RE: Deming on systems thinking - process theology

["Paul Hollingworth" <PH@4gm.com>]

You may wish to read "To Live & Work: A theological interpretation" by
Christian Schumacher - Marc Europe, 1987 (ISBN 0 947697 51 9)

Christian (son of E F Schumacher) is a systems thinker who has consulted
widely in the UK. Whilst "To Live and Work" is about integrating the
requirements of industry with the tenets of the Christian faith, Schumacher
also has some interesting observations to make about effective process
management. Although limited in scope, Deming would have found little to
disagree with in this book, I think.

Some Denizens will recognise E F Schumacher as the author of "Small is
Beautiful". Schumacher was at the forefront of what we might now call 'lean
thinking' in the 50's and 60's. My favourite EFS quote says it all: "Any
third rate scientist or engineer can increase complexity, but it takes the
insight of genius to make things simple again".


Paul Hollingworth    PH@4GM.com