Deming and Ackoff on Leadership: Add Neuroscience to Systems Thinking & attain your own SoPK.

In a remarkable 1992 conversation between what were arguably two of the greatest minds in management and systems thinking, Dr. William Edwards Deming and Dr. Russell Ackoff, a treasure trove of insights was unearthed that remain profoundly relevant today.

Their discussion, transcribed from a recording that starts at 16:37:23 and finishes at 18:58:40 (c. 2.5 hours), covered a vast array of topics, from the inadequacies of traditional management practices to the need for a fundamental transformation in how we view organisations, particularly commercial, educational and medical.

As we reflect on their words through the lens of modern neuroscience and the Believe-Think-Feel-Act (BTFA?) thinking framework, we find not only validation of their ideas but also a clearer understanding of why these approaches resonate so deeply with our brains as evolved to date.

The full transcript can be viewed on the following link. This is highly recommended reading. It really is an essential challenge to established thinking patterns, for anyone and everyone in any kind of organisation / business.

https://ackoffcenter.blogs.com/files/dr.-ackoff-dr.-deming.pdf

If easier, i've tidied this up and reduced it to 36 pages from 79 ** here ** - do NOT let the page count put you off! As said, this is essential reading and the source of many quotes i've seen all over the internet, in the leadership, change management and leadership space ... for decades!

So, Grab a coffee, carve out half an hour in your busy schedule and make time for the original transcript (or my tidied up version). FYI - in my word doc, nothing has been changed, it's just easier to read in a different font type - all rights remain with the Ackoff center.

It will definitely be worth your time, if you haven't seen it before.

Below are a few thoughts and a couple of quotes from the transcript to help us understand why the Deming Institute describes SoPK (System of Profound Knowledge) as follows ... and why Deming, in his final years realised effective leadership must include an understanding of systems and, that it requires a lot more knowledge about people than he'd seen throughout the rest of his career.

... first articulated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dr. Deming's System of Profound Knowledge provides a highly integrated framework of thought and action for any leader wishing to transform an organization operating under the prevailing system of management into a thriving, systemically focused organization - Extract - The Deming Institute - Web.

For those who don't know it, SoPK has 4-quadrants (represented by the Red, Purple, Blue and Green areas in the above image). Above the waterline we find Variation Control (i.e. Deming's wheelhouse / statistics), & Knowledge of Systems [Thinking] - I assume, inspired by Ackoff among others. These are the [mostly] tangible bits.

Below the surface, we find the subject matter headings that reflect the awareness shown in Deming's 14 points, when he included at point 8. the instruction to 'Drive out Fear' ... These are the intangible foundations that Dr Deming, after 70+ years in industry, realised actually make all the difference to performance (incl. Quality) and culture.

Randy Schenkat, who worked directly with Dr. Deming on SopK in the late 80's / early 90's, spent many hours speaking with me over many months in the early 2010's, after he found my BTFA model and wanted to know more. He explained to me in those conversations that in the last 5-6 years of his life, Dr. Deming strongly promoted the need to understand People as part of the system, and it was this 'Belief' that drove him to include 'Psychology' and what was then called 'Theory of Knowledge' (ToK - named after work conducted by people like Nonaka and Takeuchi), in his SoPK.

Today, 'how we know / come to know something' (ToK) is no longer the subject of speculation as it was in the late 80's and early 90's, nor as a philosophical investigation as we might now consider Nonaka's writing on the subject, but rather, it can be intricately detailed following the latest discoveries in the field of neuroscience.

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) suggested that knowledge is created through an epistemological process of knowledge conversion from one type to another (tacit and explicit) and amplified through different ontological levels (from interaction between individuals, to groups, to the organization as a whole)

Today we can skirt such subjectivity and say learning / knowing, is, at base, neural adaptation, integration and subsequent firing of neurons in patterns at certain frequencies.

