Dear John and all you reading this, greetings,
I do not question Dr Deming's intentions, although i never met him in
person, what i've seen and read about him, impresses me much. And i'm not
easily impressed (altough that doesn't say much).
I'm inclined to think however, that his intentions are not understood
clearly, because the words he uses in the PDCA-cycle are
1. imperatives (so rather assertive)
2. analytic and design oriented or from the unitair/sensory realities
3. only imply idea-generation and innovation
4. do not refer to feelings and emotions.
Now this bias to analyse/design modes and methods is easily understood in
the light of the 50's, 60's and perhaps 70's and 80's attitudes to
leadership and management: there had been a war, there was a (cold) war
and people thought of organisations in military terms. Most of the
managerial literature, most of the managers had a kind of rational,
military background, or so it seems to me. Perhaps Dr Deming tried to tune
his messages to this background melody, in order to be accepted. And
then, perhaps, he wanted to build from that. - I was once told, by an
Englishman, that the Japanese establishment made only one mistake: they
thought that Dr Demings messages on teamwork etc. were also understood in
the USA - . However, the intentional changes he wanted and the
implications (for instance: "drive out fear") were largely byepassed or
missed in the USA. Or, that is what i sense (see alo my other message on
the red/blue clock as a reminder of the PCDA-cycle).
> It's not difficult to read Deming's intentions about what he always calls
> the Shewhart cycle (although he admits that it is widely known as the
> Deming cycle.) For example, in Out of the Crisis (p. 88) he describes it
> this way:
...snip...
In this part Dr Deming refers to the worlds of ideas (improvement, aimed)
and emotions (statisfaction, customer).
> Continual improvement of methods and procedures, aimed at better
> satisfaction of the customer (user) at the next stage."
I'm a fan of double-loop learning and agree that Dr Deming meant it this
way, but the way he phrased it means you'll have to do some "hinein
interpretierung" or, in other words, you must have some understanding of
what is going on. Now, the average manager (refering to the Dilbert'
principle by Scott Adams) believes: "if i do not understand it, it must be
easy to do." So there you have it.
> A final comment: I endorse José Antonio Espín's interpretation of the
> Shewhart/Deming cycle as including, via Step 4, double-loop learning. In
> fact I believe that's the main point of the cycle.
...snip...
Keep up the good work (i've no idea why is end this message like this,
must be getting late)!
Jan Lelie
-- With kind regards - met vriendelijke groeten,Jan Lelie
Drs J.C. Lelie CPIM (Jan) LOGISENS - Sparring Partner in Logistical Development Mind@Work est. 1998 - Group Resolution Process Support Tel.: (+ 31) (0)70 3243475 or car: (+ 31)(0)65 4685114 http://www.mindatwork.nl and/or taoSystems: + 31 (0)30 6377973 - Mindatwork@taoNet.nl
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