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Aim and Stats
Now in our fifteenth year of operation for our "OD" sessions and the third year for our "BTA" sessions, the aim of both 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 2,000+ 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
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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,
Contact Bill Bellows with questions, comments, or observations about this article. |
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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 Stuart Swalwell, from Derbyshire, England, to lead our last Ongoing Discussion conference call of 2014 on December 15th and 16th and also our 180th session since we began in January 2000. As for a topic, Stuart has selected Leading with Variation in his first time with us as a Thought Leader.
I first met Stuart during his holiday visit to Los Angeles in October 2010, which coincided with our annual InThinking Roadmap Week of seminars and conference calls. Given his deep "process improvement" background, his keen interest in Dr. Deming and "all things thinking about thinking," let alone his experience in the jet engine industry, where I was employed before joining Rocketdyne, our "thinking partner" status was cemented in record time. Since that time, we have enjoyed a few pub dinners together in Derbyshire, including a tour of the nearby town which hosts the annual Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football match.
Fast forward to today, when Stuart's Ongoing Discussion is a preview of the Weekend Conference session he will deliver at the In2:InThinking Network's 2015 Forum, set for June 10-14.
As for his focus as our Ongoing Discussion Thought Leader, Stuart's Thought Piece is a preview of the strategy he will share with us for introducing Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge within an organization.
He begins his Thought Piece (link to the A4 format) with these ideas:
Whilst many of us are aware of the variety of weaknesses with the prevailing style of management, it is not an easy task to engage with Management in a company and set them on a different path. Why?
In The New Economics, Dr Deming put forward a theory of management which he called a System of Profound Knowledge, which is now known in the Deming community as SoPK. In quoting from The New Economics,
"The layout of profound knowledge appears here in four parts, all related to each other:
- Appreciation for a system
- Knowledge about variation
- Theory of knowledge
- Psychology
One need not be eminent in any part nor in all four parts in order to understand it and apply it."
If I used the terminology, System of Profound Knowledge or SoPK, in my present company, I would get quizzical looks and likely be escorted off site by people in white coats.
Stuart's Thought Piece continues with these ideas,
So I decided to start my infiltration by Leading with Variation. I will give an update on my progress to date - it is a slow journey - and give some reasons as to why I didn't use one of the other three doorways.
I hope the discussion can open up to inputs from other people who have experiences to share of working full time in a company and turning Deming's thinking in to action.
Link here to download Stuart's Thought Piece in an 8.5in x 11in format.
Link here to register to attend.
Contact Stuart by e-mail at stuart.swalwell2412@mac.com with any questions or comments you would like to share with him in preparation for this OD session.
Biography
Stuart is the Continuous Improvement Leader at Invotec, a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturer located in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England.
His first career was in the British Army where he served as a Troop Commander and then later as an Education Officer. He then joined Rolls-Royce Aerospace in Derby, England, initially involved in the design of training and then migrating into a number of roles in the Quality Improvement field. He has delivered Process Improvement training at a number of global sites including Indianapolis, Mount Vernon, Boston, Montreal, Singapore, Berlin and the Nordic countries.
He first took an interest in Quality when he read an obituary of Dr Deming in the Guardian newspaper in late December 1993 and thought he sounded an interesting person! This started a learning journey which continues to this day.
After leaving Rolls-Royce in 2008 he spent five years in consultancy work but then decided he wanted to work with a company on a full time basis to see if he could bring Deming's thinking in to action and get it embedded - rather than flitting in as a consultant and flitting out again, hoping that there would be some sustainability.
He reports slow progress but remains optimistic.
Looking ahead, our next session is the January (29-30) Ongoing Discussion conference call, featuring Gipsie Ranney with a focus on "Legitimacy and Fairness in Organizations."
Link here to register to attend this conference call in advance of the announcement in mid-January.
Cheers...
Bill
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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.
To view a 10-minute video of John Pourdehnad's fond memories of Russ, follow this link on YouTube.
