Decision Loom

Vincent Barabba

Description

An elegantly simple approach to making better decisions in organizations

Sujets

• Gestion et management
• Strategic management

Informations

• Publié par: Triarchy Press
• Date de parution: 15 novembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781908009517
• Langue: English

Extrait

Published by: Triarchy Press Station Offices Axminster Devon. EX13 5PF United Kingdom
[phone] [e-mail] www.triarchypress.com
© Vincent Barabba, 2011.
The right of Vincent Barabba to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover design and image by Heather Fallows ~
E-pub ISBN: 978-1-908009-51-7
This book is dedicated to the memory of Russell Ackoff and Peter Drucker.
Although I never had the opportunity to attend any of their formal classes, I was, in so many ways, the beneficiary of their friendship, interest, and advice during the Journey that is described in this book. Without their counsel, there would have been far fewer successes and I would have learned less from my mistakes.
Acknowledgements
It would be nearly impossible to acknowledge everyone who has in some way contributed to what I have learned over the last 50 years. Although I have not mentioned by name everyone who participated in the stories, I hope those who did participate will recall with pride what we were able to accomplish.
I want to thank my wife Sheryl and our children Heather Buff and Jason Barabba for their understanding and patience during the years in which these stories were being developed.
I also want to acknowledge the efforts of Andrew Carey of Triarchy Press – a true partner in the writing of this book. Although I take credit for the accomplishments identified in this book, his effort to clarify how the story was told was beyond measure.
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Part 1: The Journey
Episode 1: Planting the Seed
Episode 2: Political Campaigns: The value of knowledge is in its use
Episode 3: An Introduction to Public Life
Episode 4: Finally… A Marketing Job in the Private Sector
Episode 5: The Conduct of the 1980 Census:
Episode 6: Back to the Private Sector with Eastman Kodak
Episode 7: Getting Started at General Motors
Episode 8: Learning How to Learn…
Episode 9: Because the Future is Uncertain…
GM Epilogue: An Opportunity Missed
Part 2. The Design of an Interactive Decision Loom
Background: Why a ‘Sketch’?
The Decision Loom…an interactive decision-making process
Capability 1: Having an Enterprise Mindset that is Open to Change
Capability 2: Thinking and Acting Holistically
Capability 3: Being Able to Adapt the Business Design to Changing Conditions
Capability 4: Making Decisions Interactively Using a Variety of Methods
Conclusion
Appendix A
Appendix B
Bibliography
About the Author
About the Publisher
Related Titles and Authors from Triarchy Press
Index
Foreword
During his fifty year career, Vince Barabba not only worked in a wide range of enterprises, he also documented what he learned from both his successes and his failures. In fact, a great deal of this book is about his reflections on the unique experience he has gained from his journey working in both government and private enterprises.
I met Vince when I was asked by the late Russell Ackoff to assist him with the work he was doing for GM in the mid-1990s. At that time, Vince was the general manager of Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Development. Ackoff’s relationship with Vince was an old and special one. Ackoff was on the American Statistical Association Advisory Committee to the Census Bureau when Vince was nominated to become the director. Based on what he knew about him at the time, Ackoff did not support his appointment, which was an act that he always regretted: he referred fondly to Vince as his greatest mistake.
During his career, like many executives in Fortune 25 companies, Vince had the opportunity to work with number of prominent management consultants – among them, Peter Drucker, Russ Ackoff, Adrian Slywotsky, C.K. Prahalad and Ian Mitroff. Not only did he benefit from his interactions with these individuals, he has also provided them and many others the opportunity to try out their new theories in the real world of decision-making in government and business.
This book is evidence of Vince’s “integrative mind.” His remarkable ability to synthesize seemingly conflicting ideas into a feasible, workable framework is noteworthy. In keeping with his “systems thinking” mindset, he has here created a generalized design approach that takes into account various ideas and constructs in a workable structure that allows others to develop their own specific applications.
