Category Archives: Systems thinking

How Private Equity Strangled Mervyns

Posted on December 12, 2008 by John Hunter

I do not like the actions of many in “private equity.” I am a big fan of capitalism. I just object to those that unjustly take from the other stakeholders involved. It is not the specific facts of this case, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged ethics, management, Respect, short term thinking, Systems thinking | Comments Off

Information Technology and Business Process Support

Posted on December 3, 2008 by John Hunter

I moved from management improvement work into information technology work (where I continue to practice management improvement). Many IT practices follow quality management guidelines well (agile software development for one). I have found it far easier to design and provide … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged continual improvement, curiouscat, IT, John Hunter, management, Process improvement, quote, Software Development | 6 Comments

Embrace Diversity, Erase Uniformity

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Guest Post

Guest Post by Jurgen Appelo, author of the Managing Software Development blog. Five years ago, when I started working for my current employer, the entire organization (about 30 people) consisted only of 20-something white straight single males. The atmosphere was … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Science, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged guest post | 1 Comment

What’s the Value of a Big Bonus?

Posted on November 21, 2008 by John Hunter

What’s the Value of a Big Bonus? by Dan Ariely To look at this question, three colleagues and I conducted an experiment. We presented 87 participants with an array of tasks that demanded attention, memory, concentration and creativity. We asked … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged bonus, Data, executive pay, experiments, extrinsic motivation, Psychology | Comments Off

CMMI and Agile Development

Posted on November 19, 2008 by John Hunter

CMMI or Agile: Why Not Embrace Both! is a new report that is worth reading. All too often, CMMI has been applied rather than implemented. The standards-centric application of CMMI has contributed to some spectacular failures and losses of time … Continue reading →

Posted in Process improvement, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged agile management, Process improvement, Software Development | 1 Comment

6 Leadership Competencies

Posted on November 13, 2008 by John Hunter

At the recent Annual W. Edwards Deming Institute Annual conference (this year held in Madison, Wisconsin) Peter Scholtes gave an excellent speech on the 6 Leadership Competencies from his book: The Leader’s Handbook. Those competencies are: The ability to think … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged Deming, John Hunter, Madison, Peter Scholtes, quote, tips, variation | 8 Comments

Tilting at Ludicrous CEO Pay 2008

Posted on November 10, 2008 by John Hunter

I continue to tilt at the robber barron CEO pay packages (2007 post on CEO pay abuses). 2007 pay rank Company CEO Pay 5 Year Pay CEO % of 2007 Earnings 1 Apple Steve Jobs $646,600,000 $650,170,000 18.5% 2 Occidental … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Economics, Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged commentary, curiouscat, Economics, executive pay, overpaid executives, quote, respect for people, stakeholders | 5 Comments

Righter Incentivization

Posted on November 5, 2008 by John Hunter

Incentive schemes to get people “motivated” often backfire. Why can’t we figure out how to incentivize the behavior we desire and have it not backfire on us? What is the righter way to dangle incentives in front of our employees … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged curiouscat, Deming, Douglas McGregor, extrinsic motivation, John Hunter, motivation, quote | 7 Comments

The Software Engineering Manager’s Lament

Posted on October 23, 2008 by John Hunter

The engineering manager’s lament by Eric Ries: In teams that follow the “pick two” agenda [quality, time or price], which two has to be resolved via a power play. In companies with a strong engineering culture, the engineers pick quality. … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged engineering, Lean thinking, management, Software Development, Systems thinking | Comments Off

CEOs Plundering Corporate Coffers

Posted on October 22, 2008 by John Hunter

Pointy haired bosses broke the code they provided on their site for embedding a Dilbert comic, so I removed the broken code. Dogbert: “I am stepping down as CEO so I can spend more time with the money I stole … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged commentary, ethics, executive pay, Management, overpaid executives | 17 Comments