Eyes to see (2)

[David Kerridge <dfk@rsc.co.uk>]

In the previous post, I described five stages of "seeing"
through which we seem to go as we develop understanding
of the Deming Philosophy. I realise that this metaphor of
"seeing" is inexact, but I would like to pursue it a little
further.

I am describing my own experience, and this may not
apply to anyone else - we all learn in different ways.

1   We are totally unaware of what we cannot see.

     As we learn the Deming Philosophy, we keep
     on thinking "Now I understand it all", only to
     find, a little later, that some new area of
     ignorance has opened up.

2   What we can see depends on the system we
     are in. (A system cannot understand itself)

     This is the point made by Frank Voehl, in his
     post on the blinders of bureacracy. But I think
     it applies to all systems, in different ways.

3   We see some things more easily than others.

    The "visible" in Deming's sense is, in the first
    place what we can measure, but it is more than
    this. The short-term is always more visible to
    us than the long term, and the local easier to
    see than the whole system.

4   We also see things more easily if we expect
    to see them, as a result of training or past
    experience, or if we *want* to see them.

5   Fear and rewards both distort what we see.

     Hardly a new observation: in the Old testament
     we find  (Ecclesiastes 7 v 7):

     "Oppression drives a wise man mad, and a bribe
      corrupts the understanding".


One of the many effects of the 14 points is to create
 a system which allows us to see clearly.

Best wishes
David
dfk@rsc.co.uk
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