Not long ago I had lunch with an old friend and as the conversation progressed the subject turned to systems thinking.  I explained to him what systems thinking was all about.  His reaction took me a little off guard and he said this is one of those “religious experiences.”  I equate this to drinking the Kool-Aid at Jonestown.  Blindly following an emotional leader until death.  The glazed over look one would have seen in Nazi Germany comes to mind. 

My message has been discounted before by people.  Would it be fair to say that they still believe the world is flat or that the earth is the center of the universe?  If I were to counter this thought like Columbus or Copernicus would I be flogged or jailed for heresy?  Even though the truth is on my side.  Or would it be fair to call them closed minded to new thinking?

I read about W. Edwards Deming in the early 80s and would attend (or watch) multiple 4-day seminars.  His message was different.  In general, the way I was managing at the time was 360 degrees from what Dr. Deming was saying, I was curious to learn more.  I have spent most of my life trying to understand these concepts and learning from others that had matured his message.  Student . . . yes, passionate . . . yes, which I believe passion sometimes makes people believe it is a “religious experience.”  Dr. Deming brought a way of thinking that was intellectual and challenged the status quo.  Command and control thinkers in management positions could only accept the changes Dr. Deming proposed that required others to change and not them.  Their paradigm left unchallenged and worse spending time doing the wrong thing righter (or wronger) in their organizational change management programs. 

I could only tell my friend that he first must be curious . . . and more importantly intellectually curious.  Scientific management theory is assuming the world is flat and our over-prescribed use of technology is assuming the earth is the center of the universe.  I can’t make you curious and those that aren’t curious may call me a religious heretic, but I will know if you seek a better way one exists . . . an intellectual one.