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Aim and Stats Now in our sixteenth year of operation for our "OD" sessions and the fourth year for our "TTA" 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 "TTA" sessions along with additional "thinking" opportunities for 2015 can be found in this announcement. OD + TTA Stats
For an update on OD and TTA 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. |
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 TTA If you'd like to receive meeting notices on your Microsoft Outlook schedule for upcoming Ongoing Discussion conference calls and Thinking Together 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.
Link here to find your time zone in comparison to the Pacific Time zone, where the Ongoing Discussion conference calls are hosted every month from 12-2pm.
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, from June 2012, Mixed Model Management, was prepared to highlight the concept of managing variation in a system. Contact Bill Bellows with questions, comments, or observations about this article. |
| Aerojet Rocketdyne's InThinking Network welcomes Bob Browne, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to lead our ninth Ongoing Discussion conference call of 2015 on October 1st and 2nd and also our 189th session since we began in January 2000. As for a topic, Bob has selected The Sys-Tao ("staple yourself - to an order") Way in his first time with us as a Thought Leader. 
I first crossed paths with Bob in 2012 at the fall conference of the W. Edwards Deming Institute, at which time he delivered a fascinating presentation on his efforts to transform his management style as CEO of the Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company, under the influence of his appreciation of Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge. We reconnected recently, at which point he accepted my invitation to lead this month's Ongoing Discussion, adjusted for his travel schedule; hence sessions on October 1st and 2nd.
Participants in this month's Ongoing Discussion have three options for material to review in advance of the conference call. The first is to watch his 67-minute presentation at the 2012 Deming Conference, using this link.
The second is to listen to a 28-minute podcast with Bob, recorded by Tripp Babbitt for the Deming Institute and posted online at this link.
The third option is to read his 8-page Thought Piece, titled "The Sys-Tao Way." Here's an excerpt:
On April Fool's Day, 1980 Bob Browne became Chairman and CEO of the company - making him only the third person in 58 years to head the company. Bob was well prepared for the position, with a bachelor's degree from Williams College, a U.S. Navy officer's cap with service in Vietnam, an MBA from Columbia University, and two years as an analyst with Arthur Andersen & Co. in New York. Furthermore, his grandfather, Virgil Browne, and his father, Henry Browne, had run the company until Bob led the 1980 buyout of the descendants of Virgil and his partners.
Born in 1943, Bob Browne had grown up in the beverage industry at a time when Coca-Cola was fast becoming a dominant national and international brand. Then, as he was leaving for Williamstown in the early 1960s, the bottling industry in the U.S. was beginning a dramatic consolidation as the number of licensed bottlers decreased from over 1000 to fewer than 75 today. During this same time, product and package variety exploded from one - the classic 6 ½ ounce Coke in a returnable bottle - to more than two-dozen distinct products and packages (stock keeping units, SKUs) by 1963. By 1980 there were still 350 Coca-Cola bottlers in the United States, but the number of SKU's had doubled to more than 50. GPCC net revenues were just over $30 million, and net operating income was less than $3 million. The amount of product produced and distributed was less than ¼ of today's volume.
Bob Browne may have inherited a birthright to run GPCC, but ownership had to be bought and paid for. He and his co-investors raised the necessary funds through an expensive bond issue. The term "leveraged buy-out" hadn't even gained enough currency at the time for Browne to know the handy phrase that characterized his $45 million gamble that saddled the new ownership with a debt-to-equity ratio of 6:1, financed at 20% interest. Even at that price, a long-established, successful company possessing the exclusive franchise rights to distribute a popular product in a growing region seemed like a good bet for a new CEO/owner with the background, education, and experience to keep that success rolling along. Also critical to sealing the deal was the in-place team of experienced GPCC managers whom Browne could count on to continue following the preexisting management model and executing the tactics that had worked so well in the past.
Link here to download Bob's Thought Piece
Link here to register to attend.
Go to Sys-Tao.org to learn more about Bob's "staple yourself to an order" way Contact Bob by e-mail at robertfbrowne@me.com with any questions or comments you would like to share with him in preparation for this OD session.
