RE: Deming on systems thinking

["Vic Forte" <vic@vicf.com>]

Petter Ogland asks two questions. Firstly how my take on Dr Deming's system
of profound knowledge fits with a list of other philosophers including
Richard Dawkins. My answer is that it probably doesn't. I don't wish to
sound flippant but the points I made were my own entirely and therefore
stand on their own merit (such as it is). 

The second question is "how does reading Deming as Buddhist philosopher help
explain the importance of quality control in a highly competitive world."

Here were the points I think I made:

1) Consciousness is a system
2) The practice of meditation can give insight into the fragmentation of
consciousness
3) The practice of meditation may help us to reduce variation in the
modalities of consciousness 
4) Meditation can help us to answer the question "Who am I" which would seem
to be important given Dr Deming's stress on human motivation
5) There are interesting issues and parallels between Deming's ideas on the
theory of knowledge and Jnana Yoga. In particular the ideas concerning the
difference between what is real and what is perceived.

I was not suggesting that there was any link between Deming and Buddhism, or
that Dr Deming is some sort of crypto-Buddhist merely that there were
certain interesting parallels. I guess my thoughts were along the lines of
"if the SoPk is genuinely profound then it is likely to have applications in
realms other than industry". 

Actually I know very little about Buddhism, and my interest is mostly in
Vedanta.

However there are also important differences too:

The idea for instance that knowledge is prediction derived from CI Lewis is
definitely not an Eastern ideas but a very Western and scientific idea, as I
am sure you realise. 

The final point I wish to make, though, is this. Dr Deming was a devout
Christian. Although I did not know him I imagine he would have dismissed
with scorn, ideas that he was a Buddhist. But we cannot escape the fact that
his teachings are deeply moral. There is no direct moralising going on, but
I can't help but suspect that his morality had its roots in more than
science. And the outcome of his science is that we end up treating people
with kindness - and if that is Buddhism - or Christianity. Well, so be it.

He spoke to practical people. His was not a religious audience. But his
stature was such that he was able to show us, through a very reasoned
process, that there was no conflict between the highest moral (even
spiritual) aspirations and the desire to succeed in business and other
social endeavours.

That's why I like him so much. It's the blend of science and humble morality
and some very interesting philosophical ideas that really appeals to me. 

I do not think that there is anything about the Asian mentality that applies
here. I don't even think that Dr Deming is an example of Asian mentality -
whatever that may be. 

How does this philosophy help explaining the importance of quality control
in a highly competitive world ? That's a big question but for me it's this:

We are whole people - I am not a business person and then separately a
family person and then separately someone with religious beliefs and
separately a musician - I am one.

When we break ourselves up into parts we do ourselves and others harm. It is
easy for our thoughts to separate things - but my moral being is not
separate from my desire to improve quality, delight customers, make a profit
for my business. Variation is not separate from systems thinking is not
separate from psychology, is not separate from theory of knowledge. The
Deming System of Profound Knowledge is truly a system, and that's why it
fits.