I saw a documentary on Edward Demming. He told a story about his
billing to GM. He wrote them a proposal which said that he would bill
them from time to time an amount equal to his value during the
interval. I would like to get an accurate quote and citation.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 23 Feb 2004 12:48 PST

Do you mean W. Edwards Deming?

Can you recall anything about the documentary, such as which network
aired it, and whether it was part of a series?

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Clarification of Question by zwick7-ga on 23 Feb 2004 13:02 PST

The Deming in question is the one who focussed on quality control. His
theories were first adopted in Japan. My embarassing spelling makes me
hesitant to try and correctly spell his name.

We now get so many channels through cable that I would only be
guessing as to the network. Likely choices would be the History
channel and PBS.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 23 Feb 2004 15:07 PST

I can't be certain of this, but it seems likely that the documentary
you're referring to is "W. Edwards Deming: The Prophet of Quality," a
PBS special which has been shown several times on various PBS
affiliate stations. A transcript can be ordered here:

Transcript: 
   $10.00
   CC-M Productions 
   (800) 453-6280 
   8510 Cedar St.
   Silver Spring, MD 20910

Kentucky Educational Television
http://www.ket.org/cgi-plex/schedule/episode.pl?nola=PQUA++000000&

Two other documentaries about Deming:

"If Japan Can...Why Can't We?" 
http://www.buyindies.com/listings/8/0/CCMI-809433000577.html

"W. Edwards Deming: Prophet Unheard"
http://www.ideasandtraining.com/Success-Icons.html#Wedwards

I'm leaving your question open in case another Researcher can provide
the exact quote you're looking for.