Name: John Willis - Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge as a Framework for AI
Start: 2025-10-14T12:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-10-14T14:00:00-04:00

Unraveling Complexity and Alien Intelligence

If you've been to the Lounge before, you know the three of us are big fans of W. Edwards Deming. So you'll know how excited we are to welcome John Willis, author of *Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge: How Deming Helped Win a War, Altered the Face of Industry, and Holds the Key to Our Future,* to the Lounge.

As artificial intelligence evolves beyond human comprehension, our traditional ways of thinking about knowledge, intelligence, and systems are proving insufficient. For decades, humanity has pursued machines that “think like us,” yet the most powerful breakthroughs — from AlphaGo to generative models — emerge precisely because AI doesn’t. It is an alien form of cognition: non-linear, probabilistic, and capable of revealing patterns that defy human logic. To work effectively with this new intelligence, we must transform our understanding of complexity and knowledge itself.

This talk proposes W. Edwards Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK) as a robust philosophical and practical framework for navigating this shift. Conceived initially to guide organizations through systemic complexity, SoPK’s four lenses — theory of knowledge, understanding variation, psychology, and appreciation for a system — offer essential tools for interpreting, designing, and collaborating with intelligent systems. Through these perspectives, we learn to question assumptions, distinguish between signal and noise, and understand human design–machine collaboration, as well as view AI as part of larger social, cultural, and technological ecosystems.

By integrating Deming’s principles with the philosophy of AI, we move beyond the flawed goal of human-like intelligence and toward a new paradigm: one where humans and machines co-create knowledge neither could achieve alone. This session challenges participants to rethink what it means to know, to learn, and to innovate — and offers a roadmap for harnessing AI not as a tool to imitate us, but as a partner in expanding the boundaries of thought.

**Bio**
John Willis has over 40 years of experience in the IT management industry. Currently, he is running DevOps and Digital Practices at Botchagalupe Technologies. He was formerly Director of Ecosystem Development at Docker. Before Docker, Willis was the VP of Solutions for Socketplane (acquired by Docker) and Enstratius (acquired by Dell). Before joining Socketplane and Enstratius, Willis served as the VP of Training and Services at Opscode, where he formalized the training, evangelism, and professional services functions at the firm. Willis also founded Gulf Breeze Software, an award-winning IBM business partner, which specializes in deploying Tivoli technology for the enterprise. Willis has authored six IBM Redbooks on enterprise systems management and was the founder and chief architect at Chain Bridge Systems.

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**This event will be recorded.** *The event link will be published on meetup.com 1 hour prior.*

Please note the time slot- this is an afternoon event for those of you on EST (12:00 pm to 2:00 pm).

Tiani Jones

Jocko Selberg

Barbara Frontera

The Complexity Lounge

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John Willis - Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge as a Framework for AI

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