I'm sure Dr. Deming would have very-much enjoyed seeing the need to understand people as part of the system, become something that could be explained to all leaders, with verifiable science, to back up his awareness that leaders must do all they can to 'Drive out Fear.' Neurologically speaking, he was right!

Key Themes and Pearls of Wisdom:

1. The Inadequacy of Mechanistic Thinking:

- In this conversation Ackoff and Deming critique the traditional Western approach to management, which is rooted in mechanistic thinking. This approach assumes that by optimising individual parts of a system (such as departments within a company), the whole will naturally improve.

However, as Ackoff eloquently explains

"The performance of the whole is never the sum of the performance of the parts taken separately, but it's the product of their interactions."

- This insight underscores the fundamental flaw in siloed management practices, which by design, language and function remain separated and unable to 'relate' efficiently or effectively.

In the BTFA? model, this idea parallels the understanding that our beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and actions are not isolated components but are deeply interconnected.

Just as improving one aspect of an organisation in isolation can be detrimental, focusing on only one aspect of human behavior or cognition without considering the others, or how the human brain is a critical part of the larger systems it navigates to survive (i.e. the workplace, systems, equipment and leaders), can lead to suboptimal outcomes.

2. Systems Thinking and the Art of Managing Interactions:

- Ackoff's now well known metaphor of assembling a car from the best individual parts of different models (pg.1 in my simplified version), starkly illustrates the futility of optimising component parts of any system without considering their interactions (Relations). This principle is central to systems thinking, which emphasises the importance of managing the interactions between parts rather than the parts themselves.

Extract:

Dr AKOFF: ... (cont). Because it's possible to improve the performance of each part taken separately and destroy the system at the same time. This is true whether we're talking about education or a corporation.

A very simple example would be if you took one each of every make of automobile available in the United States and brought them together and had a group of engineers decide which one had the best engine — perhaps the Rolls Royce — which had the best transmission, which the best alternator. And for each part required for an automobile found the best one available, if you then instructed the engineers to take those parts off the automobiles and assemble the best possible automobile out of all the best parts, you would not get an automobile.

DR. DEMING: No, it would not run.

DR. AKOFF: No. The parts wouldn't fit, and that's the critical part about a system.

- As you can see, performance of any system is always about the parts and how they relate, interact. From a neurological perspective, this resonates with how our brains process information. Not only is the brain a highly interconnected system where different regions work together to produce thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, but that process is constantly active, surviving the environment it finds itself in. It's the brain that determines how we relate to ourselves, each other, systems, judgement / control mechanisms (KPIs / Policy) and equipment (computers and machines).

The BTFA? model similarly emphasises that for effective personal or organisational transformation, one must consider the entire system, how beliefs influence thoughts, which in turn shape feelings and actions that act as both input to and outcomes of, the environment. This (Brain function) is 'Root Cause' of all relationships with everyone and everything... thus becoming crucial to the performance of all systems within all systems - from a single neuron to the entire eco-system of the planet.

Where a neuron can be party to a belief that fossil fuels and virgin polymers are better than electricity and re-grind. This example helps us demonstrate the applicability of BTFA - Believe-Think-Feel-Act. I.e. How our neurons are conditioned by life to fire, determines how we react and act. If we want change, we have to know what the brain needs to affect change in itself (Via Neurogenesis). In the absence of such knowledge, as I believe Dr. Deming became aware of toward the end, many mistakes are made in the name of management bet practice.

3. The Shift from Supervision to Leadership:

- Ackoff notes the historical shift from a time when most workers were less skilled than their bosses, to the present, where many employees are more knowledgeable than their managers. This shift necessitates a move from traditional supervision to leadership, where the role of a manager is to create an environment that fosters collaboration and innovation, rather than merely overseeing tasks.

