Description: This seminar explores the prospects of "thinking together as one organization" as defined by the management and leadership philosophies of W. Edwards Deming, Genichi Taguchi, Russell Ackoff, Tom Johnson, and others. Among the topics of discussion will be the "resource management" and it's applicability to variation management, systems thinking, and working together. "Wr" organizations represent environments of growing levels of teamwork, wherein “acting locally and thinking globally” is more than a thoughtful expression. By contrast to "Me" organizations, where teamwork inevitably translates to “local sub-optimization”, "We" organizations offer the prospect of "working together through thinking together." The seminar will introduce you to these ideas through two experiential sessions which were designed to allow participants to "feel the difference" between "Me" and "We" organizations.

Target Audience: Individual contributors, members of management, suppliers, and customers who are providing leadership in "resource management" and "resource leadership" activities and in the transformation of "Me" organizations into "We" organizations.

Organizational Issues: Proficiency in thinking together is fundamental to the ability to learn together and work together as "one enterprise."

Objectives: At the completion of the seminar the participants should have the ability to better appreciate systemic interdependencies, the impact of variation, the vitality of people thinking together, and the limitations of individual and organizational knowledge. Taken together, participants will become more aware of how to foster an environment of thinking together, learning together, and working together.

Cost: None

Pre-work: None

Materials Needed: None

Handouts: Available only to session attendees

Biography: Bill Bellows is an Associate Fellow in the InThinking Network at Aerojet Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, California, where he is known for his efforts to provide insights to the advantages of thinking together, learning together, and working together. Audiences for his classes have also reached after-school program in elementary schools, graduate students at Northwestern University, as well as corporate, university, and public classes across the United Kingdom. Bill earned his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Away from work, Bill serves as president of the In2:InThinking Network, and as a board member of the W. Edwards Deming Institute, and the Volunteers of America – Los Angeles chapter. He also serves on the editorial board, as well as a columnist, for the Lean Management Journal. He lives in Valencia, California, with wife, Monica.

Contact: Bill can be reached by e-mail at william.bellows@rocket.com for additional information about this Pre-Conference session.

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/bill-bellows/0/435/218/