Re: A question for clarification

["Jonathan Siegel" <jmsiegel@yahoo.com>]

I see two points that might be useful to keep in mind.

One is perhaps a little silly but I think helpful. Deming and John Tukey
said that theories are never true, only useful. This lets us avoid any
temptation to put Deming's own theories on too high a pedestal. Deming's
idea that knowledge comes from outside the system is, like all theories,
just a generalization, one that may well be useful, but which
undoubtedly has exceptions. Of course "there is no true value" is itself
a theory and hence just a useful generalization, so perhaps it too has
exceptions, theories that are always true. Maybe this is one of them. 

The second involves what it means for knowledge to come from outside the
system. I'm not sure this means knowledge has to come from someone else;
I'm not sure it's even possible for knowledge to always come from
someone else. There is always a first person to think of something. I
think Deming was gearing his ideas with the idea of helping people and
organizations be more likely to think of new and useful things, and it
may be useful to interpret the idea in light of that purpose. 

I'm reminded of Deming's description of Stage 0 in production, the
generation of ideas. "A man sits with his feet on his desk reading a
newspaper. Nothing seems to be happening. People are thinking." In order
to be able to generate new ideas, and hence hope to lead to new
knowledge, one has to be able to turn ones attention from ones immediate
surroundings and focus elsewhere -- on the future, on the customer, on
theory. One has to go outside the system. 

Many of the management techniques and reward structures Deming most
disagreed with are designed to laser people strictly to their immediate
surroundings, treating any tendency towards contemplation or outward
focus as laziness and lack of direction. Deming pointed out time and
again that such an approach actively discourages, even prevents, people
from being able to contribute towards innovation or to their company in
any way beyond their immediate jobs, and hence represents a tremendous
waste of human potential. Current management techniques, Deming
believed, actively discourage the kind of environment that leads to new
ideas and new knowledge. 

A successful company, therefore, must sometimes let its members' minds
wander outside the system, put their feet on their desks, read the
newspaper, and think, because that is where new knowledge comes from. It
has to be able to trust that people's broader aims, their intrinsic
motivation, will tend to lead their thinking towards productive
purposes, and that these purposes will, in the long run, have value. It
has to work to create an environment where this can occur. 

It's certainly good for companies to bring in consultants from outside
with new ideas. But I don't think Deming's idea is in any way limited to
only this. I think quite a number of Deming's ideas are at bottom
methods of creating a workplace environment that fosters creativity, and
which helps make a breakthrough synthesis or innovation more probable.
Since such things are somewhat rare, simply involving more people
increases the odds of its happening, just as buying more lottery tickets
increases the odds of a big win (plus Deming emphasized positive
interactions to increase the odds evern further). I think Deming would
have taken a very dim view of the idea that any narrow class of people
-- even his own class -- are the only ones qualified to think. 

Sincerely,
 
 Jonathan Siegel
40714 Reisa Lane
Apt 204
Canton, MI, 48188
(734) 657-1900
jmsiegel@yahoo.com