“We can learn a great deal from William Scherkenbach about how to operationalize the Deming philosophy — in business, government, and academia.”
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.
§ NOW — IN PROGRESS
Now Reading — together
Current Selection
№ XVI
Sidewinder
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The Profound Book Club
Sidewinder
Ron Westrum's history of the Sidewinder air-to-air missile — and, more deeply, of the unusual organizational culture at China Lake that made its development possible. A study in how a small team, given the right conditions, produced a revolutionary weapon while peers with vastly greater resources could not. Westrum, an organizational sociologist, examines the question that runs through all of his work: what kind of culture allows people to do extraordinary things?
Connection to Profound Knowledge
Westrum's typology of organizational cultures — pathological, bureaucratic, generative — sits squarely within the psychology of people that Deming placed at the heart of Profound Knowledge. The Sidewinder story is a case study in what becomes possible when a system is designed to flow information freely, treat failure as learning, and trust the people closest to the work.
Meeting Schedulesummer 2026
Week 1Jun 12Chapters 1–4
Week 2Jun 19Chapters 5–7
Week 3Jun 26Chapters 8–11
—Jul 3No meeting · U.S. holiday weekend
Week 4Jul 10Chapters 12–14
Week 5Jul 17Chapters 15–17
Week 6Jul 24Chapters 18–19
§ NEXT — IN QUEUE
Up Next — starting soon
Leadership Is Language
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. 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.
§ 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.
- 2023.08
Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge — John Willis
- 2023.10
The World of W. Edwards Deming — Cecilia S. Kilian
- 2024.01
Wiring the Winning Organization — Gene Kim & Steven Spear
- 2024.04
Win-Win — John Dues
- 2024.06
Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn — Katie Anderson
- 2024.09
Deming & Goldratt — Domenico Lepore & Oded Cohen
- 2024.11
Idealized Design — Russell L. Ackoff, Jason Magidson & Herbert J. Addison
- 2025.01
The New Economics — W. Edwards Deming
- 2025.04
Rebels of Reason — John Willis & Derek Lewis
- 2025.06
Sys-Tao — Woody Williams
- 2025.07
Deming's Road to Continual Improvement — William W. Scherkenbach
- 2025.09
Thinking in Systems — Donella Meadows
- 2025.11
Twenty Things You Need to Know — Donald J. Wheeler
- 2026.01
Out of the Crisis — W. Edwards Deming
- 2026.02
The Phoenix Project — Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
- 2026.06
Sidewinder — Dr. Ron Westrum
§ 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.
§ 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.
VisitVideo 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 —