Reflecting on his broad experiences, he recognizes that in today’s complex and unpredictable world the only sustainable competitive advantage is the speed with which organizations can learn and adapt. He recognizes that “learning” is not a natural act for organizations and, therefore, organizations need to incorporate systems that provide them with the ability to learn and adapt rapidly. Influenced by Ackoff’s teachings and the wisdom of West Churchman and other luminaries including Peter Drucker, he develops an innovative approach for designing a Decision Loom, a function that would provide decision makers with the right information at the right time and at a cost they would see as offering good value, taking into account the decision context. In particular, he approaches the hierarchy of the content of learning - data, information, knowledge, understanding and wisdom – not as ladder for organizations to climb, but as a system of interacting parts. His approach to knowledge management is premised on the work of West Churchman who said that “the value of knowledge is in its use, not in its collection.” The critical point is the role that a Decision Loom can play in the business model that Vince calls “anticipate-and-lead”.
The other important contribution is the recognition that learning from past decisions is only the start of the learning process: the true value is achieved when possible future mistakes are avoided. With that belief in mind, the framework developed in this book not only allows decision-makers to learn from their past mistakes, but also to learn what could go wrong and cause a future decision to fail (pre-mortem).
In this book, systems thinking is offered as the mindset to get decisionmakers to see enterprises differently and to help them address “messy” problems at the speed demanded today. Additionally, his approach to design is presented as a methodology to assist with overcoming current challenges. In this respect, many real-world examples and experiences are shared as a means to demonstrate practical aspects of the theoretical underpinnings of the approaches discussed in the book. Additionally, many established approaches to problem-solving and decision-making are elaborated upon as examples of alternative approaches, and innovative ways of using them are presented, all within the context of dramatically improving executive decision-making and enterprise performance.
John Pourdehnad
Associate Director Ackoff Collaboratory for Advancement of the Systems Approach (ACASA) University of Pennsylvania
Introduction
In 1941 Edna St. Vincent Millay lamented that, although there were many ills facing society at that time, there was no way to use our collective knowledge and wisdom to address them.
Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour Falls from the sky a meteoric shower Of facts… they lie unquestioned, uncombined. Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill Is daily spun; but there exists no loom To weave it into fabric…
‘Huntsman, What Quarry?’ – Edna St. Vincent Millay
Today, society is still faced with many ills, lots of data, and is, in the judgment of many, even more in need of a Decision Loom to weave what is known into meaningful fabric – as she so eloquently called for seventy years ago.
Designing an experienced-based Decision Loom
Upon reflection, the early part of my career was spent contributing to the “meteoric shower of facts.” Eventually, I came to learn that in many ways the facts that were collected sometimes lay “unquestioned, uncombined.” Later, others taught me to understand the importance of focusing on the use of information: “Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill is daily spun.” Finally, I saw the need to develop approaches that encouraged an interactive dialogue between providers and users of information (particularly the creative and imaginative users) through the construction and use of a decision “loom to weave it into fabric.”
As described in Part 1 : The Journey, in my career I have had both the satisfaction of contributing insights that led to important new products and services; and regret at having equally valid insights acknowledged but not implemented – to the detriment of the enterprise and its stakeholders. While reflecting on this journey and its lessons, my thinking about the need for a Decision Loom has evolved – based on what worked and what did not. Drawing on those experiences, in Part 2 of this book, I propose that the leadership of an enterprise, whether private or public, should design and implement the equivalent of a Decision Loom that encourages a more interactive decision process. It should be a design that augments the existing intellectual power of decision-makers as they seek to make the right decisions in the complex and often uncertain conditions we face today.
When designing a Decision Loom for a complex and uncertain future, think first… then analyze
One of the most rewarding experiences of my career was the opportunity to work with and learn from Peter Drucker and Russell Ackoff. Since my interaction with them was on separate projects I was not aware of the extent to which they knew each other -- th