Intro -- Wayne K. Cox, Jr. LO3070

wcox@inet.guthrie.org
Thu, 5 Oct 1995 12:59:37 -0400

After finding this mailing list and reading the digest for October 4, it
seems appropriate to introduce myself to the rest of this group.

I am a Human Resources professional for Guthrie Healthcare System - a
group of fifteen for- and not-for-profit healthcare entities in northeast
Pennsylvania. I read Peter Senge's "The Fifth Discipline" to find out
more about systems thinking and have found the conceptual premise of the
LO interesting.

The questions I have about this area are:

- How the balance is developed between the need for information and
decision-making (some one ends up being "responsible") and the
decentralized organization that focuses on action;

- The decision-making process. I feel that there is much I have to
learn in this area. For example, the producer-product relationship is
fascinating to me, but new. Any pointers as to authors, articles, cases,
etc.?

- Can "traditional" managers survive this transformation? Are there
resources on how resistance and fear of the unkown is dealt with;

I am most interested to hear from those who have tried a variety of
approaches and philosophies - successes and failures. Our organization is
early in its efforts to transform itself. The more experiences I can
learn from, the better.

>From what I have read thus far, this is a group of extremely insightful
individuals. Over time, let's see if I can catch up with you.

--
Respectfully,

Wayne K. Cox, Jr. wcox@guthrie.inet.org