- This shift aligns with modern neuroscience, in so much as we can now show that autonomy and a sense of purpose are critical for motivation and engagement. This are subjective words, that speak to the predictive mechanisms of the brain, which are common to all as part of our survival instinct and it's neurological chemical mix at any moment in time. i.e. The brain must have healthy levels of dopamine, which are 'upset' by stress and many aspects of modern life (incl. Technology - e.g. Screen time for kids).

The BTFA? model supports many of the key points advocated by Drs Ackoff and Deming by helping leaders understand the impact of their belief (or lack thereof) in their team's potential, so they are able to think strategically about how to harness their teams innate talent, while increasing their empathy (without fear of exposing self) and their levels of understanding, so they act in ways that empower others.

As the conversation between the doctors highlights, this is a very different outcome objective than was required in last centuries manufacturing environments, where being the best at tasks secured promotion, irrespective of leadership abilities.

4. Education and Creativity:

- Both Deming and Ackoff are critical of the traditional education system, which they argue stifles creativity and focuses too much on rote learning. Through fantastic analogy and metaphor, Ackoff points out that most of what we use professionally is learned on the job, not in school, and that teaching is often a poor way of learning. He advocates for a system where students are encouraged to teach, as this fosters deeper understanding and creativity.

- This idea is supported by research in neuroscience, which shows that active learning and teaching others are among the most effective ways to reinforce knowledge and stimulate creative thinking. Understanding the triggers for rapid neurogenesis and neurological adaptation, what Dr Ackoff promotes and presents, becomes blatently obvious.

The BTFA? model can be applied here as well, where educators and leaders should believe in the creative potential of their students or teams, think about how to best facilitate active learning, feel the importance of nurturing curiosity, and act by creating opportunities for hands-on, experiential learning. Unfortunately, as teachers exist within a harsh judgement mechanism (e.g. Ofsted), their brains are in survival mode (and as we've heard in recent years, sometimes the fear of the next Ofsted inspection ends with tragic consequences). So, Despite best intentions, teachers are primed by the system they are surviving to react emotionally in their own defence (often emotionally immaturely), which is not in the interests of students brain development.

5. Redesigning Systems from Scratch:

- One of the most powerful ideas presented by Ackoff is the concept of "idealized redesign." He suggests that to think creatively about improving a system, one must assume it was destroyed last night and redesign it from scratch. This approach forces a holistic consideration of the system, focusing on what the system could be rather than being constrained by what it currently is.

- In the context of BTFA?, this idea mirrors the process of transformational change, where one must first let go of limiting beliefs (destroying the old system) to imagine and build a new, more effective way of operating (To include consideration of the biological system of the human brain, as it survives the other systems it finds itself immersed in).

Neurologically, this approach aligns with the brain’s plasticity, the ability to rewire and adapt when presented with new challenges and opportunities. The trouble we face in the market today, is that neural adaptation isn't something currently considered when designing systems, be they operational, tactical or strategic. This makes the introduction of a working knowledge and language, about brain function, perhaps the most pressing need for governments and organisations to fund today.

The Neuroscience Connection:

Thirty years after this conversation, our understanding of the human brain has deepened, particularly regarding how systemic thinking aligns with our neurological makeup. The BTFA? model, rooted in contemporary neuroscience, offers a framework that naturally extends the principles discussed by Deming and Ackoff. The model emphasises that for true transformation, whether in individuals or organisations, one must address the entire system.

This holistic approach is not just a management philosophy but a reflection of how our brains operate, integrating beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and actions into a coherent whole.

Conclusion:

The conversation between Deming and Ackoff provides timeless wisdom that continues to challenge and inspire. By integrating their insights with modern neuroscience and the BTFA? model, we can see more clearly why systems thinking is not just a better way to manage organisations, but a more accurate reflection of how we, as humans, function.

As leaders, educators, and thinkers, the challenge is to embrace this holistic approach, fostering environments where creativity, collaboration, and systemic understanding can thrive. Only then can we truly unlock the potential of our organizations and ourselves, moving beyond mere efficiency to achieve meaningful, sustainable effectiveness.