Other Resources Index

The aim of sharing these articles and papers is to inform website users and present our thinking on these topics. We seek to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision by learning from our tested theories and our research. Some of them build upon other research papers, and are interrelated, others are partial selections of larger documents.

Their purpose is to offer useful, practical evidence of our thinking and our theories of improvement from practice. As Dr. W. Edwards Deming has taught, these theories have the possibilities of being wrong. We will gladly accept evidence of that possibility, we make no apology for learning from your evidence!

Manage More By Doing Less

Control Charts and Process Capability

Increasing Organization Capacity for Learning and Improvement

Facilitating Learning and Improvement

Value Stream Mapping and Facilitation

Argyris, Deming and Transformation

The 20th Annual Deming Research Seminar

A New System of Quality in Process Interactions

Annual Deming Conference

Annual International Deming Research Seminar

Annual Deming Conference - BOLD PANEL

Process, Outcome and System Measures for Long Term Supports and Services

Guide to Improvement

Abandon Performance Appraisals

Decades of Learning Through CQI

Creating Future Value and Service in Public Administration

The Dirty Two Dozen

Manage More By Doing Less

August 15, 1977

Beginning

The purpose of this paper is to provide an early example of my management thinking and methods to a team about the work we did together to improve the services provided in the communities we served. This “mental model” helped us work together as a front line team in the AT&T Bell System which we were an essential part of. At the end is a verbatim quote from the book by Raymond O. Loen, “Manage More By Doing Less”, the Foreword written by the Chairman of General Mills. I have adapted his writing to create a mental model that I shared in my own words, to reflect how I hoped to manage as we worked towards a common purpose of serving the people and communities we did business in.

Control Charts and Process Capability

July 17, 1994

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this paper is to provide a guide for applying quality control principles to our work of serving customers, communities, and shareholders as we continually improve our work, in our jobs and in our organization. It is intended to describe the processes which will cause us to preserve the essential features of the quality our customers rely on as they have become accustomed. Whether working in customer service at the front line, or in staff, managers must control our various work processes, in an economic system of cause and effect. In the history of the AT&T Bell System, the methods that made it possible for that organization to expand in providing service across the world, and to make the parts that made the services work, it attained the reputation of “best in the world” came from the evidence of science and service.

Increasing Organization Capacity For Learning and Improvement

May 17, 2003

In 1991, an article by Chris Argyris "Teaching Smart People How to Learn" started me on a path of inquiry and learning over a decade by testing the philosophy, principles and practices from his book “Overcoming Organizational Defenses”. Practicing these ideas has positive impacts on organizations when we start to remove fear from our social systems and organizations to discuss what concerns us in productive reasoning practiced together with others. 

Beginning a Discussion and Changing the Status Quo 

The shift from a control model to a commitment model takes time and work, more work for people who cling to the old control model and structures that they are accustomed to hiding behind. The commitment model exposes our human flaws and that can be uncomfortable at first. While liberating new capacities of individuals.

Facilitating Learning and Improvement

May 22, 2004

A paper by this author titled “Increasing Organizational Capacity for Learning & Improvement” focused on organizational defenses and was shared with a number of colleagues and customers. The work of Chris Argyris in his Harvard Business Review article from 1991, “Teaching Smart People How To Learn” and his 1990 work “Overcoming Organizational Defenses - Facilitating Organizational Learning” was a foundation for interventions and consulting through dialogue.

This paper is a supplement and follow up to the earlier work and focuses on how to facilitate dialogue and learning in meetings and workshops. This is useful in routine staff meeting, complex problem-solving meetings or workshops to develop new processes, products, services or technology as solutions to organizational needs. We start with dialogue to clarify our purpose with three basic questions:

1. What are we trying to accomplish?

2. How will we know that a change is an improvement?

3. What changes can we make that will result in improvement?

These questions come primarily from the work of the Associates of Process Improvement (API), a collection of quality experts, thinkers and practitioners of profound knowledge, as defined by W Edwards Deming. They call these three questions the “Model For Improvement”, when used in conjunction with the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle of learning and improvement, described by W. Edwards Deming. In practice, there are numerous synergies between the work and philosophies of Deming, Argyris, Russell Ackoff, API and others. The work of the Achieve Global organization and the fundamentals they teach through the Zenger-Miller facilitation methods are a way to extend these ideas of learning and improvement methods by skilled philosophy, practices and methods of facilitating meetings and workshops.

Value Stream Mapping and Facilitation

June 18, 2005

This paper is a supplement to a 2004 paper by this author, “Facilitating Learning and Improvement” with a narrower focus on the process of value stream mapping and how to facilitate it with subject matter experts (SMEs). As usual, we start a PDSA (plan-do-study-act) cycle of learning and improvement with team dialogue to clarify our purpose of a value stream mapping session with three basic questions.

These three questions are “Model For Improvement”, when used in conjunction with the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle of learning and improvement. They come from the work of the API (Associates of Process Improvement). 

