RE: Beyond Deming

["Hansen, Linda C" <linda.c.hansen@boeing.com>]

<The posts from some of our "lurkers" give me a feeling that posting 
to the Den is a worthwhile effort.  It may help others to recall the 
poem which begins
	"I shot an arrow into the air
	 It fell to the Earth, I know not where..."

In that spirit I would like to say a few words about my own 
development 'beyond Deming'.>

Myron's post helps me to say that as a "lurker" trying to get transformed, I appreciate the DEN a great deal.  I like to see the interplay of ideas and suggestions and the growth in learning of individuals I occasionally see occurring as a result.  I appreciate the opportunity to learn about education opportunities in person where I can talk with and learn directly from other thinkers out there.

I have studied NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and appreciate it's potential to do the same as Myron's Feurstein (I probably spelled it wrong) in helping us to change belief systems.  It can be done in a very short time frame if done by an expert.  Changing belief systems, however, as Myron says, is dangerous.  When you change a belief system, you change everything about how a person thinks and behaves.  CAREFUL!!  It can have unexpected consequences, and can cause more damage than good.  We often try to influence people "for their own good" without giving due thought to consequences or their own (should I say Right?) to determine for themselves what their "own good" means or equals.

I believe that Deming's teachings are a springboard for continued growth in the field.  I don't think he would have been happy to know that people are using his ideas as a be-all and end-all for solving the ills of business. (Not that I had direct contact with him, just infer from the way he thought and taught.)  When one uses a set of ideas as a religion, he easily becomes a fanatic.  Nobody likes a fanatic.  No growth occurs with fanaticism.  Indeed, it stifles growth.

I personally like the expansion of Deming ideas being developed by the West Coast Deming organization and In2InThinking.  There must be many ways in which we can expand Deming's ideas into current business solutions.  Business both in America and overseas is changing more quickly than I think Deming could have foreseen.  We must change with it or become an anachronism along with it.