Richard Charles Holloway wrote:
> A final thought...and that's about the irony of all the accolades that are
> showered on the memory of Deming's contributions to organizational
> success...and the utter failure of almost all organizations to implement
> the most fundamental of his points. So, why is that? What indication do
> we have that organizations really are learning?
We can learn a lot from some stories in The Dance of Change. For example,
some Ford executives like to introduce LO to some plants and had strong
resistence...Many stories told in the book remind us The Fact of Life used
by Deming.
For me, too many myth-making about Deming is a disservice.But Deming's
management theory is a gem and most of us might learn a lot from the man
people resist or neglect. Please see Leading Change by James O'Toole.
Your last great question is most interesting and challenging.Recently I am
thinking Deming's analytic studies concept in organizational learning.In
this type of studies, the subject matter experts and customers are most
key persons, not the statistician or experts in LO, KM,or TQM( which
Deming claimed it is quilty by association).This is only partial list of
the aspects of this type of studies.I believe nobody can answer your great
question. But we might learn from the experiences(Deming as a consultant
and a leader of a learning community) and the theory of Deming stated in
his last two books.
The challenges of being or becoming a Person or 'a system' defined by
Deming make us humble that it is a never-ending improvement and learning
journey.
Hanching Chung
demingtw@ms17.hinet.net
http://www.deming.com.tw as a trial platform of Free Deming University.
--demingtw <demingtw@ms17.hinet.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>