Next BADUG Meeting - 9 September

[DanRobrtsn@aol.com]

NEWSLETTER OF THE BAY AREA DEMING USERS GROUP FOR SUMMER 2002

Our next meeting is on Monday, 9 September 2002 from
6:00-8:30pm, at Acuson/Siemens Ultrasound in Mountain
View on the corner of Shorebird Way and Shoreline
Boulevard.  Detailed directions available below.
Note that the September meeting is being held on the
2nd Monday, due to the Labor Day weekend.  Regular
monthly meetings are scheduled for the 1st Monday
of the month, unless there is a holiday conflict.

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 regarding
organizations, systems and management.

9 Sept: Pat McMahon will lead discussion on the topic
"Human Competence - the Human Performance Theory of Dr.
Thomas Gilbert".  The late Thomas Gilbert, widely
regarded in some circles as "the father of performance
improvement," summarized his thinking in the book,
Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance.  Pat
will present the highlights of this work, which
provides the philosophical underpinnings for the
International Society for Performance Improvement
(ISPI).  Core concepts include: a simple 2x3 matrix
that clearly classifies the organizational and personal
factors that must be present in order to achieve high
performance; the concept of the "exemplary" performer,
as a standard for defining realistic, achievable levels
of performance, and for determining the "performance
improvement potential" for individual performers; a
very strong emphasis on the measurement of outcomes
and accomplishments, rather than measuring behaviors
or activities.  Among many other insights, Gilbert
shows how a number of traditional business practices
actually promote incompetence!  Pat's presentation
will emphasize the compatibility between Gilbert's
ideas and Dr. Deming's management philosophy.

Pat McMahon has been an active BADUG participant for
over ten years.  He has decades of experience as a
quality engineer and quality manager.  He is currently
responsible for performance improvement in Sun
Microsystems Global Sales Operation.  Highlights of
Pat's professional career include attendance at Dr.
Deming's four-day seminar in 1991, ten years of service
on the board of directors for the Council for
Continuous Improvement, and seven years as a Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award examiner.  He also
serves as an instructor and consultant for the De Anza
College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies.

7 Oct:  Dr. Bill Bellows, Process Leader for the
Enterprise Thinking Network at Boeing's Rocketdyne
facility in southern California, will highlight the
theories involved in "Enterprise Thinking" (see
announcement below on a workshop he will be leading
in early October) and share examples of the power of
Enterprise Thinking within and across organizations
and communities.

4 Nov:  Jessica Fullmer, Founder and Director of the
Sustainable Business Institute, will bring us an update
on Sustainable Business.  Sustainability has been
defined as: "the ability to meet today's global
economic, environmental and social needs without
compromising the opportunity for future generations
to meet theirs."  Business Sustainability is an
economic opportunity for business to improve its
competitiveness and market share by incorporating
and improving sustainability practices.  A sustainable
business is a business entity that has strategized,
created, and implemented the means to pursue its
economic agenda and business opportunities in a manner
that incorporates sustainable business practices. 
With Hewlett Packard, Dow Chemical, and General Motors
being only a few of the many companies investing in
sustainable business practices, Jessica will have
ample information to both explain the concepts and
provide some interesting examples.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

* The BADUG Systems Thinking Study Group meets monthly,
prior to -- and in the same building as -- the main
BADUG session.  Please contact David Camp at
dcamp@ciena.com / 408-366-4863 or Karen Takle Quinn at
ktq@svpal.org / 650-964-5195 if you are planning to
join the September discussion.

* Dr. Bill Bellows returns to the Bay Area to again
offer his workshop on the topic of Enterprise Thinking.
The objective of this 9-hour seminar (offered in two
4.5-hour parts) is to explore the potential of "better
thinking" directed toward continuous investments in our
products and processes.  The seminar will explore the
philosophies of Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Dr. Genichi
Taguchi, as they apply to the performance of products,
processes, and the delivery of services.  Among the
topics of discussion will be the paradigms of
"acceptability and desirability" and the "system of
profound knowledge".  A deeper understanding of these
concepts will provide direction for "continuous
investment thinking", as it applies to products,
processes, and services.  The thinking of Gregory
Bateson, David Bohm, Edward De Bono, Dr. Deming, H.
Thomas Johnson, Peter Senge, and Dr. Taguchi, among
others, is examined and associated in a new way.  This
workshop will be held on October 7th (afternoon) and
8th (morning). Contact Dan Robertson for information
on attending this workshop.  Attendance will be limited.
Consider inviting your work associates to go to this
and the BADUG meeting that Monday evening!

* The W.E. Deming Institute is holding its fall
conference in Washington, DC October 12-13.  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 14-17 in Washington, DC, following
the weekend conference noted above.  Contact the W. E.
Deming Institute for details and to register.

* The 15th Annual Hunter Conference will be held October
16-17 in Madison, WI.  For more information, see the
Madison Area Quality Improvement Network (MAQIN)
website at www.maqin.org or call 608-277-7800.

* October 29, a Symposium on Dr. Deming's Analytic
Papers will be held in New York City.  Contact the
Deming Institute for further details.

* 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

General Notes: 

Our June session was a learning exercise titled "The
Lemonade Game", as prepared and presented by our Systems
Thinking Study Group.  The group has studied Peter
Senge's work and that study provided a foundation for
this session.  No publishable notes were taken from the
session, but one observer's report was that what was
done and learned in the session are similar to that
documented by Senge in chapter 3 of "The Fifth
Discipline".  While Senge refers to the distribution
of beer in his book, the study group changed the product
to lemonade for the sake of developing an exercise that
could be brought to school children and teachers.  The
Systems Thinking Study Group has been an enthusiastic
and complementary part of the BADUG community -- Our
thanks go to them for bringing this exercise together!

In other news, our favored location for monthly meetings
at Acuson/Siemens will be undergoing consolidation and
renovation this Fall.  That puts us on the search for a
new location in the south Bay Area to hold our monthly
meetings.  Please contact Dan Robertson at 650-964-9186
or DanRobrtsn@aol.com if you can help by being a host
and providing a site for our meetings.  I also would
appreciate any ideas you have for other places I could
contact that might offer a meeting location.  Having a
location will be critical to our ability to hold
sessions this Fall.

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

Thanks for reading these notes.  Summer is in its final
stages, and we hope you will be able to attend our
upcoming BADUG sessions.  With the recent news of
business failures, one continues to be reminded that
the world we live in is one of constant change and
significant complexity.  Learning and discussing Dr.
Deming's teachings can help provide a deeper and
broader perspective to better understand the linkages
and dynamics, along with finding ways to reduce the
confusion.  Whether you are new to Dr. Deming's work
or have been 'a student' for many years, we invite
you to join us as the learning continues!

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's September meeting **

Venue: The Acuson/Siemens Ultrasound 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, 9 September 2002