Monthly Archives: May 2007

Focus on Long Term Success

Put Investors In Their Place by Clayton M. Christensen and Scott D. Anthony: The notion that managers must above all appease investors drives behavior that focuses exclusively on quarterly results. Thus, many management teams hesitate to invest in promising innovations … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Boston Travel Photos

After I presented the Deming Seminar in Boston last year a spent a few extra days in to enjoy the city. See photos from my Boston visit including: Boston Fine Arts Museum, Boston Science Museum and Boston Common. Related: Shaker … Continue reading

Posted in curiouscat.com, Fun, Travel photos | Comments Off on Boston Travel Photos

Eliminating Quarterly Earnings Guidance

It is good to see more people understand the bad practice of excessive short term focus on quarterly profits. It is also a bit amusing to see the Chamber of Commerce pushing an idea Deming was called unrealistic for pushing. … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Google, Investing, Management, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Louisville Slugger – Deming Practices

In 2004 I was part of a group to put together a 2 1/2 Day seminar for the Deming Institute (recent seminar in Michigan). We held that meeting at the Louisville Slugger plant (see photo). It was a great experience. … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Manufacturing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Reduce Computer Waste

High-efficiency power supplies for home computers and servers [the broken link was removed] (pdf) by Urs Hoelzle and Bill Weihl – Google: Most likely, the computer you’re using wastes 30-40% of the electrical power it consumes because it is using … Continue reading

Posted in Google, Innovation, IT, Lean thinking | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Moving Jobs to Silicon Valley from India

India grows up [the broken link was removed]: The costs of having two offices, which are twelve time zones apart, is significant. People in both offices frequently had conference calls at 10pm and midnight every night (as a result the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, India, IT, Software Development | 3 Comments

Kaizen

Great post – Do Kaizen Like Toyota [the broken link was removed]: Standardize how you solve problems… This is where following a standardized approach to problem solving based on the scientific method can help keep your kaizen efforts on track. … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools | Comments Off on Kaizen

Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business

Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business, a debate on the correct focus of business: Not that we’re only concerned with customers. At Whole Foods, we measure our success by how much value we can create for all six of our … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Economics, Management, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Comparative Performance of American Health Care

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care The U.S. health system is the most expensive in the world, but comparative analyses consistently show the United States underperforms relative to other countries … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Health care | Comments Off on Comparative Performance of American Health Care

Craigslist’s Ongoing Success Story

Craigslist is a great web site focused largely on local connections and local ads (jobs, housing, classifieds…). It is in top 10 sites for the amount of traffic and a total staff of 24 people. eBay bought 25% of the … Continue reading

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Innovation, IT, Management | Tagged | Comments Off on Craigslist’s Ongoing Success Story