Monthly Archives: April 2009

Why Congress Won’t Investigate Wall Street

Posted on April 30, 2009 by John Hunter

Why Congress Won’t Investigate Wall Street The famous Pecora Commission of 1933 and 1934 was one of the most successful congressional investigations of all time, an instance when oversight worked exactly as it should. The subject was the massively corrupt investment practices of the 1920s. In the course of its investigation, the Senate Banking Committee, which brought on as its counsel a former New York assistant district attorney named Ferdinand Pecora, heard testimony from the lords of finance that cemented … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Systems thinking | Tagged Economics, ethics, government, Public Sector, regulation | 2 Comments

Carve Out Time to Think

Posted on April 29, 2009 by John Hunter

Dan Markovitz recently discussed the practice of the CEO of eBay to take thinking days, Why isn’t “thinking time” part of your standard work?, Some people think that it’s all well and good for a CEO to unplug himself — when you’re the big cheese, you make the rules — that’s just not possible for the folks in the trenches. But I think that’s a lie. Unless you’re in a sadly dysfunctional organization (and if you are, feel free to … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged Systems thinking, tips | 1 Comment

Why Setting Goals can Backfire

Posted on April 27, 2009 by John Hunter

Dr. Deming long ago stated in his 14 obligations of management: “Eliminate numerical goals, numerical quotas and management by objectives.” I think he was right then, and is right now. A goal can help set the scope of the effort. If you are aiming for 2% improvement different strategies may make sense than if you are aiming at 50% improvement. But that type of use is rare. The problem with goals is what actually happens in organizations. They create serious … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged Deming, Process improvement, Psychology, Systems thinking, targets | 2 Comments

Red Bead Experiment Webcast

Posted on April 22, 2009 by John Hunter

Dr. Deming used the red bead experiment to present a view into management practices and his management philosophy. The experiment provides insight into all four aspects of Dr. Deming’s management system: understanding variation, understanding psychology, systems thinking and the theory of knowledge. Red Bead Experiment by Steve Prevette Various techniques are used to ensure a quality (no red bead) product. There are quality control inspectors, feedback to the workers, merit pay for superior performance, performance appraisals, procedure compliance, posters and … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Education, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, quote, Respect, webcast | Tagged control chart, Data, Deming, Fun, management, management experts, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Quality tools, training, variation, webcast | 3 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #61

Posted on April 20, 2009 by John Hunter

Submit suggestions for the management improvement carnival. Unplanned items and legacy issues by Xavier Quesada Allue – “A small change request if you want. How are you going to manage this work? Are you going to create a new story for this? Too much overhead… just put up a task (a post-it) in Legacy Issues, get it done with and forget about it.” Ask Gemba: Nuts and Bolts of the Andon System by Jon Miller – “Each person should have … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged blogs, Carnival

Leadership

Posted on April 17, 2009 by John Hunter

Leadership is the act of making others effective in achieving an aim. Leadership is not about being great yourself. Leadership does involve more than making others effective. Leaders need to know what needs to be done, and then make others effective, based on that knowledge. As Dr. Deming said about any situation: It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best. Leadership is not about getting a good performance appraisal. … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged curiouscat, John Hunter, leadership, management, Systems thinking | 4 Comments

Management Blog Posts From January 2006

Posted on April 15, 2009 by John Hunter

John Hunter on the top of the Bear’s Hump trail in the park, Waterton, Canada. A great, very steep trail. Agility vs. Six Sigma – “Process improvement should be part of a well run system, as should innovation. Deming, who many believe focused only process improvement, knew the importance of both. See several of Deming’s ideas on innovation.” The Public Sector and Deming – Madison’s quality improvement efforts began after then-Mayor James F. Sensenbrenner and his staff were exposed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged Ackoff, blogs, Deming, George Box, management

Building a Great Workforce

Posted on April 13, 2009 by John Hunter

How P&G Finds and Keeps a Prized Workforce by Roger O. Crockett “We actually recruit for values,” says Chief Operating Officer Robert McDonald. “If you are not inspired to improve lives, this isn’t the company you want to work for.” … The P&G strategy starts on college campuses. The Cincinnati company dispatches line managers rather than human resource staffers to do much of its recruiting. … For the few who get hired, their work life becomes a career-long development process. … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Customer focus, Deming, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged Career, coaching, Customer focus, ethics, Innovation, management, respect for people | 1 Comment

