FW: Resistance to new ideas (2)

["Mack, Wayne" <wayne.mack@pec.com>]

In reference to:

David Kerridge's posting and the referenced document:

> http://www.engr.wisc.edu/centers/cqpi/reports/pdfs/r146.pdf
> 
I would like to make several suggestions.

1) We are really discussing "Acceptance of New Ideas."  I think it is to be
expected that every new idea will be initially resisted by each person to
which it is presented.  A new idea must reject at least one axiom; an axiom
being a belief accepted as true without proof.  If someone believes an item
is true "just because," then it is very difficult for him to realize that
the idea may not be fully true.

2) Resistance to New Ideas is not a special cause problem.  There is not a
single solution that will lead to global acceptance of any new idea; rather
each individual and group has its own unique mix of issues to overcome.
Just as the referenced document presents learning as an iterative, PDSA
based process, the teaching or presentation of new ideas must be an
iterative, PDSA based process.  Present a new idea in one manner and analyze
one's success.  Then one must decide whether to build upon the previous step
or repeat it with a new manner of presentation.  Please note that Dr. Deming
emphasized the futility of repeating the same teaching method with an
individual once it has failed; a different method is then required.

3) In my perhaps cynical opinion, the problem is much worse than in the
paper referenced above.  Not only is it true that "... statisticians are not
held in high regard by technologists and scientists ...", but the business
world has largely found statistics, mathematics, science, and even academics
irrelevant.  Popular business books are dominated by writings of CEOs and
business leaders, and by consultants to businesses; writings by academics
are almost non-existent.  Popular culture loves to believe in the successful
CEO who dropped out of college or had his business plan rejected as his MBA
thesis.  Before we can convince the business community to accept new ideas,
we need to convince the business community that valid new ideas can (and
must) come from outside the business community.

I think one must realize that resistance to new ideas is not a problem of
the listener, rather acceptance of new ideas is a shared process between
presenter and listener.  The listener needs to be receptive to the presenter
and the presenter needs to adapt the presentation to the listener.

Wayne Mack
Wayne.Mack@PEC.com