Aim and Stats
Now in our twelfth year of operation, the aim of the "OD" sessions is to continue to foster an appreciation of InThinking within an emerging network that is developing inside Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and beyond. Dates for future "OD" sessions along with additional "thinking" opportunities for 2011 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, Chile, Dubai, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, 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, Philips Electronics, and The Boeing Company. Among this list of invitees, participation in September's OD conference call with David Wayne included 30 partners from across the US and UK, (in all, 312 have joined in so far in 2011, 520+ joined us in 2010, 450 in 2009, 394 in 2008, 342 in 2007, 444 in 2006, and 402 in 2005...ah, yes, variation exists).
And, yes, Grace, the diffusion process of connecting thought leaders continuuues...
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As we prepare for Halloween, and the customer's choices of trick or treat, it's time to come together and be reminded of Dr. Deming's insight on customer's expectations (which parallels the customer insights of the late Steve Jobs); "There is much talk about the customer's expectations. Meet the customer's expectations. The fact is that the customer expects only what you and your competitor have led him to expect. He is a rapid learner. The customer generates nothing. No customer asked for electric lights....No customer asked for photography. No customer asked for the telegraph, nor for a telephone." With these phrases (taken from page 7 of Dr. Deming's The New Economics) to ponder as you offer a trick or treat, here's an invitation to the next Ongoing Discussion, our October session, delayed a few weeks, to be held on November 4th and 7th with Debbie Cook joining us our Though Leader. The topic of her Thought Piece is "Six Thinking Hats and Public Policy."
Link here for the PARTICIPANT SURVEY and to receive the conference call information once you complete the survey. Find details on the Ongoing Discussion below, including a link to the Thought Piece.
Cheers...
Bill Bellows
Associate Fellow and Lead
InThinking Network
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Canoga Park, California
william.bellows@pwr.utc.com |
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Memories of and from Russ Ackoff
The one and only Russ Ackoff served as our "January" Ongoing Discussion Thought Leader on four occasions between 2006 and 2009. In addition to these "visits" with us from his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, he also traveled to Canoga Park every year, from 2003 through 2007, to deliver half-day and full-day lectures in our Leadership & Learning Center (picture above), as well as in Boeing's Conference Center in nearby Huntington Beach. In doing so, he inspired us with his countless "systems" stories, from his chance visit to AT&T's Bell Labs to experience the account of the "overnight destruction of the Bell telephone system" (and his discovery of their use what came to be known as the Idealized Design process) to the tale of a cost-cutting paper company client, who continued to offer sales of a paltry amount (think "loss leader") of specialty photographic paper to Claire Booth Luce, whose husband's company, Time magazine, was their number 1 customer. One of these stories, plus many more from his career in the U.S. Army, stationed in the South Pacific, to his lengthy career as a management consultant, is told by Russ in the first of two recent posthumous publications by Triarchy Press, titled Memories. Follow this link for more details on this book, in addition to news of the second book, Differences That Make a Difference. Here's a link for details on a special discount.
To view a video of John Pourdehnad's fond memories of Russ, follow this link on YouTube. |
| April 2011 Thought Piece - UPDATE
John Pourdehnad, our April Thought Leader, has posted his most recent working paper, titled "Systems and Design Thinking: A Conceptual Framework for Their Integration," online at this link.
This paper explores the relationship between Systems and Design Thinking. It specifically looks into the role of Design in Systems Thinking and how looking at the world through a systems lens influences Design. Our intention is to show the critical concepts developed in the Systems and Design Thinking fields, their underlying assumptions, and the ways in which they can be integrated as a cohesive conceptual framework.
While there are many important distinctions that must be considered to understand the similarities and differences of these concepts, gaining a complete understanding of these factors is more than can be covered in this paper. Nevertheless, the most critical classifying variable used to distinguish these concepts will be discussed in order to make their integration possible.
This variable, the recognition of purposeful behavior, will be used to develop a conceptual vision for how a combined approach can be used to research, plan, design and manage social systems...Systems in which people play the principle role.
