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  • 1.  How do you use a systems approach to your everyday work?

    Posted 02-03-2020 02:43 PM
    Plot Points is a podcast by ASCE that tells the robust story of civil engineering one episode at a time. The podcast is in Season 3 and is looking for answers for their Member Memo questions. An upcoming question is the following: How do you use a systems approach to your everyday work?

    For those for may not be as familiar with the term, a "systems approach" is defined as a line of thought in the management field which stresses the interactive nature and interdependence of external and internal factors in an organization (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/system-approach.html)

    If interested in a chance to be featured on a future episode of the podcast, record your answer as a voice memo on your phone (60 seconds or so) and email it to ascenews (at ) asce.org with "Member Memo" in the subject line! I submitted an answer to one of the featured questions during Season 1 so feel free to respond here or message me with any questions about the process.

    If not interested in recording a voice memo for the podcast, I would love to hear about how you incorporate here! Part of our system where I work is that the entire bridge group meets every Monday morning to forecast hours for the week. We may not always stick exactly to those hours, but it gives a general idea of expectations of the week.

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    Danielle Schroeder EIT, A.M.ASCE
    Associate Engineer
    Pennoni Associates
    Philadelphia PA
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  • 2.  RE: How do you use a systems approach to your everyday work?

    Posted 02-05-2020 02:28 PM

    A systems approach is certainly a very useful concept and method that can be applied to many fields.
    As I see it in broad outline – a system is conceived as a collection of objects and the interactive processes within it. It is selected for the convenience of description and analysis – as an entity defined by its boundaries through which it interacts with the surroundings. The surroundings can be other systems, or generally the outside relevant processes.



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    Dr. Dilip Barua, Ph.D, P.Eng, M. ASCE
    Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Website: https://widecanvas.weebly.com
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  • 3.  RE: How do you use a systems approach to your everyday work?

    Posted 06-12-2020 01:50 PM
    Q. "An upcoming question is the following: How do you use a systems approach to your everyday work?"

    Well, so it turns out that for 24/7/364 we are part of many systems.

    And each of our systems deliver exactly what they designed to do.

    i.e., if the results of any one of your systems does not continually deliver what you expect,

          you have 3 choices:

    1. Grumble about it and assign the unwanted results to what others do wrong, or,
    2. Study the work of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a portion of which is  inserted below.
    3. Consider the Juran Trilogy.

     

                                 "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory."

                                                                                        - W. Edwards Deming

    The 14 Points [[1]For points 4 to 14]

    1. Create a constant purpose toward improvement. [2]
      1. Plan for quality in the long term.
      2. Resist reacting with short-term solutions.
      3. Don't just do the same things better – find better things to do.
      4. Predict and prepare for future challenges, and always have the goal of getting better.
    1. Adopt the new philosophy.
      1. Embrace quality throughout the organization.
      2. Put your customers' needs first, rather than react to competitive pressure – and design products and services to meet those needs.
      3. Be prepared for a major change in the way business is done. It's about leading, not simply managing.
      4. Create your quality vision, and implement it.
    1. Stop depending on inspections.
      1. Inspections are costly and unreliable – and they don't improve quality, they merely find a lack of quality.
      2. Build quality into the process from start to finish.
      3. Don't just find what you did wrong – eliminate the "wrongs" altogether.
      4. Use statistical control methods – not physical inspections alone – to prove that the process is working.

    Stay Healthy!

    Cheers,

    Bill

    [1] https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_75.htm

     




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    William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
    Buffalo, N.Y.

    "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
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    Original Message


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