Build Your Business Slowly and Without Huge Cash Requirements

Posted on April 12, 2009 by John Hunter

Get Rich Slow by Josh Quittner At no other time in recent history has it been easier or cheaper to start a new kind of company… These are Web-based businesses that cost almost nothing to get off the ground … The term ramen profitable was coined by Paul Graham, a Silicon Valley start-up investor, essayist and muse to LILO entrepreneurs. It means that your start-up is self-sustaining and can eke out enough profit to keep you alive on instant noodles … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Competition, Creativity, Innovation, Investing, IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged business, Career, Creativity, internet, IT, Lean thinking, Software Development, Systems thinking

Management Improvement Carnival #60

Posted on April 10, 2009 by John Hunter

Kevin Meyer is hosting the Management Improvement Carnival #60 on the Evolving Excellence blog, highlights include: TimeBack asks why “thinking time” isn’t part of our standard work. Unfolding Leadership gives us some practical words of wisdom in dealing with layoffs. Shmula describes his experience and observations while sitting in a Jiffy Lube waiting room. Gemba Panta Rei suggests twelve leader standard work questions to ask while at the gemba. Evolving Excellence warns us about the perils of going to China … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged Carnival

How We Know What We Know

Posted on April 9, 2009 by John Hunter

Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s management philosophy is a system of management composed of four interdependent areas: knowledge about variation, understanding psychology, systems thinking and the theory of knowledge. The theory of knowledge is the least understood, and the least adopted in the various other management improvement theories (lean manufacturing, six sigma, theory of constraints…). A recent op-ed in the New York Times touches on the ideas behind how we learn: Learning How to Think The actor was introduced as “Dr. … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, quote | Tagged Deming, John Hunter, management, Psychology, quote, theory of knowledge | 8 Comments

Checklists in Software Development

Posted on April 7, 2009 by John Hunter

Verify your work with checklists WHO has recently shown that surgical deaths can be reduced by a third when hospitals follow their Surgical Safety Checklist. The checklist is very low tech. It includes questions like whether the patient has been properly identified, whether the proper tools are available, and whether everyone knows what kind of procedure is about to be done. If a checklist so simple can save so many lives, I thought the technique could surely help us do … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, IT, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Software Development | Tagged checklist, Process improvement, Quality tools, Software Development | 3 Comments

Another Year of CEO’s Taking Hugely Excessive Pay

Posted on April 6, 2009 by John Hunter

I continue to do my part to publicize the abusive CEO pay packages that the current crop of unethical CEO’s, and those sitting on corporate boards have supported (Tilting at Ludicrous CEO Pay 2008 – 2007 post on CEO pay abuses). It does seem there is more anger now at the looting these corrupt CEOs have engaged in; though far too many people seem to think the corruption is some isolated few CEO’s. The widespread failure of ethical standards by … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Management, Management Articles | Tagged bonus, commentary, economic data, ethics, executive pay, Investing, leadership, overpaid executives | 6 Comments

The Importance of Making Problems Visible

Posted on April 2, 2009 by John Hunter

Great, short, presentation webcast by Jason Yip showing the importance of making problems visible. Anyone interested in software development should watch this, and it is valuable for everyone else, also. Great visuals. Related: Future Directions for Agile Management – Agile Software Development Slideshow – Leading Lean: Missed Opportunity – Information Technology and Management – Curious Cat Micro-financiers – posts on project management – Toyota Institute for Managers

Posted in IT, Lean thinking, Management, Software Development | Tagged agile management, communication, management webcast, program management, programming, Software Development, visual management, webcast | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #59

Posted on April 1, 2009 by John Hunter

Nicole Radziwill is hosting the Management Improvement Carnival #59 on the Quality and Innovation blog, highlights include: June Holley, talking about self-organizing to achieve systems-level innovation. She notes that because theory is lacking, this process might be protracted, but to get to the point of understanding theory we need some more “real life” examples and case studies of how we self-organize in our organizations well – and not so well. Small is the new big. Sustainable is the new growth. … Continue reading →