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.

We connect with other people, through their brains and their intellect that shape their actions. We connect people with each other and a common aim and purpose in the organizations we belong to. We make it possible to see these connections and interactions between our work and that of others with purpose and value to the system that we are all part of. Collaboration and helping others in a team is a high purpose of all human endeavors and it brings dignity and joy to all who contribute to a common aim and purpose. We engage with each other as the human beings we are, and recognize the hope we can become better each day in some way, with common aim and purpose that is bound in a shared future.

Our most profound safety as human beings comes from engaging with others in designing and implementing a better future than any present difficulty we face. As both Peter Drucker and Abraham Lincoln said, "The best way to predict your future is to create it!” and our obvious choice is to work together with others in the pursuit of improvement to our present circumstances as we can best define them. When we collaborate with others, we make our social system better and stronger than the competing system - which may be as destructive from inside complacency as from outside competition.

This model and method corrects what is fundamentally wrong with managing “parts” of systems, the chaotic way that most organizations are managed. This way of thinking provides a way to break out of the management of parts and more to management of the interactions in the system. To be successful, all organizations must provide services and products whose value to customers is greater than the cost to produce and deliver the service or product.

This method also includes the use of a common software application as a tool to connect these important ideas in a comprehensive view of the complicated systems we are responsible for. This tool connects the flow and relationships between value adding activities in the system and processes or value streams that impact the aim and purpose of the system. A template of this tool and rudimentary instructions can be obtained from the author for adaptation to any system and organization.