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 and science and engineering. The story of a bad economy and bad sales for a year or two is what you read in most newspapers. In my opinion the more important story is why Toyota and Honda will be dominant … 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. “criticism is not evil” – Very true. “At Google we are not allowed to submit code until there is code review.” At the bottom line they are repeating Deming’s ideas: improve the system – people are not the problem, bad … 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 Jens Rasmussen). A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. You really have to watch to understand what it is. This is a long webcast … 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 have truth for many employees. A good manager can create an environment where these problems are eliminated or reduced. Top 10 Reasons Why Employees Leave in IT No prioritization on items therefore constant interruptions in projects are the norm leaving … 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 – “if something is not strategic and we are not good at it then we should outsource it and buy the service instead. If we are good or world class at something but it is not strategic then we should … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged

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 and quality, but its Medicare spending is in the lowest fifteen per cent of the country—$6,688 per enrollee in 2006, which is eight thousand dollars less than the figure for McAllen. Two economists working at Dartmouth, Katherine Baicker and Amitabh … 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.         – Colin Powell I discussed my feelings on this in a previous post, Bring Me Problems: If an employee never learns how to find possible solutions themselves that is not a good sign. But it is … 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 just about stopping and notifying of problems immediately. It also includes the concept of separating human and machine work. Effectively the idea of using machines to free humans.” How to Engage People in Kaizen by Jon Miller – “Frame all … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged , ,

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 years, it has just been another GM division, operating the same as Chevy or Pontiac, with nothing to differentiate it and a marketing message that keeps changing, so that people haven’t been able to get a handle on what the … 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 filled with jargon With unemployment reaching historic levels, online job search traffic is heating up. Sites like Monster.com, Dice.com, and HotJobs.com are gaining steam with anywhere from a 20-90% increase in traffic in February. Somehow CareerBuilder.com managed to dip 3% … Continue reading →

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

Management Improvement Carnival #65

Posted on June 1, 2009 by John Hunter

Checklist for the Agile Manager By Jurgen Appelo. 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. We now publish the carnival 3 times a month. Knowledge and Thinking by Ron Pereira – “I truly believe the more you learn the more you’ll be able to think. And the more you’re able to think the better you’ll be at solving problems.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival | Tagged