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Category Archives: Systems thinking
Psychology of Improvement
Even if ideas are good and have significant importance (high value to customers, reduce waste dramatically, improve safety…) implementing the ideas can be difficult. Getting people to make an effort to improve a situation by simply laying out the dry … Continue reading
Manufacturing Skills Gap or Management Skills Gap?
I stumble across articles discussing the problem of manufacturers having difficulty finding workers with the skills they need (in the USA largely, but elsewhere too) somewhat regularly. While it is true that companies have this problem, I think looking at … Continue reading
Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, quote, Respect, Systems thinking
Tagged Career, Deming, hiring, jobs, lean manufacturing, long term thinking, management, managing people, Manufacturing, problem solving, quote, respect for people, Systems thinking, workplace improvement
3 Comments
Practical Ways to Respect People
What matters is not your stated respect for people but your revealed respect for people. Here are some ideas that I collected on how to practice respect for people. Don’t waste people’s time: have meetings only when necessary and provide … Continue reading
Networking is Valuable But Difficult to Quantify
Networking works incredibly well. Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as peddling your bike where you want to go. The benefits of networking are unpredictable and not easy to control (to specifically target – you can do this, it just has … Continue reading
Interviewing: I and We
In response to: say “I” — not “we” — in your interviews If you are a manager you need to lead teams, lead projects and improve work systems. In an interview I believe you need to say specifically what you … Continue reading
Posted in Career, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, Systems thinking
Tagged build capacity, Career, jobs, managing people, Process improvement, Psychology, Systems thinking
2 Comments
The Theory of Knowledge in Deming’s Management System: How Do We Know What We Know?
I contributed an article to the Process Excellence Network’s Deming Files that was published yesterday: How Do We Know What We Know?. I took on the task of explaining the theory of knowledge, as one article in a four part … Continue reading
When Companies Can Treat You Like an ATM, Many Will Do So
The End of Refrigeration One small custom chip, some relays, a transformer, a couple of heat sinks, and a bunch of passive parts. Maybe a build cost of $20-30 or so? But GE’s price to me was $250, plus $150 … Continue reading
Avoiding Tragedy of the Commons for Software Development
Kanban and Tragedy of the Commons The “Tragedy of the Commons” archetype often manifests itself through “Shared Services”, when a small number of people with specific skills, work across different teams. Each team in isolation gets benefit from the Shared … Continue reading
Quality is Made in the Board Room
Dr. Deming stated “Quality is made in the board room,” page 202 Dr. Deming: the American who taught the Japanese about quality. I believe, once the board and executive leadership has put in place the right management system (one that … Continue reading
Posted in Deming, Management, Respect, Systems thinking
Tagged continual improvement, Deming, leadership, management, Process improvement, quality, respect for people
3 Comments
Engage in Improving the Management System
To actually improve management you need to engage in continual improvement of your management systems. This requires doing the hard work of challenging complacency. The job of those improving the practice of management is not to make everyone happy and … Continue reading →