Abstract: In 2005, Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, offered an assessment on the overall savings from Six Sigma Quality projects across GE: “If I added up all the financial savings of the projects at GE it would have added up to the gross national product of the USA.” In other words, the savings from the hundreds, if not thousands, of application projects across GE, when added together, were colossal, and Jack Welch knew it. Yes, they could be added, but the sum appeared to be noticeably inflated. What’s one to think when addition does not work? The classic issue is whether or not the items being combined are interdependent or independent; that is, separate. Opportunities for discovering a lack of additivity apply to both the economics of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. When activities are interdependent, such as combining the two components of aerodynamic drag, pressure drag and friction drag, aerodynamicists know what to think when addition does not work. Through his seminars, lectures, videos, and books, Dr. Deming shared a vision of systems well-managed, reminded us that “a system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system……The greater the interdependence between components, the greater will be the need for communication and cooperation between them.”

Biography: Bill Bellows is an Associate Fellow in the InThinking Network at Aerojet Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, California, where he is known for his efforts to provide insights to the advantages of thinking together, learning together, and working together. Audiences for his classes have also reached after-school program in elementary schools, graduate students at Northwestern University, as well as corporate, university, and public classes across the United Kingdom. Bill earned his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Away from work, Bill serves as president of the In2:InThinking Network, and as a board member of the W. Edwards Deming Institute, and the Volunteers of America – Los Angeles chapter. He also serves on the editorial board of the Lean Management Journal. He lives in Valencia with wife, Monica, and their two college-aged children, Allison and Wilson.

Contact: Bill can be reached by e-mail at william.bellows@rocket.com for additional information about this Pre-Conference session.

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/bill-bellows/0/435/218/