“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.
§ I. — 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 Schedule
summer 2026
Week 1
Jun 12
Chapters 1–4
Week 2
Jun 19
Chapters 5–7
Week 3
Jun 26
Chapters 8–11
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Jul 3
No meeting · U.S. holiday weekend
Week 4
Jul 10
Chapters 12–14
Week 5
Jul 17
Chapters 15–17
Week 6
Jul 24
Chapters 18–19
§ II. — 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.
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2023.08
Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge — John Willis
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2023.10
The World of W. Edwards Deming — Cecilia S. Kilian
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2024.01
Wiring the Winning Organization — Gene Kim & Steven Spear
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2024.04
Win-Win — John Dues
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2024.06
Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn — Katie Anderson
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2024.09
Deming & Goldratt — Domenico Lepore & Oded Cohen
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2024.11
Idealized Design — Russell L. Ackoff, Jason Magidson & Herbert J. Addison
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2025.01
The New Economics — W. Edwards Deming
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2025.04
Rebels of Reason — John Willis & Derek Lewis
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2025.06
Sys-Tao — Woody Williams
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2025.07
Deming's Road to Continual Improvement — William W. Scherkenbach
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2025.09
Thinking in Systems — Donella Meadows
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2025.11
Twenty Things You Need to Know — Donald J. Wheeler
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2026.01
Out of the Crisis — W. Edwards Deming
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2026.02
The Phoenix Project — Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
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2026.06
Sidewinder — Dr. Ron Westrum
§ III. — 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.
§ IV. — 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❦
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