Monthly Archives: June 2009

Toyota Develops Thought-controlled Wheelchair

Posted on June 30, 2009 by John Hunter

Toyota has developed a thought-controlled wheelchair (along with Japanese government research institute, RIKEN, and Genesis Research Institute). Honda has also developed a system that allows a person to control a robot through thoughts. Both companies continue to invest in innovation … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Science, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Myth of the Genius Programmer

Posted on June 29, 2009 by John Hunter

Nice talk on fear of looking foolish. The speakers discuss the idea that visibility is good. Don’t hide. Make everything visible and the benefit from many people’s ideas. The talk focuses on software development but is true for any work. … Continue reading →

Posted in Google, Psychology, Respect, Software Development, Systems thinking, Theory of Constraints, webcast | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Google Innovates Again with Google Wave

Posted on June 25, 2009 by John Hunter

Google Wave is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year. They are developing this as an open access project. The creative team is lead by the creators for Google Maps (brothers Lars and … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Google, IT, Management, Process improvement, Software Development, webcast | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Top 10 Reasons Why Employees Leave in IT

Posted on June 23, 2009 by John Hunter

Some of the problems expressed in the post linked to are specific to IT, and some are more important in software development (where as I have said before employees have higher expectations of management than most employees do), but many … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Software Development | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Carnival #67

Posted on June 21, 2009 by John Hunter

Not Invented Here by Nicole Radziwill – “when a NIH culture is observed, perhaps the resources and opportunities that are available to a group or an organization that could use them are truly invisible.” Re-th!nk[ing IT strategy] by David Anderson … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged | Comments Off on Management Improvement Carnival #67

Community Medical Care Successes

Posted on June 18, 2009 by John Hunter

The Cost Conundrum by Atul Gawande, New Yorker (The Power of a Checklist was published there in 2007 by the same author) For example, Rochester, Minnesota, where the Mayo Clinic dominates the scene, has fantastically high levels of technological capability … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Economics, Health care, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

If Your Staff Doesn’t Bring You Problems That is a Bad Sign

Posted on June 15, 2009 by John Hunter

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #66

Posted on June 12, 2009 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management Improvement Carnival began in 2006 with the goal to provide links to interesting blog posts for those interesting in improving the practice of management. Jidoka is not just “built-in-quality” by Jason Yip – “Jidoka is not … Continue reading →

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Penske to Buy Saturn from GM

Posted on June 7, 2009 by John Hunter

Penske to Buy Saturn from GM “When Saturn launched in the 1980s, it was the new, new thing, with the best dealer service and no-haggle pricing that put customers at ease,” said independent marketing consultant Dennis Keene. “But in recent … Continue reading →

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

Job Listings Online Filled with Jargon

Posted on June 5, 2009 by John Hunter

The job market is not great, 9.4% unemployment in the USA, and not efficient either. At my full time job, we hired a ruby on rails developer (web programmer) this month, and are looking to hire another. Job listings online … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Management, Software Development | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments