(1)
A Response to Eli’s Letter (Part 2), Denise
Meyer
(2)
POOGI Forum Letter #12, (Part 3), Eli
Goldratt
(2) Kay
Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards
Connections
(3) 5th Annual TOCFE International Conference/First Annual TOCFE
International Student’s Conference, Cheryl A.
Edwards
NETWORKING
(1) A Response to Eli’s Letter (Part 2)
From Denise Meyer, California, USA
I believe
Eli has hit the nail on the head and it certainly applies to education. How many times have I said, under my breath,
"But I do have a silver bullet!" People don't believe anything is powerful enough to make the
changes that TOC promises. I now make
my presentation by stressing the need to solve problems in society by critical
thinking and thus, the need to focus on critical thinking throughout the
curriculum with students, which is how I now am selling TOC tools. But they just have a hard time believing
it's true. That's why we sometimes are
looked upon as passionate fanatics, because we believe we have found a “silver
bullet” that can help pierce the heart of the clouds we're struggling
with. So, will the next portion of
Eli's Forum Letter give us some strategies for dealing with it? I'm waiting with bated breath.
Denise
(2) POOGI Forum
Letter #12, (Part 3)
By
Eli Goldratt
Due to the length of
“POOGI Forum Letter #12,” we divided it into three installments. In last week’s TACTics, we featured part 2,
in which Eli posed a challenging question to us all. Here is an excerpt:
We were trained to accept it (that you can not
achieve something meaningful without hard work for a long time.), except when
technology is involved. When dealing
with technology, we are always looking for a breakthrough, for the thing that
will double performance without a change in efforts. As a matter of fact, it is not just technology; it is all of hard
sciences. I think that one of the first
scientists had verbalized it in the most beautiful way: "If I can find a leverage point and a
long enough lever I can move the earth."
—Archimedes.
Which one of the two philosophies, "a cent plus a cent"
or "a leverage point," is currently dominating the field of
management?
There is no
doubt that currently the prevailing management philosophies are TQM and JIT or
as they are now called LEAN.
Unfortunately the way that these management philosophies are
(inadvertently?) promoted is by using a powerful collection of excellent
techniques to foster the notion of "cent plus cent," of "there
is no silver bullet."
That is
exactly the opposite of what TOC is standing for. What is TOC if not a collection of silver bullets? Of ways to achieve so much, not by major
investments, not by major efforts exerted over a long time, but by stopping to
obey some erroneous assumptions.
Let’s tie it
together. What we are facing when
considering a reader of The Goal is a situation when a person reached
conclusions after following the logic of the book and judging it according to
hes experience and intuition. But these
conclusions are contradicting what everybody around is preaching. How many people have the self-confidence to
ignore everybody else’s opinion and stick to their own?
Not
many. Few percent at the most.
When Y (or a
top manager) is concerned, and Y is not from production, it stands to reason
that Y is less impacted by the message of The Goal; that Y doesn’t
believe in the existence of silver bullets.
No wonder that Y refuses to listen to X. Why are we then so surprised that the X-Y syndrome exists?
When I
discussed it with my daughter (she just finished the Ph.D. in psychology) she
referred me to the work of Solomon E. Asch.
In the fifties, Asch conducted a research on the subject of
"conformity." At last, I had
the name of this "mysterious" force.
Conformity
is a major force as can be seen from the paragraph that Asch is using to
summarize his work:
"That we have found the tendency to conformity in our society
so strong that reasonably intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing
to call white black is a matter of concern.
It raises questions about our ways of education and about the values
that guide our conduct."*
*Footnote: Aronson,
E. The Social Animal, Chapter
2. New-York Freeman & Company
1984. 4th edition.
It might be
interesting to note that Asch’s experiments are now used in psychology also as
an example for "unethical" experiments. The ethical code demands that experiments will not cause any
harm. Asch’s experiments didn’t stand
this criterion since they caused harm to some volunteers when they faced the
extent to which they yielded to "conformity.”
Asch’s work
also contains a ray of hope. He found
that if just one of the crowd is holding the opinion that matches the "subject’s"
opinion then the chains of conformity break and in the vast majority of cases
the subject decides according to his own conclusion.
Let me now
summarize what we concluded so far. Due
to the force of "conformity" the process of a person reaching a
decision is a two step process. The
first one is reaching a conclusion; the second is reaching a decision. What we now know is that, due to conformity,
the decision might be the opposite of the conclusion.
From my
experience, I’ve learned that the most effective way to accomplish the first
step is rigorous logic, especially if applied in the Socratic way. In this way, a person can use his experience
and intuition to rapidly reach a valid conclusion. What I also learned is the extent to which references are
ineffective in that stage. Presenting
references as a means to persuade a person to reach a conclusion usually leads
to the opposite, to the reaction of "we are different, it won’t work
here."
But, what I
now come to understand is that references are a powerful tool in the decision
process. Not in the first step, but in
the second. References are vital in
influencing most people to convert their individual conclusion into a decision,
especially when confronting a wide spread opposite opinion.
With all
that in mind, how can we devise an effective bottom up method?
Allow me to
hold back my tendency to show off, to give my version of the answer, and rather
ask for your suggestions. To enable me
to process your input please try to write your answer according to the
following points (Unless you feel restraint by them, in that case, write your
answer in whatever sequence you feel comfortable):
1.
Is it advisable to start by turning
your area of influence into an X?
2.
If so, how would you go about
initiating a local implementation?
3.
How would you (if at all) approach Y?
4.
How would you (if at all) approach the
rest of the organization?
5.
How would you (if at all) approach
higher management?
Waiting
anxiously for your response,
Eli
Conclusion of “POOGI Forum Letter, #12.” Send your responses directly to TACTics or Kathy (see
Editors’ Notes). We will then forward
the responses to Eli in one e-mail.
(2) Kay
Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards
Wow! What do you think? In part 1 of the POOGI Letter #12 (TACTics, 1/12/01), Eli
defined X and Y. “X is typified
by a strong motivation to improve, and Y is (now) the
constraint.” How do you see the learning in this essay relevant to
education? How can you apply any of
this learning?
Denise made
a powerful connection to the idea of critical thinking, which has become a
vital literacy tool in today’s world.
Thanks, Denise for sharing your thoughts.
What other
connections can be made? If you would
like to share your responses directly with the network through TACTics,
then send them to Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill
Island Rd., Cedarville, MI 49719, USA.
Or, send hyperlink to <redwards@sault.com> or
<bucknek@earthlink.net>.
Remember, if you would
like to keep your responses “off the record” then send them to Kathy at, suerken@nwfl.net.
Eli, again,
thanks for the challenge!
(3) 5th
Annual TOCFE International Conference/First Annual TOCFE International Student’s Conference
From Cheryl A. Edwards
“The best way to predict the future is to create it through
TOC."
TOC
for Education, Inc. presents the 5th Annual TOCFE International Conference and
the First Annual TOCFE International Student’s Conference!
Date: June 25-28, 2001
Location: Detroit, Michigan USA
Hotel: Northfield Hilton
5500 Crooks Road
Troy, Michigan 48098
248. 879. 2100
The
Northfield Hilton is adjacent to Interstate 75 at Crooks Road, Exit 72
Reservations: 1. 800. HILTONS
Ask for TOC for
Education’s special room rates.
Single
or Double Occupancy
Per night $139.00 U.S. + Tax (6% Michigan Sales Tax and 7%
Occupancy Tax). This rate includes
breakfast for two.
Transportation: Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)