Bay Area Deming Users Group - September Minutes

[DanRobrtsn@aol.com]

BAY AREA DEMING USERS GROUP NEWSLETTER

Our next meeting is on Monday, 1 October 2001 from 6:00-8:30pm,
at Acuson in Mountain View on the corner of Shorebird Way and 
Shoreline Boulevard.  Detailed directions available below.

PLANNED PROGRAMS: 

Please note that BADUG meetings are always open to all 
interested parties.  Dr. Deming's teaching extended far 
beyond the traditional confines of quality.  Consider 
inviting a friend or work associate who might share your 
interest in learning about, and discussing, innovative 
and effective theories on organizations, systems and 
management.

Oct:    Strategic Leadership: Innovation & Quality, led 
by Marcia Daszko.  To lead your market and industry 
requires a rapid-change organization and a culture that 
stimulates innovation.  Leaders must create a system for 
innovation that taps into the passion and contribution 
of each individual in the organization.  Companies will 
seek a new investment, a Return On Innovation (ROI), but 
this wealth will be achieved based on a greater aim, the 
Return On Relationship Investment (RORI).  This 
presentation will show how to lead people and create a 
system for accelerated innovation. We will explore how 
leaders must systematically think and discover where 
people create innovation, how to accelerate it, how it 
becomes operational, and the environment that must be 
present for it to thrive.  We will talk about the 
challenges people face for effective innovation and power 
of innovation teams to make a difference.  Leaders will 
learn how to create: new beliefs and a culture to 
encourage innovation; an organizational support structure 
for innovation endeavors; innovation projects with self-
motivated champions, and a pace that will rapidly move 
innovations to market launch.  Attendees should come 
prepared to share their thoughts about Innovation.  What 
are companies doing?  Does your company have a System of 
Innovation?  Who do you observe as innovators in your 
organization?  

Nov:    This session will once again feature videos from 
the Deming Library -- "The Quality Leader" and "Profound 
Knowledge for Leadership".  Building on our viewing and 
discussion in September regarding the elements of Profound 
Knowledge, this session will highlight what leaders, 
whether by position or personal initiative, should consider 
in carrying out their mission for improvement.  Facilitated 
discussion will follow the viewing of the tapes.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

* The BADUG Systems Thinking Study Group meets monthly, 
prior to -- and in the same building as -- the main BADUG 
session.  The October session is planned to focus on 
education and schools.  Please call Karen Takle Quinn at 
650-964-5195 or email ktq@svpal.org if you are planning 
to attend in October.

* The W.E. Deming Institute is holding its Fall conference 
in Washington, DC October 13-14.  The theme will be "Joy 
In Work" with speakers including Dick Richard, Tom Johnson, 
Mary Jenkins, Tom Coens, Hazel Cannon, and others.  Click 
www.deming.org or call 301-294-8405 for further info.

* The next offering of the Deming 4-day video seminar will 
be held October 15-18 in Washington, DC, following the 
weekend conference noted above.  The seminar will be 
facilitated by associates of Dr. Deming and will include 
video footage of him leading previous seminars.  Contact 
the W. E. Deming Institute for details and to register. 

* The 14th Annual Hunter Conference will be held October 
3 & 4 in Madison, WI.  The conference theme is "Moving at 
the Speed of Change", with presenters including Alfie Kohn, 
David Briggs, James Cathcart, John Alston, and Lori 
Silverman.  For more information, see the Madison Area 
Quality Improvement Network (MAQIN) website at www.maqin.org
or call 608-277-7800. 

* Seminar on planned experimentation October 10-12, 2001: 
The W. Edwards Deming Institute will sponsor a hands-on 
seminar in planned experimentation at Fordham University 
in New York City.  Attendees will experience quality 
improvement through the tools of statistical process 
control (SPC) and the PDSA cycle in a real-world application.
Using a computer simulation and working in teams, 
participants will conduct a series of directed improvement 
cycles applying concepts taught in the lecture to improve 
the performance of operations in a brick factory.  Seminar 
leader Lloyd Provost of Associates in Process Improvement 
will guide participants as they apply methods for 
understanding measurement variation, learn the theory and 
methods of planned experimentation, design experiments, and 
learn to integrate various methods of quality improvement.  
Seminar attendance is limited to 24 participants. Basic SPC 
knowledge is required. The $595 seminar fee includes 
continental breakfast, lunch, and breaks each day, as well 
as the text "Quality Improvement Through Planned 
Experimentation" by Moen, Nolan, and Provost. For 
registration information, contact: Joyce Orsini, 
orsini@fordham.edu.

