On 19 Jun 96 at 17:13, Ben Compton wrote:
> Why don't people recognize (or admit) that their "means"
> or "process" is not working? Fear? -- fear of failure, fear of
> being terminated? It seems to me that the most successful
> businesses are the ones that can recognize early on in the
> process that their "means" are not achieving the result
> sought, and then make real-time adjustments.
Functional fixedness, selective perception, and some other
psychological factors regarding thinking are probably more active,
IMHO, as opposed to fear. Having seen alot of these situations
(somewhat common in government), I don't think those commited to a
process that is failing, or even never worked, even notice that it is
useless. I think it's also a work culture issue.
> Hence the need for systemic thought and a constant,
> objective evaluation of how well the "means" are bringing
> about the desired result.
Which, I guess, is what Deming and Crosby have championed.
BTW, I think this means/ends thing is a false dichotomy. Depending of
the level of analysis the same means can be an end, or an end be a
means. I can never figure out why people insist on these kinds of
dichotomies, meself.
Robert Bacal, CEO, Institute For Cooperative Communication
dbt359@freenet.mb.ca, Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
(204 888-9290.
--"Robert Bacal" <dbt359@freenet.mb.ca>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>