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Aim and Stats Now in our fifteenth year of operation, the aim of the "OD" and "BTA" sessions is to continue to foster an appreciation of InThinking within an emerging network that is developing inside Aerojet Rocketdyne and beyond. Dates for future "OD" and "BTA" sessions along with additional "thinking" opportunities for 2014 can be found in this announcement. OD + BTA Stats
For an update on OD and BTA statistics, this month's invitation is going out to 1900+ 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, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, 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 GenCorp, United Technologies, GM, IBM, General Electric, NASA, Bechtel, Kuwait Energy Company, Philips Electronics, and The Boeing Company.
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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 Aerojet 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 |
Meeting Notice Service - OD and BTA If you'd like to receive meeting notices on your Microsoft Outlook schedule for upcoming Ongoing Discussion conference calls and Better Thinking About... webinars, reply to Bill Bellows at william.bellows@rocket.com and your name will be added to our meeting notice list. |
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 (or inside) 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. Also, please note that the "pound key" in the U.S. (#) translates to the "hash key" in the U.K. 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. |
Additional Reading Beginning in 2009, a series of articles have been prepared for the Lean Management Journal (LMJ) to share InThinking insights with the Lean community. This month's feature LMJ article, The Last Straw (released with the permission of the LMJ), was prepared to expose LMJ readers to Dr. Deming's concept of a System of Profound Knowledge. Contact Bill Bellows with questions, comments, or observations about this article. |
| Good morning from the Los Angeles campus of Aerojet Rocketdyne, located in Canoga Park, California, on the western end of the San Fernando Valley.
Aerojet Rocketdyne's InThinking Network welcomes Gipsie Ranney, from Brentwood, Tennessee, to lead our first Ongoing Discussion conference call of 2014 on January 30th and 31st and also our 169th session since we began in January 2000. As for a topic, Gipsie has selected "What World Are We In?", in her sixth time with us as a Thought Leader.
Gipsie has been a friend and a source of inspiration for making a difference "from where we are" since our paths first crossed in the mid- 1990s. I don't recall where we met, but I do recall attending a 2-day "Walter Shewhart" seminar she co-presented at Fordham University. She's been a mentor ever since. As with mentors Genichi Taguchi and Russ Ackoff, I keep a growing list of questions and topics to explore with Gipsie, from world news to insights from Dr. Deming. Inevitably, our conversation leads to a topic for her next appearance as an Ongoing Discussion Thought Leader, a role she's taken every January since 2010, as the late Russ Ackoff honored us from 2006 through 2009.
Gipsie begins her Thought Piece with these words, I n the appendix to the Second Edition of his book, The New Economics, W. Edwards Deming wrote, "Business on price tag? We consider here a number of worlds. Any theorem is true in its own world. But which world are we in? Which of several worlds makes contact with ours? That is the question."
Deming describes three worlds in which a purchasing decision is to be made and points out that the criteria used for making the decision are different in the three worlds. In the first world, when there are no differences between what is supplied (costs of use are the same), choice of supplier will be made on the basis of purchase price. He provides the example of food in a package. Among grocers who offer the product, the one with the lowest purchase price will get the business. In the second world, the product can be supplied as specified by several suppliers, all offering the product at the same price. The supplier who provides the best service will be the right choice. In the third world, the purchase price is not the only cost; there are also costs of use. Some suppliers will propose working with the customer on a long term basis to make improvements and reduce overall costs for the customer. The decision is difficult, but will be based on serving the aim of "continual improvement of quality along with lower [total] costs." With this example, Deming illustrates contexts in which different criteria are relevant to make decisions. There are many situations in which context governs the bases for decision making or the practices selected for use. In the following, different decisions and practices will be discussed and different contexts for making the decisions or using the practices will be identified. Gipsie continues with these thoughts, When we treat every event as unique, we lose our ability to gain knowledge or make inferences by studying and learning from variation. We should recognize the commonality of activity and thought which characterizes any process (be it playing golf, managing people, purchasing parts, writing computer software, performing a service, teaching, designing products ...) and recognize that variation will exist around that commonality.
Should we always attempt to reduce variation? It seems that variation reduction should be attempted when the costs of reducing variation are judged to be less than the benefits and/or reduced risks to be gained by doing so. The first step is identification and elimination of special causes of variation. The next step is work on the process or system. A relevant concept is the Taguchi Loss Function and Taguchi's idea that there is a loss to society associated with variation away from the desirable value of a characteristic of a product or service. These ideas arose and apply in a world of design and production of products or services.
