Management Commitment LO8544

Keith Cowan (72212.51@CompuServe.COM)
19 Jul 96 11:06:09 EDT

Replying to LO8455 --

Michael Erickson <sysengr@atc.boeing.com> makes the point that
any effort will make some measure of difference:
>.... Taking the long
>view yourself and doing what you can do-establishes that you aren't
>completely insane-when the results of this kind of thinking bring back
>results. The old parable of the mustard seed - being the smallest of
>herb seeds growing into a tree of sorts (the largest of herbs) is a good
>metaphor to think about.
>
>I'm a small voice in a big company, but my little voice is being joined
>by others who recognize the value of big picture thinking, personal
>mastery, shared vision and better, cleaner mental models.

I agree that the "unsung heros" make a difference. In fact, one of the
sources of crisis after downsizing is that there is significant breakage
because so many of these heros were making undocumented efforts to fill
the white spaces that functional disorganization had caused. Because the
company executives were completely unaware of these efforts, they were
never considered in the plans.

My company does knowledge discovery during the process of automation to
ensure that we capture these undocumented procedures. We call the process
The Masters' Apprentice. For more information on this and other articles
on root cause analysis and management fads, please see

http://OurWorld.CompuServe.Com/HomePages/YTI

We also call the process of systematically integrating the executive
vision with this grassroots reality, Implementing Executive Strategy.
...Keith

-- 

Keith Cowan <72212.51@CompuServe.COM>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>