Quality Leadership Weblog :-)

POST: Roy’s prediction on Islam in France going the route of unreformed Catholicism, Thomas P.M. Barnett on October 22, 2008

POST: I have waited years for this analysis on management consulting! Posted by Thomas P.M. Barnett on October 21, 2008

Started to reply to Tom’s postings but got long-winded so posted here …  The first post provides insight on religion, catholic schools and a position on the abortion issue.  I share a common background on being raised catholic and sending my kids to catholic schools. I’m also opposed to abortion and against any major changes to the existing laws.

The second posting  references the concept of the next Big Idea and positions Enterra and Resilience as the front-runner.

My pet theory on management consulting is that successful initiatives/programs re-package what every company has already done under a different name – the latest being lean and six sigma. What successful organization has never reduced waste, improved cycle time and maintained/improved stakeholder satisfaction?  From what I’ve read, seems Development-in-a-Box is an innovation that can accelerate cycle time for improving quality by providing systems and processes tailored to a specific situation.

My entry for the Next Big Idea is an improved problem resolution/decision making rule-set that offers an alternative to the zero-sum game.  Application of the process as it applies to the abortion issue.  Key points on the system/process: People can agree on facts, ideals and can find common causes that they can choose to work together to resolve. People will likely always disagree on desired outcomes, e.g., the legality of abortion. The U.S. system of government as is our legal system, is founded upon these principles.

The implication when it comes to the abortion issue is that those who are against abortion and who do not take action that results in improvement are contributing to the problem they say they want to resolve. In other words, improvement becomes a moral imperative.

Regarding the current presidential election, the zero-sum paradigm is maintained by political parties who generally have the most to gain by maintaining the current system.  An alterative (system/horizontal thinking point of view) for breaking this cycle provided in the article: A Transformation to Quality Government.   Another Big Idea is to use the concept of Prediction Markets to raise awareness and allow people to predict/anticipate which indicators will get better or worse over time.