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| Menlo Labs' "Garden of Eden" in LA
Tracy Huston, our Ongoing Discussion Thought Leader in 2007 and again in 2009, with Dave Flanigan, has been putting her green thumb to work in Los Angeles, guided by her systemic thinking and joining minds and arms with Dave Flanigan to initiate an urban farming project that is serving 150 families a week (including 40+ within Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne) with everything from carrots to chilies, employing at-risk youth in the San Fernando Valley, and providing free training for more than 75 employees. In a recent visit to their North Hollywood farm (covered by local media, including the LA Daily News) on land provided by the Department of Water and Power, and a project funded by the city of Los Angeles, Tracy and Dave shared a vision of "an Eden in the middle of a city" and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa imagined "what we could do if the city could now find more land." While we wait for a return visit by Tracy and Dave as Ongoing Discussion Thought Leaders in 2011, link here for more about their recent book, Gardening for People and Planet. |
| Ken Hopper's Papers Donated to Drucker Center
In December 2008, we hosted Kenneth ("Ken") and William ("Will") Hopper as Thought Leaders for an Ongoing Discussion. Find the announcement at December 2008 on the topic of their book, The Puritan Gift. In recent news from The Drucker Institute, the Kenneth Hopper Papers on Management will be added to the Institute's archives. According to the announcement;
Donated by Kenneth and Claire Hopper, the collection comprises his records from a long career in industrial management and consultancy in the U.K., the U.S., Ireland, Continental Europe and Japan. A major part of the collection includes original correspondence, manuals, memoirs and other documents related to the Civil Communications Section (CCS) under General MacArthur's command in Tokyo after World War II. These papers tell the story of how the Americans shared their industrial management know-how with some very able Japanese, eventually giving rise to the Asian Economic Miracle. Find more details on the archives at this link. |
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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 InThinking Roadmap seminars, workshops, and overviews within Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, or attendance at the annual In2:InThinking Network Forum, 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 e-mail 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 |
| Thought Leader - Debbie Cook
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's InThinking Network welcomes Debbie Cook, from nearby Huntington Beach, to lead our tenth Ongoing Discussion of 2011 on November 4th and 7th (and our 142nd session since we began in January 2000). Debbie has selected "Six Thinking Hats and Public Policy" as her topic in her first time with us as a Thought Leader.
Debbie and I met a few years ago at a "Story Tune-Up" workshop led by two-time OD Thought Leader Bob Dickman. She shared stories on energy policy and I shared a few about "the straw that didn't break the camel's back." It didn't take long to see a strong connection between our respective efforts to foster "better thinking about thinking." Afterwards, she attended the "InThinking Together" seminar and also Six Thinking Hats. Next, she appeared at the In2:InThinking Network's 2011 Forum, where she provided her insights on how to lead the "energy revolution (link here)," using this abstract;
It has been said that energy is the master resource, essential to life and human progress. Energy moves us, feeds us, warms us, and entertains us. Whether we use energy wisely or wastefully depends upon our understanding and knowledge. But energy literacy is at an all time low. Can our ability to meet the challenges of our energy future be overcome with better thinking about energy? In this session we will seek a better understanding of energy through Deming's "lens of profound knowledge."
Upon attending the Six Hats seminar, Debbie shared a series of articles she had recently prepared on public policy, namely ocean desalination, and commented on how her life as a polical leader would have benefitted from the use of these hats (green, black, yellow, white, red, and blue). As stated in her Thought Piece;
After attending a PWR Six Thinking Hats workshop in 2010, I have been imagining how such a framework could help bring greater awareness to elected officials and constituents for the complexity of the problems we face and how we solve them.
During eight years in public office I saw my share of both silly and serious local issues: nudity, chickens, dog parks, public smoking, plastic bags, live aboard boats, urban runoff, parking meters, speed bumps, medical marijuana, stop signs, to name a few. No matter how significant or trivial the issue, the discussion was adversarial and the outcome of our bi-monthly council meetings was irritation and frustration followed by a restless night's sleep.
It was apparent to me that our method of self governance with its pretense of public participation was producing poor results, bad public policy, and a disaffected public. I longed for the opportunity to explore alternatives, to consider unintended consequences, and to be more creative in our problem solving. Lacking better tools, every issue was attacked piecemeal, as if nothing were attached to anything else. This meant that resolutions were temporary, creating more problems for future councils and residents.
If I could go back in time, and test Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats framework on one particularly complex issue, it would be ocean desalination. A project proposed for Huntington Beach was originally approved in 2005 after setting a new council record for public comment. Six years later it is no closer to fruition than it was in 2005. For the proponents, it was about one piece, providing more water. For the opponents it was about the other pieces, but still just pieces. At no point was the system considered holistically.
In preparation for the OD sessions with Debbie, please read her Thought Piece and also familiarize yourself with the basic concepts of Six Thinking Hats. If you're a novice, or if you need a refresher, follow this link to find a 103-page explanation, or this link to a synopsis on Wikipedia. Our plan is to start each of the 1-hour OD sessions with review of the Six Thinking Hats and then proceed to use our blue hat to guide a conversation about ocean desalination, with the remainder of her Thought Piece providing the context (white hat) for a conversation, as Debbie would have enjoyed doing when she was mayor of Surf City, USA. Our aim is to provide an example of how we might think together better through the use of Six Thinking Hats.