Link here to download a 90-page transcript of a video with Russ Ackoff and W. Edwards Deming. The conversation took place in l992 and was edited and released as Volume 21 of The Deming Library series in l993. It is called "A Theory of a System for Educators and Managers" and is available from the W. Edwards Deming Institute at this link. |
Podcasts from The W. Edwards Deming Institute
Beginning this year, The W. Edwards Deming Institute has recorded podcasts on a monthly basis, featuring 20 to 30-minute interviews by Tripp Babbitt with members of the Deming Community who are advancing the use and explanations of Dr. Deming's ideas.
In this latest episode of the Deming Podcast, Tripp interviews Paula Marshall, CEO of the Bama Companies, Inc., a company that may be best known for being the single supplier of the famous Apple dessert pies to McDonalds. They are also "...an innovator and manufacturer of bakery products to some of the most well-known restaurant chains on the planet."
In this episode Paula discusses with Tripp her amazing journey as a CEO that took her company from being on the verge of going out of business to the thriving powerhouse it is today. The transformation of Paula and her company started when she attended her first Deming seminar. That seminar and the subsequent meetings and friendship with Dr. Deming, shaped the future of the company in a way she never imagined. Paula shares her journey with Dr. Deming and how personally difficult it was to go against the very status quo management ideas she had learned and was using; in particular, learning the hard way how detrimental performance appraisals and the incentive based system are to an organization.
See www.bama.com for more information on Paula and the company. Paula is also an author of several books, including her personal story in Sweet as Pie, Tough as Nails.
Link here to find the podcast with Paula.
Link here to find the previous podcasts, featuring Bill Bellows, Bob Browne, Kelly Allan, Kevin Cahill, Andrea Gabor, Steven Haedrich, David Langford, and Dan Robertson.
Link here to find these podcasts on iTunes. |
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Leader of One, by Gerald Suarez
"Endorsements like these are seldom needed. Heed this one, read, study, and learn. Gerald Suarez is the future."
Russ Ackoff
Gerald Suarez, our inaugural "Better Thinking About..." in February 2012 on the topic of Leadership, has released his first book, titled "Leader of One: Shaping Your Future through Imagination and Design." Find it on Amazon at this link. Link on the book image to learn more about Gerald.
With endorsements from two of his mentors, Stephen Covey and Russ Ackoff, Gerald has fulfilled his dream of "writing a book that reflects my philosophy and experiences in the White House, the boardroom, and the classroom and to pay tribute to the major influences in my thinking."
This 18-chapter book offers a 4-phase "methodology" that consists of a cycle of activities that "work together in a holistic fashion"; Contemplation, Desire, Design, and Creation.
Gerald offers this advice at the outset:
Becoming a "Leader of One" and taking on the challenge of shaping your future is not easy. Transformative efforts never are. The task ahead will feel overwhelming, but commitment to initiate and sustain action, no matter how small, will move you closer to a new and desired reality.
There are no short cuts. Every building begins its steps upward with a single brick, every marathon race with a single step, and every book with a single word. The same can be said for every minute of your life, so seconds count. The first steps are always the most difficult, but each one will bring you closer to "there." |
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December 15th - 16th 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 - Monday, December 15th, 12:00-1:00pm
2 - Monday, December 15th, 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Tuesday, December 16th - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Tuesday, December 16th - 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 Friday, December 12th 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 |
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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):
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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):
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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-2014-12 (to be hosted by College of the Canyons in Valencia)
Part 1 - 16-Dec - 7:00-11:30am
Part 2 - 17-Dec - 7:00-11:30am
Register to attend InThinking Together
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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-2015-01
Starting on 21-Jan, seven sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3:00-5:00pm (ending on 11-Feb)
Class #CP-2015-02
Starting on 11-May, seven sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3:00-5:00pm (ending on 3-Jun)
Class #CP-2015-03
Starting on 14-Sep, seven sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3:00-5:00pm (ending on 5-Oct)
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