• What are we trying to accomplish? Our aim is to create a graphic, a picture to understand a process better, to see where value flows to satisfy the customer need. 

• How will we know that a change is an improvement? When we document it visually, we see where value flows and see the parent and child relationships between steps in the process, we will have a baseline to measure all changes from. 

• What changes can we make that will result in improvement? Documenting a value stream in a disciplined method allows us to use a common language for all further discussions about improvement by converting team member opinions into thoughts through team consensus and team decision-making. This can later be converted to knowledge through the PDSA cycle of learning and improvement. 

In this paper, we document a model of value stream mapping that works for facilitator, customer and subject matter expert alike. We know that mapping processes helps subject matter experts know and understand their work and their system better. Thus, we believe it will aid their improvement efforts. What we think must change to create that improvement will be to increase the knowledge of facilitators of value stream mapping with a disciplined philosophy and method. 

Argyris, Deming and Transformation

January 25, 2014

My study of transformation in organizations has brought me to understand much of W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK) and the synergies between the work of Dr. Deming and many other authors. 

Chris Argyris’s work resonates strongly with Dr. Deming's philosophy and themes on transformation. Like many philosophers and social scientists, Argyris has perspectives about organizational transformation through understanding systems, the people in them and the power of shared purpose. 

Any leader of a learning organization can encourage a team to begin with knowledge and start the practice of productive dialogue. This requires "discussing the un-discussable" as Chris Argyris described ways to counter the common defensive routines in organizations. The key in this process is leadership's demonstrated commitment to productive reasoning and dialogue, to remove fear and embarrassment by new learning and improved productivity for their whole enterprise, starting with themselves.  I share a number of these solutions from Argyris and evidence from others as well.

The 20th Annual International Deming Research Seminar

March 3, 2014

Pages 250 - 264:

My study of transformation in organizations has brought me to understand much of W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK) and the synergies between the work of Dr. Deming and many other authors.

Chris Argyris’s work resonates strongly with Dr. Deming's philosophy and themes on transformation. Like many philosophers and social scientists, Argyris has perspectives about organizational transformation through understanding systems, the people in them and the power of shared purpose.

Any leader of a learning organization can encourage a team to begin with knowledge and start the practice of productive dialogue. This requires "discussing the un-discussable" as Chris Argyris described ways to counter the common defensive routines in organizations. The key in this process is leadership's demonstrated commitment to productive reasoning and dialogue, to remove fear and embarrassment by new learning and improved productivity for their whole enterprise, starting with themselves.

In the context of his studies and writing, it seems the common purpose in each of the Argyris case studies was to transform the organization under study by transforming the leaders. In his practice and writings, Argyris provided us hard evidence of many of Deming's points and provides actionable solutions. I propose to share a number of these solutions from Argyris and evidence from others as well.

A New System of Quality in Process Interactions

July 17, 2015

There is a model and a method to create a systemic view of any organization. We can use the scientific method and engagement with the people who know it best, the subject matter experts who work in the system. This concept has a foundation in both knowledge and experience to define and manage systems and their performance. This moves management of organizations from complexity to clarity around a system with an aim and common purpose, with shared values and action in concert with the aim and purpose of the system.

The foundational references and sources to understand the elements of this system model are integrated with process and methods to uncover what we really know about our systems. Two fundamental references are the work of Russell Ackoff in systems thinking along with the work of W. Edwards Deming in his definition of the Deming System of Profound Knowledge ® or SoPK. Deming's diagram "Production Viewed as a System" forms this model and comes from both "The New Economics" and "Out of the Crisis". Also the work of Associates in Process Improvement (API) and their "Quality As A Business Strategy" has advanced the work of Ackoff and Deming in defining and managing systems through the linkage of processes within systems.

Annual Deming Conference

March 23, 2015

Annual International Deming Research Seminar

March 23, 2015

Annual Deming Conference - BOLD Panel

September 16, 2016

Panel Presentation by Representatives of the State of Michigan Long Term Supports and Services (LTSS), Aging and Adult Services Agency of State of Michigan, Dennis Sergent - Host

Process, Outcome and System Measures for Long Term Supports and Services

September 1, 2018

The aim of this white paper is to describe and promote the use of a system of integrated metrics to measure the improvement of the Long Term Care, Support & Services (LTSS) system in federal, state and local government organizations.

The purpose of such a system is to measure the overall quality, safety, effectiveness, timeliness and value of long-term supports and services to include the delivery and improvement of the care provided to citizens in government health and human care systems (GHHS) and to align improvement work across multiple processes, agencies and providers. This includes aging and disability populations who may need services and supports as citizens in the communities they reside in, as well as in long term care or congregate care facilities.

A balanced set of LTSS process, outcome and system measures, is needed to provide GHHS leaders and other stakeholders with data that help them evaluate the overall performance of the core dimensions of quality, effectiveness and value, as well as equity. These measures serve as inputs to continual quality improvement planning as an LTSS and GHHS strategy.

Guide to Improvement

Abandon Performance Appraisals

We Can't Improve What Should Be Abandoned!