Bob Browne is a true American original. A Vietnam veteran and native Oklahoman with a top-notch upbringing in traditional western business, Browne orchestrated a leveraged buyout of Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company in 1980. For the ten years that followed, he successfully operated the company in the traditional western ways. But something wasn't right, and he knew it. He began to feel that the style of management he'd been taught was not complete. He began to study broadly, and his openness to alternative management philosophies eventually drove his interest beyond the day-to-day of running the company. In 1990, he began a decade-long journey of re-evaluating those established principles of western business - motivation by incentive, management by objectives, and emphasis on shareholder wealth - that he'd been taught as fact in school. Slowly, under his leadership, Great Plains became less and less traditional - but more holistic, more successful, more innovative, more fun, and more curious. That is, it became more alive. In this time, Browne steered a cultural U-turn for Great Plains, all while driving the company to record profits and industry-leading customer and employee satisfaction. For more than a decade, until his retirement in 2012, Great Plains was considered world-class by any measurement you choose. With characteristic humility, Browne attributes this transformation not to anything he did, but rather to what he didn't do. He simply allowed the people of Great Plains to take charge of their own work, in an environment free of fear. The voice of the process and the voice of the customer became their collective guide. And, gradually, Great Plains became a living example of the term, "emerging complexity"... a term Browne explains with his quote at the top of this page. In 2012, Browne capped off his 32 years as CEO by selling Great Plains to The Coca-Cola Company. In his first book, Sys-Tao, Browne has condensed this long and meandering path of discovery into a set of principles, laid out anecdotally in his down-to-earth manner, that will be of great interest and aid to any open-minded student of American business's changing landscape. Bob lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Karen. He has taught at the University of Oklahoma's Price College of Business, and he continues to lecture on the subject of his book, Sys-Tao: Western Logic ~ Eastern Flow. Cheers...
Bill Associate Fellow and Lead InThinking Network Aerojet Rocketdyne Canoga Park, California |
| 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. Link here to find a 1949 article in the Detroit Times about Wayne University's pending decision to drop Russ Ackoff from their faculty over a dispute within the Philosophy department. |
The W. Edwards Deming Institute's
First Education Conference, November 6-8
Out of the Education Crisis November 6-8, 2015 Cedarbrook Lodge Seattle, Washington
Featured Speakers: Alfie Kohn and David Langford
Aim: Create awareness and desire to learn more on how exceptional learning environments are created that ignite passion and intrinsic motivation in our students and education leaders. I wonder if anything is more important than children and their education.
- Dr. W. Edwards Deming A Dynamic Force for
Improvement
Join in for an education conference like no other. The Deming In Education Conference will shatter the existing beliefs that are perpetuating our education crisis. Hear the stories of leaders who are challenging the status quo to create exceptional learning environments that preserves our children's natural curiosity and "yearning for learning". Learn how the systems approach of Dr. W. Edwards Deming will liberate fear and ignite passion in students and educators alike. Come discover the true potential and future of education in our country. Link here to find out more. |
Podcasts from The W. Edwards Deming Institute Beginning in 2014, 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. This month, Ron Moen and Cliff Norman, of Associates in Process Improvement (API), discuss their similar experiences where first introduced to Dr. Deming, their paper "Evolution of Deming's System of Profound Knowledge" and finally the "journey of learning" through the lens of SoPK, that Dr. Deming left the world.
Ron and Cliff start with an introduction on their first meeting with Dr. Deming; how he challenged what they knew and had learned and dramatically changed their thinking and lives going forward.
The main focus of the podcast summarizes the paper Cliff and Ron will publish next year about the evolution of The Deming System of Profound Knowledge, from it's beginnings when Dr. Deming was introduced to Shewhart in 1927 until his death in 1993. Listen as they walk us through Deming's own learning, starting with SQC (Statistical Quality Control) to SQC for Management (which he taught to the Japanese) through the tremendous growth in the 1980's after the NBC White Paper "If Japan Can...Why Can't We?" Deming's learning continued through multiple versions of the 14 points, Seven Deadly Diseases and the four elements of Profound Knowledge. Deming's work culminated with his greatest contribution, the theory and interaction between the four elements, which became The Deming System of Profound Knowledge.
The last portion of the Podcast focuses on the journey of learning. Dr Deming, said, "I make no apologies for learning" as his message changed and evolved throughout his life. The teachings continue to impact Ron and Cliff in their lives and work and this research provides fascinating insight into Dr. Deming's personal journey of learning.
Link here to find the podcast with Ron and Cliff. Link here to find the previous podcasts, featuring Alfie Kohn, Jim Benson, Louis Altazan, Bob Mason and Clare Crawford-Mason, Paula Marshall, 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. |
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." |
October 1st - 2nd 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, October 1st, 12:00-1:00pm 2 - Thursday, October 1st, 1:00-2:00pm
3 - Friday, October 2nd - 12:00-1:00pm
4 - Friday, October 2nd - 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, September 30th 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): |
Future Thinking Together About... Webinars
Mark your calendars - future Thinking Together About... (formerly 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 Class #CP-2015-10, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Canoga Park Part 1 - 29-Oct - 7:00-11:30am (Pacific Time) Part 2 - 30-Oct - 7:00-11:30am Class #CP-2015-11, College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita Part 1 - 19-Nov - 7:00-11:30am (Pacific Time) Part 2 - 20-Nov - 7:00-11:30am
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The New Economics Study Session 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-2015-3 Starting on 14-Sep, seven sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3:00-5:00pm, Pacific Time (ending on 5-Oct) Class #CP-2016-1 Starting on 11-Jan, seven sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3:00-5:00pm, Pacific Time (ending on 3-Feb and skipping 18-Jan)
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