Tag Archives: curiouscat

European Blackout: Human Error-Not

Posted on November 18, 2006 by John Hunter

German utility E.On says major European blackout was caused by human error [the broken link was removed] Germany utility E.On AG said Wednesday that a European-wide blackout earlier this month that left millions without power was the result of human … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Respect | Tagged blame, curiouscat, Customer focus, mistake-proofing, Process improvement, process thinking, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Hiring the Right People

Posted on October 7, 2006 by John Hunter

The job market is an inefficient market. There are many reasons for this including relying on specification (this job requires a BS in Computer Science – no Bill Gates you don’t meet the spec) instead of understanding the system. Insisting … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Customer focus, IT, Management, Performance Appraisal, Popular | Tagged Career, curiouscat, Deming, hiring, management, managing people, Popular | 15 Comments

Distort the System

Posted on August 19, 2006 by John Hunter

From our post: Targets Distorting the System, Dr. Brian Joiner: spoke of 3 ways to improve the figures: distort the data, distort the system and improve the system. Improving the system is the most difficult. Another example of this in … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged critical thinking, curiouscat, Data, Management, organization as a system, Systems thinking | 6 Comments

Innovation Needed to Keep USA Manufacturing?

Posted on June 29, 2006 by John Hunter

ICAR touted as example of innovation needed in U.S. [the broken link was removed] “Our ace in the hole is innovation, and that’s why intellectual property is so important to develop,” Graham said. “How do we protect that advantage within … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Innovation, Management, Manufacturing, Systems thinking | Tagged curiouscat, Economics, Innovation, Manufacturing, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

More on Obscene CEO Pay

Posted on June 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Study site: CEO-worker pay imbalance grows [the broken link has been removed] includes the graph above. Unfortunately this reverse robin hood (steal from the workers, stock holder, customers…) and give to the CEO tale continues. Hopefully someday soon we can … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged charts, curiouscat, Deming, ethics, executive pay, leadership, management, overpaid executives, quote | 12 Comments

Management Advice Failures

Posted on June 10, 2006 by John Hunter

…when we fail to value the best ideas, instead valuing the new ideas, we are not as effective as we could be. We often accept pale copies of good old ideas instead of going to the good old ideas – which will often lead to a much richer source of knowledge. Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles, Popular, quote | Tagged curiouscat, management, management experts, management history, Popular, research | 17 Comments

Understanding Data

Posted on May 9, 2006 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement Statistics Abuse and Me by Jay Mathews: the Simpson’s Paradox numbers. The national average for the SAT went up only 4 points between 1981 and 2005, but the average for whites went up 10 points, for blacks … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Education, Management, Statistics | Tagged curiouscat, Data, Management, Statistics | 9 Comments

Respect for People

Posted on May 8, 2006 by John Hunter

A very thoughtful post, Respect for People on the Kaikaku blog raises some interesting questions. What does respect for people really mean? Toyota empowers people: To stop the line – to stop every other worker from working – that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Popular, Respect, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged coaching, communication, curiouscat, Management, managing people, Popular, Psychology, respect for people, training | 9 Comments

Find the Root Cause Instead of the Person to Blame

Posted on May 3, 2006 by John Hunter

When encountering a problem or defect the inclination of many is to find a person to blame. W. Edwards Deming believed that the system was responsible for 93% of the problems and over time he increased that number to at … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Popular, Process improvement, Psychology, Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged blame, continual improvement, curiouscat, organization as a system, process thinking, respect for people, root cause | 6 Comments

Excessive Executive Pay

Posted on December 4, 2005 by John Hunter

Topic: Management Improvement Via Christian Sarkar [the broken link was removed], Too Many Turkeys, The Economist: Executive compensation in America – already far ahead of the rest of the world, despite the best efforts of overseas managers to catch up … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged business, curiouscat, deadly diseases, executive pay, leadership, overpaid executives, Systems thinking | 18 Comments