Monthly Archives: November 2007

Getting and Keeping Great Employees

I am not convinced of the premise of The new war for talent: that there will be a great shortage of talent soon. But the article makes some interesting points. The Conference Board CEO Challenge of 2007 points out that … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Performance Appraisal, Respect | 1 Comment

Arbitrary Rules Don’t Work

Procedurally Enforcing Workflow by Michael Salamon: UI gem, and a great reminder for the RIAA/MPAA: You can’t force people to follow directions they deem arbitrary. I bet if that gate spit out $100 bills people would use it. Why matters. … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Popular, Process improvement, Psychology, Respect | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Joy in Work – Software Development

The wonderful cartoon in this link illustrates the all too common despair in work. Software programmers are more likely to really enjoy what they do. There are many reasons for this not the least of which is that they have … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Psychology, Software Development | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Toyota’s Effort to Stay Toyota

Toyota’s All-Out Drive To Stay Toyota “We are making every effort not to lose our DNA,” says Shigeru Hayakawa, president of Toyota Motor North America. … Just in case St. Angelo forgets any of his Toyota training, he has someone … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 1 Comment

Insights from Jim Womack

Jim Womack provides great insights in a recent interview, Thought Leaders — Lean On Me: All the Japanese car companies did the quality thing based on the Deming Prize criteria and so forth back in the 1960s and 70s. What … Continue reading

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Management Improvement Carnival #23

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Read the previous management carnivals. Assessing Results vs. Reflection by Mark Rosenthal – “Your plan for the year consisted of a designed experiment. ‘If we do these things, we expect this … Continue reading

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3M Cuts Back on Six Sigma for Research and Development

3M Shelves Six Sigma in R&D For the past two years, 3M Corp. has been giving back freedom and decision-making to its researchers following four years of Six Sigma mania under former CEO and Chairman W. James McNerney Jr. Six … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Six sigma | 2 Comments

Six Sigma for Erie County Government

Chris Collins proposed bringing six sigma to Erie County government in his campaign for county executive. He won the election. From his web site: In business, you satisfy your customers or you fail. But in Erie County government, if you … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Public Sector, Six sigma | 1 Comment

Engineering Innovation for Manufacturing and the Economy

Editorial: Engineering Innovation, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: They are the invisible heroes in business, the men and women who make innovation possible. They are people like Mary Ann Wright at Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, the former chief engineer for the Ford … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Public Sector, Science, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Good Customer Focus Idea for Banks

Why Your Bank Needs a Free Coin-Counting Machine But this overall strategy also included a Trojan horse, and that Trojan horse was the bank’s Penny Arcade. If you walk into most Commerce branches, you’ll see a machine or two that … Continue reading

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