Re: DEN -- Heal thy self

["Robert Bacal" <ceo@work911.com>]

On 24 Jun 2003 at 11:10, Kromkowski@aol.com wrote:

> If the DEN hired Deming as a consultant what would he say.
> I think that he would do some form of this control chart. 
> And I think we would ask, what the heck is the purpose or
> aim of the DEN. (yes we have something written down and it
> gets posted from time to time, but does the structure and 
> method of the DEN actually help accomplish the aim.)

Since we are speculating (errr...fantasizing?) I think Deming would 
call "us" names, and suggest we haven't learned much but to parrot. 

> 
> He also might ask: who's in charge? Who is(are) the 
> leader(s) with _the actual power to change things_?
> 
> And what are they doing or not doing in relationship to responsibity
> as leaders or leadership?

This is an interesting point. If Jim is "in charge", then one has to 
ask whether he, in fact, has the mechanisms and tools and the 
understanding of how these online systems work to make positive 
changes. I have strong doubts that ANY list owner has that much 
influence or understanding (I have been one myself for years). The 
online field tilts and sways.

But what's really interesting is that while K's comment is certainly 
drawn from Deming, it's being raised by "one of the users" looking to 
the "leader" to fix things. And somehow this bothers me. I do not 
believe that Deming's emphasis on the responsibilities of management 
was meant to be used as an excuse for non-management people to avoid 
looking at their own behavior and their own contributions to a 
context.

I think if we ask Jim to look at how he does things, we should also 
be willing to look at how each of us does things, and how our 
individual behavior contributes or impedes goal achievement.

Or is the notion of the broad masses (us) taking some responsibility 
hear also somehow against Deming's preachings? (It's not really a 
systems perspective, but an individual one).

Robert Bacal
http://performance-appraisals.org, Performance Management Resource Center. http://articles911.com - Over 2000 work related articles listed. http://relationships911.org for the relationships library.