Deming’s system of profound knowledge and the World Cup

In Deming’s system of profound knowledge, he found out that a problem is largely the result of “common causes” (at around 94 per cent) rather than “special causes”. Analysis of the potential causes and identification of the single one that ultimately relates to the problem is the crux of problem solving. Applies Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge to demonstrate how we can learn to solve problems. In the semi‐final of the soccer World Cup Finals 1990, England lost to West Germany in the penalty shoot‐out. The Italian team had the similar experience when they lost to Brazil in the World Cup final 1994. In an attempt to find the possible causes of defeats, identifies the common cause (due to the training system) for the outcome. These two examples illustrate the effectiveness of the problem‐solving method developed from Deming’s idea in identifying the common cause of a problem.