[From Dag Forssell (940227 1210)]
Response from industrial leaders to the letters we have mailed to date
has been pitiful. Obviously, we are not addressing their concerns. So
we reorganize our message and try again. Here is our latest letter.
What think all ye CSGnetters who are vitally interested in applications
of PCT? This is a one page letter on legal size paper, with the
beginning of the article posted yesterday on the back side.
···
--------------------------------
Richard Marken February 27, 1994
Control Systems Group
10459 Holman Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Dear Mr. Marken:
Dwight D. Eisenhower said:
_Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do
something you want done because he wants to do it._
Today, there exists an explanation of human behavior which greatly
improves any leader's effectiveness. It has much to say about the
complex issues of motivation, conflict, cooperation and organization.
Developed in the last 40 years, it agrees with intuition as well as
practical experience.
For 350 years, psychology and management science has been based on the
seemingly obvious observation that people respond to stimuli. This reflex
or cause-effect idea is the basis for today's behavioral research methods
and many practices, including use of rewards and punishments. Now, there
is a fundamentally different concept available. It is called _Perceptual
Control Theory (PCT)_.
According to PCT, the phenomenon most basic to our existence is this:
_We act in order to affect what we experience_. We learn to affect
experience to make it come closer to what we want it to be and keep it
that way. We _control_ our _perception_ of what happens to us. Consider
why and how you staple papers, answer the phone cheerfully, and give
instructions. What you are doing is controlling your own perception of
papers staying together, your image as you imagine it in the callers
mind, and obtaining results through others. The PCT explanation of
behavior shows what is required for cooperation, how conflicts arise and
what needs to be done to eliminate them.
*Advantages:*
PCT simplifies management training by an order of magnitude. PCT
provides a consistent, fully integrated and testable explanation of how
thought gets turned into action that can serve as a solid foundation
for uniform, effective management practices. PCT is universally
applicable, more complete, yet simpler than today's behavioral
theories.
*Obstacles:*
Studying PCT requires that you think for yourself and are willing to
reconsider what you "know." All of us resist anything that disturbs
the descriptions and explanations we have learned and decided to
believe in. Also, it takes time to re-examine experience and adopt a
new understanding of it.
The Purposeful Leadership programs explain and apply the basics of PCT
in one day. One of our introductory articles is featured on the back.
Just call or return a copy of this letter with your request for a free
booklet with articles, a literature list and program descriptions.
We would like an opportunity to demonstrate the principles of perceptual
control and a consistent, mutually satisfying approach to dealing with
people that will yield more productive results.
Signed Dag Forssell
------------------------------------
Chuck Tucker,
You told me the other day that the MINDREAD program caused your computer
to freeze. Perhaps it did not, but took much longer than you expected.
Would you please try again and let us know. Rick has programmed the
computer to check that the five disturbances have less than .1
correlation. That requires extra time. On his 486 computer, without a
math-coprocessor, he finds that it takes about 20 minutes. Please let
us know what kind of computer you have and how long it takes. Rick MAY
reconsider and loosen the correlation requirement a bit, depending on
your answer. Either way, I will send you Bill's version as well, which
is *much* faster with a .3 correlation requirement, but a corresponding
higher propensity to misread your mind. The numbers in Bill's version
wander off the screen. Rick's version keeps them closer to the center.
Based in part on your reply, I will add a comment on this to the
MINDREAD.RD file. I will hold the March version, awaiting your reply.
Best, Dag