[From Fred Nickols (2006.09.29.0817 EDT)] --
I made my presentation on Wednesday of this week and the rubber band demo
went well. I say it "went well" because it went down as I had planned and,
more important, the plant managers "got it." As one of them said in the
follow-on discussion, "It seems intuitively right." "It", of course, is the
variation of the PCT model that I've been using for some time now. So, what
follows is a little bit about the demo and a little bit about what was
called "The 'H'" Model in the presentation.
For the demo, I first used a marker to place several dots a couple of inches
apart roughly in the center of an easel sheet. The "subject" and I had
practiced the demo the night before - mainly to relieve his concerns.
The subject was previously instructed to pick a dot - but not tell me which
dot - and then keep the knot positioned over the selected dot. The "knot"
was actually a small flat washer with two rubber bands attached. I used the
washer to make the "knot" more visible to the participants.
The subject and I then took our ends of the rubber bands in hand and he took
his initial position. When he said "OK," I then began to move my end of the
rubber band - very slowly and deliberately - first horizontally and then in
vertical arcs. Next I moved my end very rapidly in large movements. Then I
ceased movement and he restored the knot over the selected dot. I asked him
if he was "on target" so to speak. At which point I released my end of the
rubber band. We hadn't practiced that. I said, "Now what?" and he said,
"I've lost control."
The post demo discussion focused on what the participants observed, what
they thought the subject was trying to do/accomplish. I also used the
discussion to introduce the "H" model and to make several key points which
you all can no doubt guess:
- we vary our behavior in response to disturbances so as to hold results
constant
- there is, then, an initial achievement aspect as well as a maintenance
aspect
- disturbances can overwhelm our ability to control
- there is a null or zero error state at which no action is required
from the demo I went into an explanation of what I told them was the "H"
model (for Human behavior), derived from the PCT of William Powers. The H
Model is crudely shown below:
G D
>
>
>
d i |
o----->A----->o
>
>
>
>
P------------>C
Next time around I'll probably call it the Goalpost Model. 
I ran through the H Model in the following sequence:
- people (including managers) try to control certain conditions (C)
- they hold goals (G) in relation to C
- if their perceptions (P) indicate a discrepancy (d) between C and G, they
take action (A)
- their actions are not willy-nilly; they're purposeful, which is to say
their actions constitute an intervention (i)
- the state of C at any given point in time is the integral of their
Actions or interventions and any disturbances (D) introduced by other actors
or factors
I leaned heavily on the notion that people, including themselves, are
"living control systems" and we spent a little time discussing the
importance of "goal alignment" - that is, of making sure employees and
managers are on the same page regarding the results to be achieved.
In any event, I got in plugs for PCT, "living control systems" and Bill
Powers' books. And I got paid for doing it. Yea!
Oh...the presentation was titled "The Plant Manager as Interventionist."
Seemed about right to me...
Regards,
Fred Nickols
"Assistance at a Distance"
nickols@att.net
www.nickols.us