Deming and Senge Comparison LO9378

Dale Emery (72704.1550@CompuServe.COM)
23 Aug 96 05:57:12 EDT

Replying to LO9286 --

Rol,

You quoted my notion of "system", then wrote, "Dale, I agree with you, and at
the same time, once I looked up the definition in the dictionary, I thought that
we could include all these things in the 'system' at one level of abstraction,
but at another level, we can separate out and discuss the culture as a separate
entity."

We may be in greater agreement than you think. My point in offering my
definition of system was simply to show that there are several different
meanings of "system" floating through these threads. We can have some
wonderfully interesting and thoughtful and useful conversations about any of
these different meanings, as long as each of us knows more-or-less what the
others mean by their words.

You wrote, "When we understand more specifically that the culture allows certain
behaviors in response to stimuli in the system, then we begin to have insight
into what it is that we want to change. Where we want to focus our attention."

I completely agree.

You wrote, "When we say the system is not working the way we would like it to,
it is still unclear what we mean by that, and also what we might do about it.
by pinpointing the culture, we begin to see outlines for improvement
strategies."

Wow. I think you have a much clearer view of culture than I do.

Dale

--

Dale H. Emery | 27 Tall Pine Road Consultant | Berwick, ME 03901 Relationship and Communication | (207) 698-1650 For Successful Organizations | 72704.1550@compuserve.com

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