Measuring Performance without Numerical Quotas

Deming's 14 points
Bill
The idea is to not define a threshold for performance but to continually strive for improvement. If a threshold is defined that is as far as you will go. Always leave room for doing better than a predetermined level of performance.

Deming's point 11
Selcuk
Unless point 11 is interpreted together with all the other points of Deming, it is meaningless. The 14 points are a whole.

Deming and Measuring Performance
Lesley Porter
Performance is visible and the quotas come after the performance has been tuned up where employees work together in unison towards that same goal like a well oiled machine humming away.

Numerical Quota Elimination
Hasan
Indeed, without applying quotas you can measure the performance because your driving force is continuous improvement. You measure and then work for better always. Then you do not need to set quotas because every time you work for doing better the last one. As better as you do, you will close to your system's limit value at infinity.

Deming and Measuring Performance
Paul Burke, Director, United Kingdom, Member
Yes, using (numerical) quotas can lead to incorrect human behaviours due to the various emotions that they produce. But surely at the same time measures of performance are crucial to continuous improvement. If you do not know how you performed last time (precisely and quantitatively) than how do you know if you improve next time.
Improving all the time is essential, however good or bad you are currently performing, but it needs to be measured, communicated and rewarded. The only way the English cricket team knew they had retained the ashes was by looking at the scoreboard - businesses need a scoreboard.
This debate shows the critical importance of choosing the right key performance indicators (KPI's) - the one's that motivate people and align to business goals.