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Aim and Stats
Now in our tenth year of operation, the aim of the "OD" sessions is to continue to foster an appreciation of Enterprise Thinking, as well as inthinking, within an emerging thinking network that is developing inside Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and beyond. Dates for future "OD" sessions along with additional "thinking" opportunities for 2009 can be found in this announcement.
OD Stats
For an update on OD statistics, this month's invitation is going out to 5000+ partners in the U.S., as well as fellow inthinking partners in Australia, Austria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Dubai, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the U.K. Taken together, these individuals represent over 600 organizations in this list of nations, from elementary schools and senior high schools to colleges and universities, from one-person consulting firms to United Technologies, GM, IBM, General Electric, NASA, and Philips Electronics. Among this list of invitees, participation April's OD conference call with Peter Stonefield (now available for download in WMA format) included 29 partners from across the US and UK (151 have joined us so far in 2009, 394 partners joined us in 2008, with 342 in 2007, 444 in 2006, and 402 2005...ah, yes, variation exists).
And, yes, Grace, the diffusion process of connecting thought leaders continuuues... |
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Good afternoon the west coast home of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, located in Canoga Park, California, on the western end of the San Fernando Valley in greater Los Angeles.
With the passing of wildflower season in Gorman, California and the coming (and passing, as with Carina and Rick) of graduation ceremonies and summer, and long days in Anchorage, as well as in Aberdeen, Chelyabinsk, East Newtown, and Varkaus, YES, it's time again come together for a few hours of "thinking together;" time that will be well invested. This month we feature Ellen Domb as our Thought Leader on Thursday, May 28th and Friday, May 29th. Details follows below.
Cheers...
Bill Bellows
Associate Fellow and Lead
Enterprise Thinking Network
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Canoga Park, California
william.bellows@pwr.utc.com |
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Welcome First Timers
Your names have been added to this announcement list by virtue of your attendance in our series of Thinking Roadmap seminars, workshops, and overviews within Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, or attendance at the annual In2:InThinking Network Forum, or through a personal request, from you or a friend. Welcome to our thinking networks.
Click either link below to send me the name(s) and email address(es) of anyone you would like to have added to this mailing list, or let me know if you would like to be removed. Thanks!!!
ADDITIONS DELETIONS |
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Thought Leader - Ellen Domb
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's Enterprise Thinking Network welcomes Ellen Domb to lead our fifth Ongoing Discussion of 2009 on May 28th and 29th (and our 113th session since we began in 2000). She has chosen "TRIZ" as our topic this month.
 Ellen Domb is the founder of the PQR Group and editor of The TRIZ Journal. TRIZ is Ellen's sixth career; she has been a physics professor, an aerospace engineer, an engineering manager, a product line general manager, and a strategic planning/quality improvement consultant. The title of Ellen's Thought Piece is "Ideality - a basic concept of TRIZ," where TRIZ is recognized as an international science of creativity that relies on the study of the patterns of problems and solutions, rather than on the spontaneous and intuitive creativity of individuals or groups. Projects of all kinds frequently reach a point where all the analysis is done, and the next step is unclear. The project team must be creative to figure out what to do. Common creativity tools have been limited to brainstorming and related methods, which depend on intuition and the knowledge of the members of the team. By comparision, these methods are often described as "psychologically-based," with results that some find to be "unpredictable and unrepeatable." In contrast, TRIZ is a problem solving method based on logic and data, not intuition, which accelerates the individual's or the project team's ability to solve difficult problems creatively. TRIZ also provides repeatability, predictability, and reliability due to its structure and algorithmic approach. As you read Ellen's Thought Piece, here are some "inthinking" questions to ponder in preparation for our conversation with her:
- What are the most common "psychologically-based" approaches to creativity?
- What are the strengths and weakenesses of a TRIZ approach compared to "psychologically-based" approaches?
- What do you notice about how problems are approached in a Red Pen Company as compared to a Blue Pen Company?
