Monthly Archives: May 2007

Focus on Long Term Success

Posted on May 29, 2007 by John Hunter

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 that are likely to hurt near-term financial performance. … Perhaps it is time for companies to adjust the paradigm of management responsibility: “You are investors and speculators, not shareholders, and you temporarily find yourselves holding the securities of our company. … Continue reading →

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

Boston Travel Photos

Posted on May 28, 2007 by John Hunter

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 Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky – New York City Photos – Glacier National Park photos

Posted in curiouscat.com, Fun, Travel photos

Eliminating Quarterly Earnings Guidance

Posted on May 25, 2007 by John Hunter

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. The right way to handle a surprise: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling for companies to halt “earnings guidance,” or coaching analysts, toward a precise target for quarterly profit. “The incentive to meet that number is an incentive to … Continue reading →

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

Louisville Slugger – Deming Practices

Posted on May 24, 2007 by John Hunter

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. If you find yourself in the area they offer tours of the plant [the broken link was removed]. This article discusses the efforts at Louisville Slugger: The sweet spot [the broken link was removed]: “You would have thought that in … Continue reading →

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

Reduce Computer Waste

Posted on May 24, 2007 by John Hunter

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 an inefficient power supply. It’s difficult to believe that something as basic as a power supply could be responsible for that amount of waste, but it’s true. … The opportunity for savings is immense — we estimate that if deployed … Continue reading →

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

Moving Jobs to Silicon Valley from India

Posted on May 23, 2007 by John Hunter

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 office in the US didn’t get started until noon sometimes or people rolled in tired). We were all traveling constantly. Development and communication moved slower due to the distance and teams. However, all of this was worth it so long … Continue reading →

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

Kaizen

Posted on May 21, 2007 by John Hunter

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. Not to be prescriptive, but the PDCA wheel is hard to beat. Very true.

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools

Rethinking the Social Responsibility of Business

Posted on May 17, 2007 by John Hunter

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 most important stakeholders: customers, team members (employees), investors, vendors, communities, and the environment. Great – my previous post on the purpose of a business. John Mackey, the founder and CEO of Whole Foods, closes the debate with: Someday businesses like … Continue reading →

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

Comparative Performance of American Health Care

Posted on May 16, 2007 by John Hunter

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 on most dimensions of performance. This study compared only 6 countries and focused more on survey results than I think is best for comparing country health care systems but it is another study pointing to the systemic failure of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health care

Craigslist’s Ongoing Success Story

Posted on May 16, 2007 by John Hunter

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 company a few years ago but Craiglist retains a very pure customer focus. Craigslist’s Ongoing Success Story [the broken link was removed]: We don’t even look at what other companies are doing. We’re not setting out to conquer the world … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Innovation, IT, Management | Tagged

Management Improvement Carnival #11

Posted on May 15, 2007 by John Hunter

Please submit your favorite management posts to the carnival. Deming Point 2 – Adopt a philosophy of cooperation where everyone wins and teach it to everyone by Josh Nankivel – “The win-win environment spearheaded by the project manager and sponsor should make everyone think about issues and conflicts in terms of what is the best method of dealing with it for the whole project and everyone involved.” The wanderings of a lean hitchhiker by Jamie Flinchbaugh – “These are great … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management

Google Customer Service

Posted on May 14, 2007 by John Hunter

Google and Ice: A service story: “Ice.com has been very vocal with its criticism. It’s a classic case of a dissatisfied customer. So from a PR dimension this was a problem for Google.” … “We got a call from Google in February asking us what they could do to help us,” Gniwisch said. He said Google put together a team of people who flew to Ice.com’s headquarters in Montreal. “We were also on the phone with them two to three … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Google, Management | 1 Comment

Keeping Track of Improvement Opportunities

Posted on May 14, 2007 by John Hunter

The Priority Trap [the broken link was removed – long term reliability of the web page links isn’t a priority I guess] by Dan Markovitz makes some good points: But if it’s not important enough to make the short list, then give yourself license to dump it. Maybe it’s something you would do if you had more time, or more energy, or if your mother would notice — but since you don’t have that time, and since you don’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged | 2 Comments

Six Sigma at Cummins

Posted on May 11, 2007 by John Hunter

Six Sigma winning supply-chain converts [the broken link was removed] “More and more of our decisions are made after data is collected and analysis done. It’s less of a gut feel and more data-based.” On any given day, Cummins has 2,500 active Six Sigma projects involving 10,000 of its 34,000 employees, Strodtbeck said. Next year, senior managers at Cummins will be required to have Six Sigma certification before they can switch jobs or be promoted. “Six Sigma is headed toward … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles, Six sigma | Tagged | 1 Comment

Predicting Improves Learning

Posted on May 10, 2007 by John Hunter

The Power of Prediction by Jared Spool: By asking these questions up front, we give the team members something to focus on. When a participant gets stuck somewhere they predicted, it stands out. They can take pleasure in knowing they identified a potential landmine. In our experience, it stands out even more when the participant gets stuck someplace nobody expected. These opportunities allow us a chance to learn something new about how users approach our designs. Great idea. As I … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Software Development | Tagged ,

Be Careful What You Measure

Posted on May 9, 2007 by John Hunter

Be Careful What You Measure by Mike Wroblewski: Although this recalculation of productivity had a positive affect, it is not what I would consider a triumph. Ongoing efforts are still required to truly increase productivity, so it’s back to gemba. However, I am modifying the lesson to “Be careful what and how you measure, measurements drive action and behavior” Excellent points. Behavior can be changed by what is measured. The problem with arbitrary numerical targets (to take one measurement related … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology | Tagged , , | 6 Comments