Speaking as a Japanese industrial engineering geek, my Japanese friends
have found that they have run into a dead end with the traditional quality
tools/quality circles, largely because the process became more important
than the results (I realise that I am picking up another thread here), and,
interestingly people were getting the results through other means but then
using the process of quality tools to justify and present their results.
This has led them to concentrate on quicker problem solving tools like the
5 Why's to deal with physical processes. This works for most physical
problems in manufacturing - like Newton's laws are OK for most practical
purposes and we only need quantum mechanics, fuzzy logic etc. in special
cases. Where we find the lo/systems perspective useful is in the human
side of the business - 5 Why's aren't going to get you very far discussing
human relationships, or indeed complex market systems. Every technique has
its limitations, but also its applications.
As a lurker making my first posting, we also use the 2:6:2 rule - 20% will
support new initiatives, 60% will watch to see what happens, and 20% will
oppose. The trick is to put your energy into supporting the positive 20%,
drawing in the uncommited 60% and ignoring the negative 20% (unless of
course they have particular power/influence which could hurt you).
Malcolm Jones
Learner and Guide
Productivity Europe Ltd
UK
--prodeuro@atlas.co.uk (Malcolm Jones)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>