- What is the status of TRIZ use around the world? Is it increasing or decreasing?
- Which countries and companies are the leading users of TRIZ? What lessons can be learned from these leaders?
- What advice can you offer to anyone wanting to apply TRIZ for the first time?
- What has been your experience with creative thinking, either as an individual or in teams?
- What are the barriers to using TRIZ within Red Pen Companies?
- What advice can you give for navigating through these barriers?
In 2005, Ellen was named by Quality Digest Magazine as a leading voice for the future, citing the integration of TRIZ for innovation in quality improvement and quality planning systems. Ellen's client work, books, and articles are aimed at making it easy for people to learn TRIZ and to incorporate new thinking methods into their organizations. Clients include the Global 500--Dow Chemical, Hewlett-Packard, 3M, and others--and entrepreneurial companies with 3-50 employees.
The PQR Group consultants and our network affiliates are in the US, UK, Brazil, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Austria, and Spain. Members are major contributors to the development of TRIZ and to the development of teaching methods that make our clients proficient in applications of TRIZ to their own problems. Members have industry background in automotive, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, polymer chemistry, chemical engineering, and business management, and experience integrating TRIZ with Six Sigma, Quality Function Deployment, and Robust Engineering.
Here is more reading for to follow up on this month's Ongoing Discussion:
Contact Ellen by email ( ellendomb@earthlink.net) with any questions you would like to share with her in preparation for her OD session with us. |
OD Details
Please join us for one or all of the hours of this month's OD. As always, you are invited to participate for as long, or as short, as you can in one or both of these sessions...
Option Time (Pacific Time)
1 - Thursday, May 28th - 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Thursday, May 28th - 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Friday, May 29th - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Friday, May 29th - 1:00-2:00pm
The agenda for each option will be:
Timing: Topic
Opening 10 minutes: Call in & Introductions
Next 45 minutes: Ongoing Discussion
Last 5 minutes: Farewells and Close
Please reply to this note by noon Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 27th to confirm your plans to participate in one (or more) of these options. If you do plan to attend, please complete the OD PARTICIPATION SURVEY by using the link below...
PARTICIPANT SURVEY
Those of you connecting in Canoga Park can join in from conference rooms 205 and 206 in building 1 at Canoga. Telecon lines (including a pass code and a security code) have been arranged for those who cannot join us at Canoga and are provided upon completion of the participant survey.
As always, please forward this announcement to anyone we missed who would also like to participate.
Regards...
Bill
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International Participants
Our conference call sessions are toll-free within the U.S. and Canada. Several international participants have been able to connect toll-free using Skype for a VOIP connection, which we now recommend to others calling in from outside the U.S. and Canada.
First, you'll need to establish a Skype account at www.skype.com. Once Skype is set up and functioning correctly the only thing that is different when connecting with our "Thinking Roadmap" conference call sessions ("OD" or "The New Economics Study Sessions") is the use of a pass code and security code. For our "OD" sessions, these numbers are provided once the "participant survey" is completed. For the "The New Economics Study Sessions," these numbers are provided in an email from Tim Higgins, who hosts these calls. In either case, when prompted by Skype to enter these codes, use the keyboard not voice option and be sure to turn off the computer's microphone, otherwise the numeric keys don't function. If the microphone is left on when the codes are entered, Skype's automated operator will reply with "number not recognized," as no number has been transmitted.
New users of Skype are encouraged to perform a conference call test in advance of the scheduled "Thinking Roadmap" conference call. Contact Bill Bellows to arrange for a test call. |
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Future OD Dates
Mark your calendars - future Ongoing Discussion sessions will be held on the following dates, from 12-1pm and 1-2pm Pacific Time.
Month, Dates and Thought Leader(s):
July 23-24, Thought Leader to be determined
September 28-29, Thought Leader to be determined
Follow this link to find our current list of Thought Leaders for all of 2009, as well as announcements for Thought Leaders in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. |
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Systems Thinking Newsletter
Available online for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne employees...
