Bay Area Deming Users Group - January Notes

[DanRobrtsn@aol.com]

All interested parties are welcomed to attend our meetings.  
Please pass this on to those who may have an interest.  

NOTES FROM THE BAY AREA DEMING USERS GROUP MEETING

Our next meeting is on Monday, 7 February 1999 from 6:00-8:30pm,
at Acuson in Mountain View at Shoreline Boulevard and Shorebird
Way.  Detailed directions available below.

PLANNED PROGRAMS: 

7 Feb:  We will be continuing our in-depth discussion and study
of Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge.  The past three
months we have looked at Systems, Variation, and Psychology.  This
session will be involved with Theory of Knowledge.  Lucille
Jurgens will facilitate.

6 Mar:  Susan Osborn returns to share her insights on the topic of
Office Politics.  In her talk, titled "The System Made Me Do It!"
Susan will help us understand why political games exist and how
to work effectively with them.  She offers a plan to analyze and
revitalize the social systems that operate within offices and to
build positive political skills that foster communication and
connection.  After 25 years as an external management consultant
and manager in the computer industry, aerospace, and the criminal
justice system, Susan wrote THE SYSTEM MADE ME DO IT!  Her column,
"Office Politics," appears in HIGH TECHNOLOGY CAREERS MAGAZINE.
She is co-developing two new programs at Saybrook Graduate School
in San Francisco: a Ph.D. in Organizational Systems Inquiry and
an M.A. in Organizational Systems Leadership.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

* The Systems Thinking Special Interest Group meets each month:
The BADUG Systems Study Group will meet prior to the regular BADUG
at Acuson in the same building as the regular BADUG meeting on
7 February. Please call Karen Takle Quinn at 650-964-5195 or
email (ktq@svpal.org) if you are planning to attend.

* ASQ will be holding its 12th Annual Quality Management
Conference 9-11 February at the San Francisco Airport Hyatt
Regency Hotel.  One of the speakers on 10 February will be John
Hunter, known for his involvement with Deming Associations in
the Washington DC region, speaking on "Applying Quality To
Develop An Internet Resource."  Details about the conference can
be downloaded from http://www.asq-qmd.org/page5.html in .pdf
format.  To register, ring 1-800-248-1946.

* The British Deming Association will hold its annual
Transformation Forum at Loughborough University 28-29 June 2000,
with an "open space" day on Friday the 30th.  With a combination
of keynote addresses and breakout sessions, featured speakers
will include Henry Neave, Tom Nolan, Joyce Orsini, and Myron
Tribus, along with several other practitioners and guides
involved in the implementation of Dr. Deming's philosophy.  Phone
++44-0-1722-412138, email Deminguk@aol.com or click
http://www.deming.org.uk for more information.

* Those interested in practical applications for systems thinking
might consider attending a conference in Cambridge, MA to be held
April 4-7, 2000.  The conference is presented by Linkage, Inc. and
keynote speakers will include Russell Ackoff and Peter Senge.  For
further information link to 
http://www.linkageinc.com/systems2000/reminder.htm.

* Call for conference papers -- "Challenges for Science and
Engineering", organized by the International Network of Engineers
and Scientist for Global Responsibility, will be held in Stockholm,
Sweden, 14-18 June.  It is intended for participants who are
professional, students, or otherwise active in society and
concerned with sustainable development and a responsible use of
science and technology.  Details can be obtained at 
www.ines2000.org.

* Drs. Donald Wheeler and Sophronia Ward are offering public
seminars on Statistical Process Control, Continual Improvement
and Industrial Experimentation, with a new schedule released for
the year 2000.  Phone (800) 545-8602 for registration information
or check the SPC, Inc. website at http://www.spcpress.com/semi.html

* The ASTD's Total Quality Management Special Interest Group holds
its meetings at National Semiconductor's "National Semiconductor
University" site in Santa Clara, the 4th Monday of each month,
6:30-8:30pm.  Ring Betsy Wolf-Graves at (408) 294-5779 for more
information.

* WE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN GETTING YOUR INPUTS FOR UPCOMING
TOPICS and SPEAKERS. If you have inputs, please contact Marcia
Daszko.  Also contact Marcia for details about upcoming programs.
Her number is 408-247-7757; e-mail address is MDaszko@aol.com. 

Surf the Worldwide Web to BADUG.  An overview, past meeting minutes,
and an index of Deming-associated sites can be accessed via your
web browser.  Find us at: 
http://www.cafm-services.com/badug/BADUG-TOC.htm

You can also find an assortment of Deming links at 
www.itslonelyatthetop.com

January's Meeting - Asking Questions That Have the Power To CREATE:  

This session was led by Annabelle Jinkins, a process quality
program manager at Sun Microsystems.  The 'human element' is
Annabelle's personal interest in applying quality principles --
She brought to the group her study of psychology and behavior
with respect to how people go about solving problems.  

Annabelle started with a description familiar to all of us as to
how problems are often addressed: The problem leads to action to
solve the problem, which leads to less intensity of the problem,
which leads to less action to solve the problem, which leads to
the problem remaining.  Think about how often this turns out to
be the case!  What we practice as problem solving is an unsound
and inadequate way of creating the realities we want, and most
often it hardly changes the difficulties that do exist.  At best,
problem solving can bring temporary relief from a specific
situation, but it seldom leads to lasting success.

