The philosophical basis for POET is the work of W.E.Deming. But while Deming applied it to the Operations parts of Enterprises (specifically manufacturing), we apply it to the Transformation Enterprise that exists within every Enterprise. 99% of what Deming said about the Operation part of an Enterprise (specifically about manufacturing) applies equally well to the Transformation part of every Enterprise.

Here we reproduce the philosophy of Deming but have made some adjustments shown in purple to phrase it in the context of Transformation rather than Operations. It is interesting to note that the exact same problems that Deming faced when trying to explain his thinking to the western world, also exist when trying to explain Enterprise Transformation and the Ontologies and Methodologies for improving it.

It should also be noted that it was The Toyota Motor Company that first “got it”, and then subsequently used it to decimate the US manufacturing industry. The same will be true of Enterprise Transformation. Those that “get it” will have a serious business advantage over their competitors. Those that do not will be decimated by those that do.