Deming and Senge Comparison LO9358

Keith Cowan (72212.51@CompuServe.COM)
22 Aug 96 16:18:28 EDT

Replying to LO9203 --

Rol Fessenden <76234.3636@CompuServe.COM> makes a great point about the
importance of culture in any organization, adn concludes with:
>...Therefore,
>the culture is to blame for unrepaired systems.
>
>It really is management and leadership's job to create and mold the
>culture of an organization.
>
>On the other hand, systems today are changing too fast for all of them to
>be kept up-to-date. It is also management's job to prioritize which
>systems will be upgraded or replaced, and which will have to muddle
>along. ...

Easy to ask the hard questions...Management's job is to create and mold
the culture of an organization? How can they do that if they are part of
and perhaps even created the culture?

This assertion (which I like) implies that the only way to rescue an
organization displaying the disfunctional behaviours you describe is to
recruit a different kind of leader from an external culture that is
better. That leader will then have to change his management through
influence or replacement? Is this what you are getting at Rol?

Second, you imply that management's job is also to continuously improve
their current systems. I like this idea, but it eliminates other
possibilities that would come from a different culture - a culture in
which everyone shares the job of continuous improvement.

Each mental model of how things should work eliminates other
possibilities. There is no RIGHT answer. Any model's effectiveness will
be a function of its fit and relevance to the currently perceived needs
of the organization.

Thanks for you contribution...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/>