There is no substitute for knowledge, especially about the mythology that performance appraisals, rating, and ranking schemes cause.

• Senior executives, board members, managers, staff, customers, and suppliers need knowledge to manage the organization and the evidence is clear - we should stop doing performance appraisals.

We can learn how the knowledge and science embodied in the work of Dr. W Edwards Deming and a number of other scientists proves the destruction caused by this practice. Working together is fundamental to solving and preventing problems; this practice creates unhealthy competition inside the organization and alienates the people we need most. It creates fear and a scarcity of talent by creating a hostile work environment.

The Destruction Cannot Be Measured

Decades of Learning Through CQI

RESPECT FOR PEOPLE

CQI is not the typical acronym for Continual Quality Improvement, most people around the world use the word “continuous” habitually instead and other institutions use the acronym for other reasons. We use language common to the culture of each individual learner and don’t use sports clichés and catch phrases.

AN INTEGRATED PHILOSOPHY, PRINCIPLES, and METHODS

We have a challenge to help participants deal with the cognitive dissonance when they discover W. Edwards Deming’s philosophy and management methods. Through hourly exercises with a partner on each topic and frequent opportunities to “teach back” and practice the concepts of the science of improvement, We have integrated many other proofs to illustrate more productive ways to lead and manage industry, education, and government, and non-profit enterprises. We teach what is proven useful in every economic sector. The Continual Quality Improvement (CQI) Academy offered by the Sergent Results Group Inc. continues a focus on the science of improvement through Deming’s philosophy, principles, and methods. We emphasize learning selection with meaning to each member of the cohort. This leads naturally to useful improvements in their individual thinking, and action with increased knowledge about systems, variation, and the psychology of people in systems.

BRING IN A PROBLEM TO SOLVE, OR A PROCESS TO IMPROVE

This learning experience is practical, and engages participants in using the philosophy, principles, and methods on their very real work problems. We do not use sports clichés. We use the language of improvement science.

DIALOGUE AND LEARNING - Physical or Virtual (Online)

We structure all the topical learning around a study guide, study partners, and exercises every hour, before we have dialogue as a cohort. We supplement the dialogue and study with slides and videos, and each learning session is facilitated and supervised by a Deming scholar. We integrate the PDSA – Plan – Do – Study – Act cycle into the learning from the first session, and we ask participants to brief their colleagues in each cohort on what they have learned or improved from week to week. They also create control or process behavior charts. This helps ensure that the learning continues when they leave the cohort to practice what they have learned from science.

Creating Future Value and Service In Public Administration

INTRODUCTION

What Is the Aim and Purpose of This Paper?

This paper aims to provide practical guidance on applying the System of Profound Knowledge and Deming Management Methods and related concepts to public administrations and their executives. By Learning about this science of improvement, executives can better administer, manage, and lead their organizations. There is no substitute for this knowledge about the services they manage for the taxpayers they serve.

This paper provides examples of what works based on evidence from multiple public administrations. We will begin with executive engagement to help them understand the system and the complexities they must manage through teams of engaged people.

From there, we will describe the processes that create an operational value stream map created by the people closest to the customer or beneficiary. From this set of artifacts and information, we create a baseline of first priorities to address and teach people methods to improve the priorities. We will next describe the methods of forming high-performance design teams, whose job is to design future processes by innovation and continual improvement with scientific methods.

If you experience challenges in managing and leading your organization into a better future, the information in this paper will guide your thinking and actions.

We hope to deepen the knowledge and understanding of how to leverage the tremendous power of the people working in public administration and service.

Our intent is to provide a modern perspective of learning about public administration successes and how some very complex processes came together to deliver economic and human value in quality and effectiveness. Later in this paper are several examples of practical, effective methods by teams that made results significantly better in public administrations with the science of improvement and executive engagement. These are followed with some common and a few egregious examples of the status quo mindset and a lack of knowledgeable action by executives, managers and staff.

The Dirty Two Dozen

Customer Frustrations Caused by Ineffective Executive Management

Summary

Often, the question is asked for evidence of poor executive effectiveness. Similarly, executives ask, ‘What must I do differently?’ It is the responsibility of executive management to look ahead using the best statistical methods and knowledgeable assistance possible:

• To forecast demand levels for processes five, ten, and more years into the future.

• To identify which innovations, redesigns, and new process designs are desirable now and later.

• To determine which processes require greater effectiveness, considering the philosophy, principles, methods, knowledge, funding, and new services needed.

• To learn and apply practical scientific methods in managing departments, bureaus, divisions, agencies, and sections, working with staff and outside providers to continually enhance service quality.

• To engage with and motivate staff trained in the science of improvement to enhance quality and shorten the time needed to serve customer needs.

Executive management must view the organization as a system of common causes for process variation and effectiveness. Customers experience poor service or low product value when processes fail to meet their needs when and where they expect, at a fair price. Evidence of poor effectiveness is present in each of the twenty-four causes shown below. Unfortunately, there are more; these examples reflect common executive thinking and behaviors that influence what their system delivers.