Monthly Archives: June 2010

The Illusion of Knowledge

Posted on June 28, 2010 by John Hunter

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge. – Daniel J. Boorstin Great quote on a topic I discussed in, How We Know What We Know. Dr. Deming included the theory of knowledge as … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management | Tagged curiouscat, Deming, John Hunter, learning, management, quote, theory of knowledge | 4 Comments

Management Blog Posts From June 2006

Posted on June 26, 2010 by John Hunter

Management Advice Failures – It is amazing to me how often we accept non-solutions. If someone objects that we have tried that “solution” and it didn’t work they are often shut down with a version of: “don’t be negative” or … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged blogs, management | Comments Off

Trust Your Staff to Make Decisions

Posted on June 22, 2010 by John Hunter

The failure to give your organization the flexibility to serve customers is a big mistake. Many companies make this mistake. Often the basic problem is managers don’t trust that their systems to hire and develop people that will make good … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Respect, Software Development | Tagged airlines, bad customer service, Customer focus, Process improvement, usability | 8 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #101

Posted on June 20, 2010 by John Hunter

The management blog carnival is published 3 times a month with select recent management blog posts. Also visit the Curious Cat Management Library for online management improvement articles. Why C level executives don’t engage in lean by Steven Spear – … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged Lean thinking, management | Comments Off

Problems With Student Evaluations as Measures of Teacher Performance

Posted on June 16, 2010 by John Hunter

Dr. Deming was, among other things a professor. He found the evaluation of professors by students an unimportant (and often counterproductive measure) – used in some places for awards and performance appraisal. He said for such a measure to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Education, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Science | Tagged Customer focus, Data, Deming, Education, experiments, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Science, system thinking | 2 Comments

Southwest Not Delta or United

Posted on June 14, 2010 by John Hunter

One of the posts highlighted in the last post was one example of how Southwest behaves. It wasn’t a one time thing. It was a common result of the system Southwest has in place where they treat customers like human … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged airlines, bad customer service, Customer focus, respect for people, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #100

Posted on June 10, 2010 by John Hunter

I started the management improvement blog carnival in 2006. At the time the number of blogs posting useful management ideas had already grown to a large number. It took years after I started my Curious Cat Management Improvement site, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged blogs, Carnival, leadership, Lean thinking, management | 7 Comments

Frugal Innovation

Posted on June 9, 2010 by John Hunter

First break all the rules The device is a masterpiece of simplification. The multiple buttons on conventional ECGs have been reduced to just four. The bulky printer has been replaced by one of those tiny gadgets used in portable ticket … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, India, Innovation, quote | Tagged Creativity, disruptive innovation, Economics, Innovation, purpose, quote, simplicity | 1 Comment

Classic Management Theories Are Still Relevant

Posted on June 7, 2010 by John Hunter

Good management is good management: it doesn’t matter if someone figured out the good idea 100 years ago or last week. Are “Classic” Management Theories Still Relevant? It did make me wonder about the staying power of management models, processes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged commentary, management, management experts, management history, Systems thinking, tips | 6 Comments

Statistical Engineering Links Statistical Thinking, Methods and Tools

Posted on June 3, 2010 by John Hunter

In Closing the Gap Roger W. Hoerl and Ronald D. Snee lay out a sensible case for focusing on statistical engineering. We’re not suggesting that society no longer needs research in new statistical techniques for improvement; it does. The balance … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Six sigma, Statistics | Tagged commentary, engineering, John Hunter, Quality tools, Science, Six sigma, Statistics, William Hunter | 1 Comment