Last updated: May 13, 2024
The preamble to the Constitution identifies the aim to empower We the People to work together towards a more perfect Union:
The Brown County Leader Network (BCLM) introduces a method and tools that support a secular and nonsecular approach to improvement.
- Secular (not having anything to do with religion) and non-secular. The non-secular approach includes prayer.
- Overview ff the BCLN concept.
Citizenship – We the People
Preamble to the Constitution:” We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Variation was included in the design of creation. The variation principle recognizes that everyone and everything is unique, one of a kind; that no two people or things will ever be exactly alike. “Variation is the difference between an ideal and an actual situation. An ideal situation represents a standard of perfection – or the highest standard of excellence defined by stakeholders, including direct customers, internal customers, suppliers, society, and shareholders.” ASQ – Law of Variation.
Secular – Man Defined.
In America, We the People define the criteria for what we consider to be “more perfect.” With the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a non-human (technology) can now be used to define the standards of perfection.
Quality Management – American Society for Quality ASQ)
In quality management, the “customer” defines the standard of perfection. The Taguchi Loss Function reinforces that the closer a product gets to the ideal standard or target by reducing variation from the ideal or target, the better the results and the less cost and harm to the customer and society.
In 1988, I had the opportunity to attend a four-day seminar presented by W. Edwards Deming. I was working as a federal auditor at the time when Deming asked: What percent of your performance is determined by the system? I agreed with him that it was over 94%. Deming also reinforced that top management was responsible for quality, which in my case, meant We the People. So, as top management, my job was to work on the system (which I continue to do) and, as an employee, to work in the system to improve it.
- Deming’s work was built on the contributions of Walter A. Shewhart, who pioneered the new methods for managing variation starting in 1924. Shewhart’s work was classified during WWII, then declassified after the war and shared worldwide.
- Deming’s contributions to quality management were recognized by Fortune magazine “as being among the 20 that have shaped the modern world of business” and by U.S. News and World Report “as one of nine turning points in history.” The top turning point was identified as “the Apostle Paul, whose preaching and eloquent writings led to mass acceptance of Christianity.”
- Deming was a devout Christian and supported a secular approach to improvement. He concluded that if he was to “reduce his message to management to just a few words, it all has to do with reducing variation.” Reducing variation from the ideal leads to better results (more needs met) and less harm and cost to the individual and society due to unmet needs. Deming also concluded that action taken in support of continual improvement can lead to a spiritual transformation – metanoia.
Within the secular quality profession, the importance of reducing variation from the ideal is accepted knowledge. The philosophical and spiritual aspects concerning variation that were recognized by Shewhart and Deming are avoided. My experience with pastors in the Christian community is that they perceive quality management as just a “business thing.”
Nonsecular – God Defined. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14, KJV). “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:31, ESV)
“…. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed ” — Declaration of Independence
Judeo-Christian principles influenced the design of our system of government. In a biblical context, “perfect” is described as all needs met – the Garden of Eden, for example. Jesus is the standard of perfection. The belief and acceptance in Jesus Christ leads to salvation and eternal life: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, ESV). A sincere belief in Christ results in the understanding that there is a purpose and a plan for our life and that we have been given the opportunities, trials, tribulations, talents, gifts, and capabilities to achieve the plan in accordance with God’s will. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). Actions motivated by love result in outcomes where everyone benefits or is no worse off.
One of the more common questions regarding the Christian faith is why God allows (through his soverignty) bad things to happen to good people. God gave man free will – the power to choose between good and evil. God allowed his son (a good man) to be tortured and crucified (a bad thing.) Jesus was then resurrected, which provided further evidence of Jesus’s divinity. An answer as to why God allows bad things to happen to good people is that it is for the common good in the long term in support of God’s plan which only he understands, which ultimately results in Peace on Earth.
New Age. Jordan Peterson knows something about reaching people in our age that the church can learn from – Aaron M. Renn
In contrast to the belief that the Bible represents the word of God, psychologist Jordan Peterson “views the Bible as myth and symbol (in the good sense), and deploys it therapeutically. What’s unique about Peterson is how he takes his New Age/therapeutic approach and combines it with a view that how we live life is a matter of the utmost moral significance.”
Cultural Christianity. “The Christian internet was set ablaze with comments from uber-atheist Professor Richard Dawkins on Easter Sunday. He said he considers himself a “cultural Christian” and that he values the traditions of the faith.”
“Dawkins said he enjoyed “living in a culturally Christian country although I do not believe a word of the Christian faith.”