Monthly Archives: October 2010

Respect People: Trust Them to Use good Judgment

Posted on October 28, 2010 by John Hunter

Nordstrom’s employee handbook used to be presented on a single 5 x 8 card: Welcome to Nordstrom We’re glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them. So our employee handbook is very simple. We have only one rule: Use good judgment in all situations. Please feel free to ask your department manager, store … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged culture, management, managing people, Psychology, quote, respect for people, retail, Systems thinking | 3 Comments

A Theory of a System for Educators and Managers

Posted on October 25, 2010 by John Hunter

Excerpts from The Deming Library Volume XXI, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Dr. Russell Ackoff and David Langford demonstrate that educators can begin a quality transformation by developing an understanding of the properties and powers of systems-oriented thinking. You can order the entire video, as well as the rest of The Deming Library. Great stuff! If you enjoy this blog (the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog), you definitely should watch this webcast. This video has some great insight into education, learning … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Education, Management, quote, Systems thinking, webcast | Tagged Ackoff, curiouscat, Data, Deming, Education, Innovation, learning, management, management webcast, quote, Systems thinking, theory of knowledge, webcast | 7 Comments

Why Don’t Football Players Just Thrown the Ball Out of Bounds to Stop the Clock

Posted on October 24, 2010 by John Hunter

I have never understood why players don’t lateral the ball out of bounds to stop the clock in pro or college football in the USA. If time is running out and the player is tackled in bounds the clock keeps running and time can expire. You can stop the clock by running out of bounds. Also if the ball goes out of bounds the clock is stopped. I figured maybe there was some rule against just throwing the ball out … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Innovation | Tagged Creativity, Innovation, Popular, sports | 4 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #113

Posted on October 20, 2010 by John Hunter

Pete Abilla hosts the Management Improvement Carnival #113, highlights include: Just Open my Mouth and Go To the Gemba by Bryan Zeigler: I see the same thing in factories all the time. There is a problem. We sit at our computers and analyze process information, warranty data, etc when we should just go out and see the problem ourselves. I also see us use the latest greatest technology just because its the new gizmo, when there are many ‘old fashioned’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival | Tagged management

Posts on Managing People from Around the Web

Posted on October 18, 2010 by John Hunter

My thoughts on managing people are based on Dr. Deming’s thoughts on management. The over-simplified explanation is that people want to do good work. Performance problems should be looked at first, second, third, fourth and fifth as problems with the system not the individual. I believe organizations should practice continual improvement with the participation of everyone. Decisions should be based on evidence not the opinion of the highest paid person in the room (or even worse – “policy”). Coaching is … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Deming, Management | Tagged Carnival, coaching, Deming, managing people | 1 Comment

2010 Deming Prize

Posted on October 15, 2010 by John Hunter

The Union Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) has awarded the Deming Prize to 4 companies in 2010: Corona Corporation (Japan), Meidoh (Japan), GC Dental (China) and National Engineering Industries Limited (India). Organizations receiving the Deming Prize since 2000 by country (prior to that almost all winners were from Japan): Country Prizes India 16 Thailand 9 Japan 7 USA 1 Singapore 1 China 1 This is the first time a Chinese company has won a Deming Prize. The parent company, GC … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Deming, India | Tagged awards, China, Deming, Deming Prize, India, Japan | 1 Comment

Positivity and Joy in Work

Posted on October 14, 2010 by John Hunter

After my father died, for years (at least 10), people I never had met before would emotionally share what a positive influence he had on their lives. He did great stuff helping organizations improve. But the majority of people were not telling me how much he helped the organization improve [there were also a bunch of engineers and statisticians 🙂 that were more impressed with his insights and expertise]. But most people talked about was how much happier they were … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Deming, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect | Tagged Bill Hunter, Career, Deming, John Hunter, Joy in Work, management, Psychology, quote, respect for people | 8 Comments

Carnival of Human Resources

Posted on October 13, 2010 by John Hunter

As I have discussed in this blog I believe the ideas Douglas Mcgregor’s laid out in The Human Side Of Enterprise 50 years ago. People want to do a good job. Managers don’t need to use carrots and sticks to get employees to perform. They need to remove the de-motivators that organizations so often put in the way of workers. Here are some recent blog posts from around the web on how we can improve the management of people in … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Carnival #112

Posted on October 11, 2010 by John Hunter

Tim McMahon hosts the Management Improvement Carnival #112 on the A Lean Journey blog. Highlights include: Establishing a Classroom Culture – David Kasprzak explores the question of “what if work was like going to school?” Overlooked Waste Reduction of Kanban – Matt Wrye reminds us that kanban can reduce information flow not just inventory but the real goal is about flow. 5 Reasons You Need to do DMAIC – Christian Paulsen shares a personal story explaining why you need to … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged management

Create a System That Lets People Take Pride in Their Work

Posted on October 7, 2010 by John Hunter

I believe I learned this from Peter Scholtes, though maybe I am remembering it wrong or explaining it wrong (so give him the credit and if I mess it up it is my fault). I believe there is a problem with using the term empowered. Using the term implies that it one person empowers another person. This is not the correct view. Instead we each play a role within a system. Yes there are constraints on your actions based on … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Deming, Joy in Work, managing people, Psychology, respect for people | 8 Comments

Six Sigma Interview with Jack Welch

Posted on October 4, 2010 by John Hunter

The short video includes some interesting points by Jack Welch on six sigma. GE was a huge company and did plenty of things that could be criticized. But often those criticizing take it much to far and disregard the sensible things GE understood and was doing well. Quotes by Jack Welch: “variation is evil” “Will six sigma companies get more valuation in the marketplace? Not unless they produce results. You can’t put up a slogan that says we are a … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing, Management, Six sigma, webcast | Tagged Investing, management, management webcast, quote, Six sigma

Management Improvement Carnival #111

Posted on October 2, 2010 by John Hunter

Mark Graban hosts the Management Improvement Carnival #111 on the lean blog, highlights include: Daily Kaizen (Lee Fried), Teach Everyone the Business – Lee, a lean facilitator at Group Health in Washington, writes “When I reflect on Health Care and my own organization I do not think we do a very good job at helping team members understand the financial side of the business.” Doing Common Things Uncommonly Well (Anna Roth), A Culture of Safety: Forgiving – A hospital CEO … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged Health care, management