A much more creative approach in addressing problems is that of
"Appreciative Inquiry", which contains within it the following
elements:
- Valuing "What is" (what gives meaning?)
- Envisioning "What might be"
- Dialoging "What would be"
- Innovating "What will be"
- Metaphor: Organization as an opportunity to be discovered; for
  the individual, an opportunity to be rediscovered.

Most of the time we find ourselves creating solutions around the
question, "HOW do I get what I want?"  But there can be a more
powerful approach where the initial question is more along the
line of, "What RESULT do I want to create?" -- As Annabelle
suggested in her presentation, think for a second about how the
flower of a plant grows toward the sun.  If we ask the 'how'
question before the 'what' question, all we can ever hope to
create are variations of what we already have.  The proposition
is that realities are made and imagined, and they move in the
direction of focus.  We must realize that the questions we ask
delimit what we eventually find.

Some fundamentals necessary for Appreciative Inquiry include:
- The power of Positive Language & Thought
- Positive = Positive, Negative = Negative
- Positive intent leads to positive action
- Constructive conversation leads to constructive action

Annabelle went on to recommend that a creative process of inquiry
should always serve the result.  "From the orientation of the
creative, the only rule of thumb about process is not to have one."
-- That is to say, because a new result might require a completely
original process, limiting yourself to preconceived notions of what
processes are available can be fatal to spontaneity.  Once a vision
is clear, processes organically form that lead to the accomplishment
of that vision.  This means that, in the creative orientation, 
process is invented along the way.

At this point, the question arose of, "How do you keep the boss
from getting uncomfortable?"  It is a dynamic situation, and the
boss may be only one of many stakeholders who will need reassurance
that the organization is heading in the right direction.  Some of
the important actions that change leaders will take with key 
stakeholders include bringing the key stakeholders in early on 
the principles and theory; involve them in creating the vision of
what the future might be; have small early successes; and continue
to ask for their inputs and ideas.

Next, Annabelle described how a leader or development team proceeds
in asking questions that have the power to create.  They need to:
- Conceive of the result they want to create
- Understand what currently exists
- Take action as patterns form
- Learn the rhythms of the creative process
   - Which include germination, assimilation & completion
- Create momentum

Four questions can be asked to create positive stages:
- "What was a high point or peak experience for you?
- "What are the things valued most about:
   - Yourself,
   - Nature of your work,
   - The organization?"
- "What is the core factor that gives LIFE to:
   - Yourself
   - Your work
   - The organization?"
- Create images of future possibility
- "If you had three wishes, what would they be?"

Annabelle next presented McKinsey's "7S Framework" organizational
model, overlaying it with the ideas of appreciative inquiry and
creative process.  (The 7S model's name comes from the labels of
its elements: Systems, Style, Staff, Skills, Strategy, Structure,
and Shared Vision).  With the overlaid ideas, Structure systems,
and Style can be grouped to study societal purpose; Style, Staff,
and Skills combine for Stakeholder Relations; Skills, Strategy,
and Structure are looked at together to appreciate Shared Values.
(Sorry -- I wish I had a picture to help describe this structure...
/DR)

Another aspect of creating new possibilities was proposed via
"constructing provocative propositions of possibilities".  A
provocative proposition is a statement that bridges the best of
"What is" with your own speculation or intuition of "what might
be."  It stretches the realm of the status quo.  Annabelle
recommends using strong, positive, reaffirming language to aid
in the development of these propositions.

As we started to wrap up the session, the point was made that
one must understand that a basic assumption of this system is
that cooperation is valued.  Key questions must be asked about
what kinds of strategy, structure, etc., will assure a maximum
potential for cooperation throughout the organization.  Going
back to the previous concept, use a process that builds
"provocative propositions" stated as strategy, structure, etc.
of the organization.

Key learnings:
- The importance of letting go and moving on
- If you can't sustain something, what's the value?
- Importance of language in communicating what we want to do
- Discussion of the 7S model

Unanswered Questions:
- How to impact?
- What would the process be?

How will attendees use this:  
- Do some personal housekeeping
- Use components of the 7S model
- Value the things that I DO, versus just focusing on what I DON'T

References: Click to http://www.appreciative-inquiry.org/AI-Life.htm
for a comprehensive article on appreciative inquiry written by
David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva of Case-Western University.
Annabelle also recommends Robert Fritz' work, including his books
"The Path of Least Resistance" and "Creating".

/s/ Dan R.

To receive the Bay Area Deming Users Group's newsletter, contact:
Dan Robertson              -or-   Marcia Daszko
1141 Bruckner Circle              2752 Glorietta Circle
Mountain View, CA   94040         Santa Clara, CA  95051
650-964-9186                      408-247-7757
DanRobrtsn@AOL.com                MDaszko@AOL.com
                                  www.mdaszko.com
                                  www.itslonelyatthetop.com

Please supply us with a US Mail address, a fax number or an
Internet ID. BADUG's expenses are completely met every month by 
member donations. Please select that transmission medium which 
best fills your needs. 

** Directions to the 7 February meeting **
Venue: The Acuson Corporation Education Center, Building I, at 
1393 Shorebird Way in Mountain View.  Contact Dan Robertson if
you have questions.

1/ From freeway 101 take Shoreline Boulevard, "Amphitheatre" 
direction (toward the bay).
2/ Turn right, off Shoreline, onto Shorebird Way (Shorebird is 
the next street after Spacepark).
3/ Building I is the first building on the right. "BADUG" signs 
will be posted directing you to the meeting room. 



Next BADUG meeting is on Monday, 7 February 2000.
===================================================================