Other worlds exist in which reduction of variation is inappropriate. One such world is one in which there are risks associated with having no variation. In the biological world it is well known that monocultures carry heavy risks from pathogens. The Irish learned about this world when the potato famine struck them. Monocultures are prevalent in modern industrial agriculture. The same crop is planted over large areas year after year. Link here to download Gipsie's Thought Piece. Link here to register to attend.
Biography
Gipsie Ranney is an international consultant to organizations on management, quality improvement and statistical methodology. She was a member of the faculty of the Department of Statistics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for fifteen years. She was a co-founder of the University of Tennessee's Institute for Productivity through Quality, and she developed and conducted numerous seminars on quality improvement. She served as Director of Statistical Methodology for General Motors Powertrain Group from 1988 to 1992. She was the first president of the W. Edwards Deming Institute. She co-authored Beyond Total Quality Management: Toward the Emerging Paradigm, published by McGraw-Hill, and contributed to Competing Globally Through Customer Value, published by Quorum. She has published papers on quality improvement and statistical methods. The American Society for Quality awarded her the Deming Medal for 1996, "for outstanding contribution in advancing the theory and practice of statistical thinking to the management of enterprises worldwide." Gipsie holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Statistics from North Carolina State University.
Contact Gipsie at gbranney@comcast.net with any questions or comments you would like to share with her in preparation for this OD session.
As a reminder, our Better Thinking About... webinars continue next month, with a focus on Leadership, hosted by Doug Krug on Thursday, February 13th, from 11:30-1pm.. Link here to register to attend in advance of the announcement.
Associate Fellow and Lead InThinking Network Aerojet Rocketdyne Canoga Park, California |
| January 30th - 31st OD Details Please join us for one or all of this month's series of OD conference calls. As always, you are invited to participate for as long, or as short, as you can in one or more of these sessions, Options 1-4. Note that these conference calls are "conversations, not presentations," which vary from session to session, due to a variety of causes, such as who participates, what questions are asked, and what learning transpires. This diversity is captured every month, as the calls are recorded, with links to these audio files shared with all who register to attend. Option - Date/Time (Pacific Time); 1 - Thursday, January 30th, 12:00-1:00pm 2 - Thursday, January 30th, 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Friday, January 31st - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Friday, January31st - 1:00-2:00pm The agenda for each option will be: Opening 15 minutes: Call in and Introductions Next 40 minutes: Ongoing Discussion Last 5 minutes: Farewells and Close
Please reply to this note by noon, Pacific Time on Wednesday, January 29th 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 Telecon lines (including a pass code and a security code) have been arranged for those who cannot join us in a conference room at our Canoga Park 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 |
Future Ongoing Discussion Conference Calls Mark your calendars - future Ongoing Discussion conference calls will be held on the following dates (subject to slight changes), from 12-1pm and 1-2pm Pacific Time.
Month, Dates, Thought Leader(s), Topics (link on each session to register): March 27-28, Julie Goodfellow and Hugh McAllister, topic to be determined April 25-25, Bill Scherkenbach, topic to be determined
May 19-20, Ravi Roy, topic to be determined July 24-25, Shem Cohen, topic to be determined
October 30-31, John Pourdehnad and Larry Starr, topic to be determined |
Future Better Thinking About... Webinars
Mark your calendars - future Better Thinking About... webinars will be held on the following dates, from 11:30-1pm Pacific Time. Details for how to participate in this webinar series are provided upon registering using the participant survey for each event.
Date, Presenter, and Topic (link on each session to register):
March 13, Paul Hollingworth, Systems Thinking - Part 1 |
InThinking Together Seminar 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 as well as Purposeful Resource Leadership. 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, offered as an in-person event Presented by: Bill Bellows Schedule for InThinking Together classes in Canoga Park, CA for Aerojet Rocketdyne Class #CP-2014-01 Part 1 - 30-Jan - 7:00-11:30am Part 2 - 31-Jan - 7:00-11:30am Class #CP-2014-02 (NEW DATES) Part 1 - 26-Feb - 7:00-11:30am Part 2 - 27-Feb - 7:00-11:30am
Class #CP-2014-03 Part 1 - 27-Mar - 7:00-11:30am Part 2 - 28-Mar - 7:00-11:30am
Register to attend InThinking Together |
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. Aerojet Rocketdyne attendees will be given copies of The New Economics. Non-Aerojet Rocketdyne attendees can purchase copies on Amazon at this link, with used copies selling for $15 and Kindle copies available for $15.95.
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 Schedule for The New Economics Study Session Class #CP-2014-01 Starting on 10-Feb, seven sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3:00-5:00pm Register to attend the TNE Study Session |
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