Biography
Debbie is a former Mayor and Council Member from the City of Huntington Beach, California. She served on many regional boards and commissions including the Southern California Association of Governments, League of California Cities, Orange County Sanitation District, and the California Desalination Task Force.
In 2008, Debbie was the Democratic Party nominee for the 46th Congressional District. Her campaign attracted national attention and support for its focus on our nation's energy vulnerabilities.
Debbie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Earth Science from Cal State Long Beach, a Jurisdoctorate from Western State College of Law, and a license to practice law in California. Debbie is also a graduate of the Kennedy School of Government National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and Great Valley Leadership Institute.
Debbie currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of Post Carbon Institute and advisor to the Association for the Study of Peak Oil. Debbie is a frequent lecturer and writer on energy and water issues.
Contact Debbie by e-mail at energymaven@gmail.com with any questions you would like to share with her in preparation for this OD session. |
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OD Details
Please join us for one or all of the hours of this month's ODs. As always, you are invited to participate for as long, or as short, as you can in one or more of these sessions. Note that the conversations vary from session to session, due to a variety of causes, such as who participates and what questions are asked. This diversity is captured every month, as the calls are recorded and posted as mp3 files on a PWR OD website that is being created.
Option - Date/Time (Pacific Time), with Debbie Cook;
1 - Friday, November 4th - 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Friday, November 4th - 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Monday, November 7th - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Monday, November 7th - 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 Thursday,
November 3rd 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 at our DeSoto facility (8900 DeSoto Avenue in Canoga Park) on Friday and Monday in the Omega Room.
Telecon lines (including a pass code and a security code) have been arranged for those who cannot join us at our DeSoto facility 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 |
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 "InThinking 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 "InThinking Roadmap" conference call. Contact Bill Bellows to arrange for a test call. |
Future OD Dates
Mark your calendars - future Ongoing Discussion sessions will be held on the following dates (subject to slight changes), from 12-1pm and 1-2pm Pacific Time.
Month, Dates and Thought Leader(s):
November 17-18, Graham Rawlinson
December 15-16, Deb Lewis & Doug Adams
January 26-27, Gipsie Ranney
February 23-24, Ilene Val-Essen
March 22-23, Pauline Arneberg
Note that the "OD" home page on the In2:InThinking Network web site is being moved to a PWR website. Stay tuned for the new address. |
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 September 2011, 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. |
InThinking Roadmap Seminars and Workshops
The following in-house "InThinking 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.
The schedule below includes the next available offerings for the listed seminars in Canoga Park, California. Contact Bill Bellows to request additional information.
Background information on PWR's InThinking Roadmap, in addition to seminar and workshop descriptions and upcoming schedules, are being added to a new PWR website, to be announced.
Note that the dates listed below are subject to change. All times listed are Pacific Time.
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InThinking Together (formerly "ET")
Description: This seminar explores the philosophies of a variety of management theorist, including but not limited to Russell Ackoff, W. Edwards Deming, Edward de Bono, Tom Johnson, and Genichi Taguchi, among many others; as they apply to the management of organizational resources, including ideas, innovation, knowledge, money, equipment, and space. Among the topics of discussion will be the concepts of "better thinking about thinking" (InThinking) and "Purposeful Resource Management." The seminar will introduce you to these ideas through a series of questions that are specially selected to create awareness of a new approach to working together, learning together, and thinking together.
Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend
Prerequisites - there are NO prerequisites
Format - two 4.5-hour sessions over two days, presented as an in-person event
Presented by: Bill Bellows
Schedule for InThinking Together classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-2011-11
Part 1 - 17-Nov-11 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 18-Nov-11 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-2011-12
Part 1 - 15-Dec-11 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 16-Dec-11 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-2012-01
Part 1 - 26-Jan-12 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 27-Jan-12 - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-2012-02
Part 1 - 23-Feb-12 - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 24-Feb-12 - 7:00-11:30am
Register to attend InThinking Together |
Six Thinking Hats
Description: This seminar is designed to present a more structured approach to thinking, for individuals and teams. We have developed many excellent thinking tools for argument and analysis. Our information technology methods are constantly improving. We have, however, developed few tools to deal with our ordinary everyday thinking - the sort of thinking we do in conversations and in meetings. What is needed is Parallel Thinking or Thinking Together, where each thinker puts forward his or her thoughts in parallel with the thoughts of others. The Six Thinking Hats method is a practical way of carrying out Parallel Thinking. This seminar explores Edward de Bono's concept of Six Thinking Hats as a way to unbundle thinking, separating out its different aspects. Use of the Six Thinking Hats can result in more productive meetings on the road to better resource management within a growing environment of "InThinking Together."
Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $165, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites
Format - one 8-hour session offered over one day (or, two 4-hour sessions offered over two days), presented as an in-person event, or through web meeting for attendees within United Technologies.
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Schedule for Six Thinking Hats classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Class #CP-2012-01
To be determined
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Lateral Thinking
Description: This seminar provides participants with a number of deliberate, formal tools for creative thinking followed with opportunities to practice building usable skills. Seminar content is based on the work of Edward de Bono, an international authority on creative thinking and the direct teaching of thinking skills. Edward de Bono's Lateral Thinking tools are based directly on how the brain functions as a self-organizing information system. Here are some notes from Edward de Bono on the definition of Lateral Thinking:
1. You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper.
2. Lateral Thinking is for changing concepts and perceptions instead of trying harder with the same concepts and perceptions.
3. In self-organizing information systems, asymmetric patterns are formed.
Lateral Thinking is a method for cutting across from one pattern to another. This course develops skill in the use of the Lateral Thinking tools by means of practice exercises. Skills learned will build upon concepts covered in other classes on our InThinking Roadmap.
Prerequisite - Six Thinking Hats
Format - two 8-hour sessions, presented as an in-person event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
Schedule for Lateral Thinking classes in Canoga Park, CA for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $120, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
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Managing Variation as a System
Description: This seminar continues to explore the prospects of better thinking as defined by the management and leadership philosophies of Russell Ackoff, W. Edwards Deming and Genichi Taguchi and other like-minded systemic thinkers. The topics of discussion will be "Resource Management" (the systemic application of resources, including activities without problems, but featuring opportunities for investment) and it's applicability to variation management and systems thinking. This seminar will introduce you to these ideas through a series of questions specially selected to reveal a refreshing perspective when 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, presented as an in-person event
Presented by: Joe Onstott
Class #CP-2012-01
To be determined
Register to attend Managing Variation as a System
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Resource Leadership - Part 2
Description: This 2-part seminar explores the prospects of better thinking 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. Blue Pen Companies represent environments of growing levels of team work, wherein "acting locally and thinking globally" is more than a thoughtful expression. By contrast to Red Pen Companies, where team work inevitably translates to "local sub-optimization", Blue Pen Companies 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 Red Pen (Reflexive) and Blue Pen (InThinking) Companies.
Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend.
Format - part 2 is presented in one 3-hour session as an in-person event. Part 1 is covered in Part 2 of the Managing Variation as a System seminar.
Presented by: Joe Onstott, Tim Higgins, and Bill Bellows
Class #CP-2012-01
To be determined
Register to attend Resource Leadership |
Kepner-Tregoe Problem Solving and Decision Making
Description: The seminar presents more rational approaches to problem solving, decision making, and successful planning. The seminar content is based on the work of Charles Kepner and Ben Tregoe who studied the methodology of "successful" managers and concluded that better skills in problem solving, decision-making and planning were a key distinction.
Registration Fee - there is no fee for PWR employees to attend. For visitors, we charge $330, payable to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites
Format - three 7-hour sessions over three weeks, presented 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-2012-01
To be determined
Register to attend Kepner-Tregoe |
The New Economics Study Session
Description: A group of participants assembles, some in-person and some via teleconference, for this 14-hour series. Participants discuss W. Edwards Deming's last book, The New Economics, in which he introduced his concept of a "System of Profound Knowledge." The group reads specified chapters before each session and discusses the meaning and application of the ideas, as well as personal reactions to the ideas. Supplemental reading material become part of the conversations, as do reactions to video tapes of Dr. Deming.
Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend. 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, presented as a teleconference event
Presented by: Tim Higgins
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Design of Experiments & Taguchi Methods -An Overview
Description: This seminar introduces the fundamentals of both Design of Experiments (DOE) and Taguchi Methods and also serves to relate both bodies of knowledge to PWR's InThinking Network efforts. This course is a condensed version of two extensive 40-hour Taguchi Methods seminars. The shorter overview is designed to provide a strong foundation in the thinking and applicability of DOE and Taguchi Methods for both process and product improvement.
Registration Fee - there is NO fee to attend Prerequisite - there are NO prerequisites
Format - eight 2-hour sessions over four weeks, presented both as an in-person event and through web meeting for off-site participants, both inside and outside of United Technologies.
Presented by: Bill Bellows
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