* Symposium on Deming's Analytic Papers: October 29, 2001; 
fee is $95.  Known broadly for his work in improvement of 
management, Dr. Deming also wrote some 200 analytic papers, 
primarily between 1945 and 1975.  Statisticians around the 
world have long used these articles as models.  If you are 
interested in presenting, contact Joyce Orsini, 
orsini@fordham.edu.  Presenters are expected to understand 
the methodology and purpose described in Dr. Deming's 
paper, present a 20-30 minute summary, be able to respond 
to questions and lead discussion.

* Two regional conferences set for April 2002 -- April 5-7, 
the Capital Quality Initiative of Lansing, MI will host a 
Midwest Deming conference on "Lifelong Learning" on the 
campus of Michigan State University.  Plans include topics 
of special appeal to educators at all levels.  Contact 
Adrian Bass at abass@lansing.cc.mi.us, 517-483-1362 for 
further information.  April 19-21, the West Coast Forum: 
Creating New ROIs will be held in Canoga Park, CA.  With 
planning coordinated by participants from several of the 
Deming Associations based along the US west coast, the 
conference will take an expansive look at returns on 
investment and explore new possibilities for ROI -- 
Revolutionary, Radical Opportunities for Innovation, 
Improvement, Interactions, and Inspiration.  Contact Dan 
Robertson, Marcia Daszko, or Bill Bellows 
(william.bellows@west.boeing.com) for further information.

* The W. Edwards Deming Institute announces a call for papers 
for its first research seminar, February 19-20, 2002, in 
New York City.  Papers that link Dr. Deming's work to 
academic literature, or to other great thinkers are 
particularly sought.  To be considered, send an abstract of 
200 words or less by October 1, 2001, to orsini@fordham.edu 
or mail to The W. Edwards Deming Institute, PO Box 59511, 
Potomac Maryland 20859.

* 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 of the group, 
past meeting minutes, and an index of Deming-associated 
sites can be accessed via your web browser.  Find the site at: 

http://www.cafm-services.com/badug/BADUG-TOC.htm

Other websites to note:

www.deming.org -- The W. E. Deming Institute website is a 
great place to go for information on the Institute and 
links to various Deming resources.  (The WEDI website is 
temporarily down, due to the attack on the World Trade 
Center in New York -- Go to the DEN website below, in the 
interim, to get up-to-date information on upcoming 
conferences and seminars.)

http://deming.eng.clemson.edu/pub/den/ -- The Deming 
Electronic Network -- This site, and its associated 
moderated internet discussion group, is the ultimate 
gathering place for those interested in ongoing dialogue 
about the implementation and analysis of Dr. Deming's 
teaching.  Go to the site listed for links to archives 
and to subscribe to the list.

September's Meeting Notes: 

"Profound Knowledge" -- From the Deming video library

Dr. Deming asserted that profound knowledge was necessary 
for improvement to occur.  He taught us that profound 
knowledge has 4 fundamental and interconnected elements -- 
Understanding of a System, Statistical Theory and 
Variation, Psychology, and a Theory of Knowledge.  Volumes 
XIV and XV of the Deming Library explain these four elements,
with excerpts of Dr. Deming presenting at his seminars.

Your scribe will not try to replay the content of the two 
tapes with you in this writing.  Rather, he will share a 
few of the points that were made and try to convey some 
of the discussion we had after viewing the videos.

"Profound Knowledge is not the same as knowledge" - This 
statement by narrator Lloyd Dobyns highlights the point 
that too often we attempt to take action with only bits 
and pieces of information.  We lack proper context to the 
situation, are blind to many opportunities for improvement, 
and overlook the impact of potential solutions on the 
system overall.  Dobyns emphasizes in particular the danger 
of intending to bring about improvement but not having a 
plan for how to go about it.

