The Deming Way
Viewing management problem solving and social policy issues from a systems perspective inevitably brings one to the works and teaching of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. The framework he called 'Profound Knowledge' provides an especially cogent and effective structure from which to view the problem of anthropogenic climate change, and to propose solutions to lead humanity "Out of the Crisis."
The four threads used to weave the fabric of Profound Knowledge each provide a different strength, and each is essential in addressing the crisis of anthropogenic climate change:
- Appreciation for a System
- Knowledge about Variation
- Theory of Knowledge
- Human Psychology
1. Appreciation for a System
The problem of climate change is a systems problem. The world's industrial system is a subset of the economic system which is in turn a subset of and subservient to the overall ecosystem. No system can exist without an aim; if all the component parts are not aligned with and do not support the overall system aim, this inevitably leads to the destruction of the system.
The aim of the Earth's ecosystem is life, the sustainable renewal and reproduction that we call nature and which enables human survival. An economist knows that the aim of the economic system is GDP growth, while an industrialist's aim is to produce and sell more goods and services at lower cost and higher profit. What is not accounted for in these viewpoints is the impact on the ecosystem and its aim of sustainability.
In terms of ecosystems, our industrialized world is fouling its nest, living beyond the carrying capacity of the atmosphere and the community of flora and fauna that have supported human expansion. Homo sapiens have been around for less than 100,000 years, but 3.7 billion years of evolution have taught that any species that fouls its nest, any species that appropriates all resources for itself, is partaking in a very deadly business and putting its own survival at risk.
2. Knowledge about Variation
Anthropogenic climate change, as its name implies, is about variation in the Earth's climate system. Variation in the Earth's climate has been occuring for the last 3.7 billion years, the entire lifetime of our planet. But what is of critical importance is to understand the types of variation and sources of variation.
Given the accumulation of data gathered on the Earth's atmosphere, its composition and variation, as well as data on climate and its variation, it is clear that the Earth's climate system has been subject to a great deal of variation over the preceding one million years, however that variation has been periodic, predictable and sourced from within the Earth's natural cycles. In the last 100 to 200 years, the Earth has seen levels of CO2 concentration in its atmosphere that are significantly outside the historical levels that existed for the last one million years. The cause of this variation is outside the system of natural cycles, and is directly attributable to human activity, primarily the burning of fossilized materials that release vast amounts of captured carbon that had been stored in the Earth's crust for tens of millions of years.
This atmospheric variation is already well outside historical limits and, the world's scientists are warning, may well lead to unpredictable, irreversible and dangerous changes in the Earth's climate system. In short, mankind inherited a climate system with systemic, bounded variation, and without knowing it, reconfigured it producing unpredictable variation with unknowable consequences.
3. Theory of Knowledge
New knowledge does not come from experience, nor does it come from information; it comes from theory. Experience and information are only useful if they get us to think, and if in thinking we theorize, then in exploring the boundaries of applicability of our theory, we gain new knowledge. So the best chance for new knowledge is in an environment that enables people to follow their own innate curiousity and develop and explore new theories.
Many think of climate change as an agenda put forth by politicians to raise taxes or win elections, or a theory propogated by end-timers and doomsayers. In fact, the story of anthropogenic climate change is nearly 200 years old, and has been fueled by the work of scientific giants who were responsible only to their own innate curiousity. Our understanding of this issue is built not by politicians or Armageddon-ists, but on the shoulders of giants, who like W. Edwards Deming, understood from where new knowldege came.
4. Human Psychology
Climate change is a problem that is going to require (paraphrasing W. Ewards Deming) "putting everybody to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job." Deming knew the essential importance of having the whole organization working in support of the aim, and he believed that one key to this was preserving people's intrinsic motivation fed by joy in work, joy in learning, joy in being called to something that is greater than themselves.
No undertaking will require more cohesion of effort (and thus greater need for insuring everybody takes ownership and sees it as their job) than the one to transform a carbon-based economy to a clean, sustainable one.
Biomimicry
Industry and business need a new framework to address climate change. With its appreciation for a system and respect for sources of new knowledge, Profound Knowledge points the way forward to a transformation of industrialization. Profound Knowledge naturally leads to a process of aligning the industrial system with the aims of the ecosystem. This means looking to nature and emulating it. A new field of science is emerging along these lines called biomimicry.
As discussed by Janine Benyus in her book Biomimicry, Innovation Inspired by Nature, pioneers of biomimicry are shaping the future by analyzing nature to understand its secrets and applying them to human industry. Some are studying how information is conveyed between proteins to inform new approaches to information technology, while others are learning about the nature of super-strong and super-resilient materials from insects. Some study photosynthesis to advance solar panel technology, while still others are discovering new medications by observing animal habits and diet. Biomimicry taps into the vast information that is embedded in our planet's biosphere, and, through theory, creates new knowledge for business, so that industrialization may operate as a genuine subsystem of the ecosystem, serving the aim of the ecosystem.
To our peril, current industrialization does not look to nature for any guidance or answers. As discussed in Paul Hawken's book The Ecology of Commerce, our industrialized society has been built on a resource-hungry path of least resistance. By some estimates, in a single year the industrialized world consumes one million years of liquid fossilized materials (oil).
Yet nature does not burn stored energy. The planet's ecosystem does not look for energy sources outside of the renewable daily allotment from the sun. Nature runs off solar income.
Our industrialized system is based on a linear system, and a linear way of thinking; it is a system characterized by "take, make and waste." Material is removed from the Earth's lithosphere, some of which is transformed into a product of inorganic and non-biodegradable matter of limited usable lifespan, while the remainder is wasted and dumped back into rivers, landfills or the atmosphere where it can not be reabsorbed for—in some cases—tens of thousands of years.
In our industrialized system products have a beginning and an end; it is a "cradle-to-grave" model of industrialization. Yet this is imbedded in an ecosystem that is a "cradle-to-cradle" system, where waste equals food and output from one process is input to another. Everything left by one species or natural process is used by another and converted into something that is then used again by another. Species that dominate, that take everything for themselves and that foul their own nest—these species eventually die off, and do not make it to the next round of evolution. This is what four billion years of evolution has taught.
Stages of Ecosystems
In Paul Hawken's book The Ecology of Commerce, he explains how ecosystems are characterized by three significant stages: pioneering systems, intermediate systems, and mature systems. Pioneering systems are characterized by aggressive, competitive, resource hungry behaviors pursuing untrammeled growth that are by their nature unsustainable. Only if a pioneering system evolves into an intermediate stage typified by increasingly complex organisms can it survive. Eventually if it makes it to becoming a mature system, it will use highly efficient processes that are resource-conserving, robust, self-sustaining and highly complex.
If the industrialization of tomorrow had the characteristics of a mature ecosystem, it would look like yesterday to some extent. The old Arthur Andersen was like a mature ecosystem, a highly complex organization with critical interdependencies that were understood and carefully managed. The old Arthur Anderson was efficient, robust, sustainable and complex, but it was not driven by growth. Eventually this changed, as interdependencies and complexities were sacrificed, and Arthur Andersen became more like a primary ecosystem devoted to growth at any cost, which made it vulnerable and ultimately unsustainable.
As industrialization mimics mature ecosystems, the result will be nothing short of revolutionary. As Ray Anderson discusses in his book Mid-Course Correction, the change to a sustainable economy will be characterized by renewable clean energy, closed-loop recycling, minimal waste, harmless emissions, efficient transport, sensitized people, in short: a completely revolutionary way of commerce. This revolution was pointed to by W. Edwards Deming and Profound Knowledge. Thankfully, examples of this type of industrialization are already in practice today.