Category Archives: Systems thinking

Future Directions for Agile Management

Posted on August 25, 2008 by John Hunter

Agile management (agile software development specifically) is something that makes a big difference in my work life. David Anderson consistently provides great ideas on agile management and he does so again in this 90 minute presentation on the future directions … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Innovation, IT, Lean thinking, Management, quote, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

The Power of Small Teams

Posted on August 20, 2008 by John Hunter

The power of small teams [broken link was removed] by Avi Muchnick Choose a project that is simple to implement. Don’t try to create a complex suite of applications… Focus on solving a single problem. Philip Kaplan made email more … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Management, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Power of Small Teams

Lean IT Systems – Not ERP

Posted on August 19, 2008 by John Hunter

I am not sure, IT needs to get lean on manufacturing [broken link was removed], does the clearest job of explaining some things, but it does state some things well: …you can see how typical offshoring doesn’t work here, as … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Individual Bonuses Are Bad Management

Posted on August 7, 2008 by John Hunter

Gojko Adzic provides a nice post on Mary Poppendieck’s presentation at Agile 2008 on bonus, compensation and motivation: Paying programmers: are bonuses bad and what to do about it? In software development, it is very hard to establish the effects … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, IT, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Do What You Say You Will

Posted on July 28, 2008 by John Hunter

In Keeping Good Employees I talked about asking some simple questions. The biggest mistake I see managers make is to fail to deliver on what they say in such meetings. There is the saying “It is better to be thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Pay for Performance” is a Bad Idea

Posted on July 21, 2008 by John Hunter

Pay for performance is a bad investment [the broken link was removed] by Pete Waters “Teacher pay set by the results” was the headline of a (Baltimore) Sun article I read the other day which suggested that “performance-based bonuses (were) … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Performance Appraisal, Systems thinking | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Better Meetings

Posted on July 7, 2008 by John Hunter

Meetings are perennial problems. People sit through meetings and then complain about how big a waste of time it was. Here are a couple very simple tips to try and actually improve (instead of just agreeing that meetings are wasteful, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Printer Product Development Using Design of Experiments

Posted on June 29, 2008 by John Hunter

MEMS development in less than half the time by Christopher N. Delametter, Eastman Kodak Company The traditional approach to optimizing a product or process using computer simulation is to evaluate the effects of one design parameter at a time. The … Continue reading →

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The Contradictions That Drive Toyota’s Success

Posted on June 23, 2008 by John Hunter

An interesting article in this month’s Harvard Business Review looks at the seeming contradictions at Toyota – The Contradictions That Drive Toyota’s Success by Hirotaka Takeuchi, Emi Osono, and Norihiko Shimizu Many of Toyota’s goals are purposely vague, allowing employees … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Systems thinking, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Contradictions That Drive Toyota’s Success

Zipcar Innovation

Posted on June 21, 2008 by John Hunter

Zipcar is an intriguing idea where you rent cars by the hour. The whole process is a significant change from the previous rental model (gas, parking and insurance included). Zipcar makes deals with local governments to secure zipcar parking near … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Deming, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Systems thinking | 4 Comments