"Too many people are putting forth their best efforts.  
That's our problem."  Here Dr. Deming asks do we know what 
we are really responsible for and what our respective jobs 
are?  Do we stay focused on carrying out those necessary 
responsibilities? -- See the next quote to find his comment 
on what management's job is.  Do we understand the needs 
and operation of the system, and do our efforts together 
work to move the system toward its optimum capability?

"Management's job is to optimize the system."  In saying 
this, Dr. Deming identifies management as those responsible 
for the process of improvement -- Lasting improvement can 
not be sustained from elsewhere.  There must be recognition 
of the interdependencies that exist within a system -- 
Attempts to merely optimize some of the parts of a system 
will lead to sub-optimizing the system as a whole.  
Creating competition within the organization through
performance evaluation, merit pay, management by objective 
is just one set of ways to sub-optimize the system.

Understand the two types of mistakes that can be made in 
analyzing variation within a system:  Profound Knowledge 
includes understanding the difference between common 
(within the system) and special (outside the system) 
causes of variation.  Just as important is understanding 
how to address each type of cause.

As we were discussing systems, we spend several minutes 
on the perceived state of public education in the US.  
Highlights from our discussion included:
- Schools - What are we trying to accomplish?  What is the 
  Aim?  Is the community committed and involved?
- Danger of mechanical memorization (for standardized 
  testing) versus using knowledge to understand
- The need for transforming data/information into knowledge
- Place an emphasis on critical thinking
- A student can be as responsible for their learning as 
  the teacher

"Experience without theory teaches nothing."  A theory 
leads to a prediction.  Then actual experience may be 
compared with the expected outcome, while asking whether 
the process leading to the outcome was executed according 
to plan.  Were there unexpected influences that may have 
affected the outcome?  Knowledge comes from experience 
based on theory, as the study and comparisons between 
expected and actual outcomes lead to a better understand 
of the system and the influences on the system.  As 
Dr. Deming pointed out, no number of examples will confirm 
a theory -- but one's confidence in an outcome can be 
strengthened as more experience is gained, and a better 
understanding of the system is developed.

Through the course of Dr. Deming's explanation of Profound 
Knowledge, he exclaimed that in understanding what needs 
to be done, management need to "bring back the individual".
In discussing what we thought this meant, several points 
were made:
- People are part of the system, not outside of it
- There is a two-way relationship in various dimensions: 
  Communication is vital; what is done with the people 
  component of a system will have impact on other parts 
  of the system, and what is done with other elements of 
  the system will likewise have impact on the people within 
  the system
- Diversity of knowledge and skill enhance the potential 
  for contribution that people make to the system
- Consider the individual and their role as part of a team
- Understand the perils of setting up competition between 
  individuals in the system
- Everyone contributes in some way, in finding flaws and 
  solutions

As mentioned in the beginning of the notes, only some of 
the highlights from the videos are here.  It was a great 
discussion for those of us at the session, and we will 
view more of the videos from the Deming Library later this 
year.

/s/ Dan Robertson

-------------------------

Notice to our readers -- As of January 2002, our BADUG 
monthly newsletter will no longer include minutes from 
the meetings.  The meetings will definitely continue; 
but, regretfully, I'll no longer be able to produce 
the minutes each month...  Some of our speakers may create 
electronic lecture notes, or present PowerPoint slides, 
that they may be willing to share -- In place of the 
minutes for those cases, we will do our best to make their 
files available; at a minimum on a request basis.  Our 
newsletter will continue to provide you with announcements 
of upcoming BADUG meetings/topics, and we will include the 
announcements we hear of regarding upcoming Deming-related 
classes, conferences, and other events.  It has been a 
great honor to provide these minutes over the years, but 
other activities are coming that will take precedence and 
I'm going to have to hang up my quill for the time being.
Thanks in advance for your understanding and support. -- /dr

-------------------------

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.  We encourage electronic distribution if 
at all possible, but please select the transmission medium 
that best fills your needs. US Mail distribution will be 
provided for 12 months from your communication with us.

** Directions to BADUG meetings **
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 direct you to the meeting room.



The next BADUG meeting is Monday, 1 October 2001