year's theme: "Curiosity / What If…?" — a gathering of practitioners working in the tradition of systems thinking and Profound Knowledge.

Visit
Video Series · The Deming Institute

Deming's 14 Points — video series

A walk through the Fourteen Points, one at a time, from the institute that stewards Deming's work.

Visit

— Join the conversation —

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