The Systems Thinker is an electronic newsletter made available monthly (on a subscription basis) by Pegasus Communications. Each issue provides articles and case studies on systems thinking concepts and is available only electronically (as a .pdf file). Tools and techniques for use in the Learning Organization are regularly included in this valuable publication. Featured authors include thought leaders and consultants well known in organizational learning and change management circles.
The current edition of the SYSTEMS THINKER, as well as archived issues from December 2002 through May 2009, is available for reading and printing by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne employees here.
Network friends outside of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne can learn more about this newsletter AND read a variety of sample issues and articles online. Individual and site licenses are available.
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Thinking Roadmap Seminars and Workshops
The following in-house "Thinking Roadmap" seminars and workshops are open to employees of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), as well as suppliers, customers, family members, and "Members of the Community." "Members of the community" are individuals who are involved full or part time, or in a volunteer capacity, in community related work.
Background information on PWR's Thinking Roadmap, in addition to seminar and workshop descriptions and upcoming schedules, can be found in a new addition to the In2:InThinking Network website at www.in2in.org/TR/. Links to descriptions for each session are embedded in the titles below.
The schedule below includes the next available offerings for the listed seminars in Canoga Park, California. Contact Bill Bellows to request additonal information.
Note that the dates listed below are subject to change. Follow this link to find the latest updates to our schedule, including the full schedule for 2009. All times listed are Pacific Time. |
Enterprise Thinking
 Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend
Prerequisites - there are NO prerequisites
Format - two 4.5-hour sessions over two days, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Bill Bellows
Schedule for Enterprise Thinking classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-603
Part 1 - 28-May-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 29-May-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-605
Part 1 - 23-Jun-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 26-Jun-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-607
Part 1 - 23-Jul-09 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 24-Jul-09 - 7:00-11:30am Register to attend Enterprise Thinking |
Six Thinking Hats
Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $165, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months
Format - one 8-hour session, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Schedule for Six Thinking Hats classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-55
25-Jun-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
Class #CP-56
6-Oct-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
Register to attend Six Thinking Hats
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Lateral Thinking
 Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $120, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months
Format - two 8-hour sessions, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Schedule for Lateral Thinking classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-22
8-Dec-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
9-Dec-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
Register to attend Lateral Thinking
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Managing Variation as a System
 Registration Fee - there is NO fee for employees to attend. Visitors are asked to bring a copy of the course textbook (Donald Wheeler's Understanding Variation), which can be purchased online for as low as $25. Follow this link to Amazon for one purchase option.
Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites
Format - three 3-hour sessions over three days, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Joe Onstott
Schedule for Managing Variation as a System classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-67
27-Jul-09 - 8:00-11:00am
29-Jul-09 - 8:00-11:00am
31-Jul-09 - 8:00-11:00am
Class #CP-68
30-Nov-09 - 8:00-11:00am
2-Dec-09 - 8:00-11:00am
4-Dec-09 - 8:00-11:00am
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Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making
 Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $330, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Prerequisite - attended Enterprise Thinking within the past 12 to 14 months
Format - three 7-hour sessions over three weeks, offered as an in-person event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Suggestion: If you are unable to attend all three sessions in a given monthly series, we encourage you to attend the first session and then attend the second and third in any order during a future monthly series.
Schedule for Kepner-Tregoe classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-57
9-Sep-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
16-Sep-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
23-Sep-09 - 8:00-5:00pm
Register to attend Kepner-Tregoe
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The New Economics Study Session
 Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend. A copy of The New Economics is provided to each participant. In addition, this is a toll-free call from the United States and Canada. International participants are welcome to join in as well, provided they do so at their own expense for the conference call.
Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites
Format - seven 2-hour sessions over three and a half weeks, offered as a teleconference event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Schedule for The New Economics Study Session
May 28th-June 18th, 3:00-5:00pm for 7 sessions on Mondays and Thursdays.
October 26th-November 16th, 3:00-5:00pm for 7 sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Register to attend the TNE Study Session
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