Rafael Aguayo

Rafael Aguayo is an internationally recognized expert in quality and management. He is a graduate of Brown University where he had concentrations in Physics and Economics; and New York University where he earned a Master's in Business Administration with majors in Finance and International Business. Mr. Aguayo started his business career in international banking. At twenty-seven as the youngest officer of an international bank's New York City branch with forty-two people reporting to him he was conducting business in four languages. Mr. Aguayo later spent seven years on Wall Street. In 1983 he met W. Edwards Deming, the world renowned quality expert who was generally acknowledged by the Japanese as being the man most responsible for sparking their economic renaissance starting with his first lecture in Tokyo in 1950. Rafael’s life was to change dramatically as he realized Deming had the answers to many of the issues he had grappled with as a manager. It also became clear that much of what he had been taught in business school about management was incorrect and often dysfunctional. In fact the very questions being asked by management gurus of the time (and even today) reflected ignorance of one or more of the basic principles Deming was teaching. And bad ideas taught by smart and influential people can and have destroyed companies and whole industries. The American automobile industry, for example, in the 1970s and again in the first years of the 21st century was virtually destroyed by bad management ideas, many of which were taught by business schools or “business experts.” Rafael studied with Deming for seven years and in 1990 his first book, Dr. Deming the American who Taught the Japanese about Quality, was published. The book is a clear introduction and exposition on Deming's principles for management. It has been hailed by Deming disciples and Deming himself called it “the best book so far.” In North America the book sold over 200,000 copies. It was translated into six languages and inspired numerous individuals and companies to transform their way of doing business and their lives. One well-known reviewer, Tony Robbins, called it the best business book he had read in a decade. During the 1980's and 1990's these principles helped turn around the quality and economic fortunes of American industries. Among major companies that successfully adopted these principles were Ford, Colgate Palmolive, Hewlett-Packard, Proctor & Gamble, Wal-Mart, Intel and Harley Davidson. In 1990 Rafael began consulting full-time. He worked with large companies such as Bell Canada and Merck and many small companies to help them transform their business to dynamic, quality conscious and very profitable enterprises. Building on Dr. Deming's principles he added a number of tools to facilitate the change process. In 1995 the American Society of Training and Development recognized him for excellence in Organizational Transformation. He has been a keynote speaker at the American Society for Quality Control. He provided training for Mobil, Exxon, Hewlett Packard and other companies. His consulting clients included, MCI, Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment, Northern Telecom, CoreStates Banking Group, Cantor Seinik Group, Consulting Engineers, Newsday, EAB, New York Label, Dorothy Lane Market and numerous other companies. In 2004 his second book, The MetaKnowledge Advantage, was published. The book delves deeply into new management ideas and principles for transforming organizations. A Spanish reviewer in 2011 called it the best book on management he had ever read. The book also predicted a crisis in the banking system with the most probable date being 2008. In 1993 he formed Millennia Management Associates, Ltd. a consulting organization. In 2010 he joined with several other experts of Deming’s Management Principles to form Deming Collaboration. The group currently has principals in three countries. Their site can be visited at www.DemingCollaboration.com Rafael has trained extensively in communication theory and practice. He is certified as a master practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Hypnosis. He has studied psychology extensively and has used Jungian psychology of the conscious mind or the Myers Briggs personality-type system to help managers better understand themselves as well as other people. As a result and in conjunction with understanding of process and systems he has had dramatic success with companies. Rafael is currently working on a new book tentatively titled The Depression of 2015. Sorry to sound so dire, but using Dynamic Systems Theory and new insights into economics it appears that the world economies have major imbalances some of it brought on by economic tampering. While the current efforts to stimulate the US economy prevented a collapse of the banking system and therefore prevented a global economic catastrophe, these efforts have created their own problems. The economic stimulus of 2007 was only the latest in a series. Every time the economy experienced problems the economy was stimulated. This occurred in 1981, in 1992, in 2001 and again in 2008. Each stimulus dwarfed the previous one. While there are several paths the future economy can take each has significant problems and hardships. If for example an attempt is made to seriously rein in the federal budget deficit without fundamental changes in the way the economy is structure a very nasty contraction will occur that will drag down not just the US economy but the global economy. To back up these assertions Rafael is constructing a systems based model of the economy. To contact Rafael E-mail him at Catalyst@DemingCollaboration.com or Rafael@MillenniaLtd.com