Yearly Archives: 2010

People Cannot Multitask

Posted on May 24, 2010 by John Hunter

There is plenty of research showing that people can’t multitask. But this knowledge is missed by many people. Here is another study showing this: Why We Can’t Do 3 Things at Once That’s because, when faced with two tasks, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Quality tools | Tagged managing people, Psychology, Quality tools | 2 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #98

Posted on May 23, 2010 by John Hunter

Karen Wilhelm is hosting Management Improvement Carnival #98 on the Lean Reflections blog. She highlights the LeanBlog Podcast #90 featuring Tim Turner, a plant team member at Toyota Kentucky, who compiled stories from 80 fellow team members from every level … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged management | Comments Off

Mistake Proofing Deployment of Software Code

Posted on May 19, 2010 by John Hunter

This is a continuation of my previous post: Improving Software Development with Automated Tests. Lets look at a typical poka-yoke example. A USB connector must be put in the right way up – for the connection to work properly and … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Quality tools, Software Development | Tagged management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Ruby, Software Development | 6 Comments

Combinatorial Testing – The Quadrant of Massive Efficiency Gains

Posted on May 17, 2010 by John Hunter

My brother, Justin Hunter, gives a lightning talk on Combinatorial Testing – The Quadrant of Doom and The Quadrant of Massive Efficiency Gains in the video above. The following text is largely directly quoted from the talk – with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Quality tools, Software Development | Tagged Design of Experiments, Quality tools, Software Development, software testing, webcast | 3 Comments

Management Blog Posts From May 2006

Posted on May 14, 2010 by John Hunter

I think looking back at some previous posts to the blog is worthwhile. Here are links to some of the posts from May 2006. The photo shows some South American artwork at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: I took the … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged management | Comments Off

Interruptions Can Severely Damage Performance

Posted on May 12, 2010 by John Hunter

Interruptions can severely degrade your performance. The type of work you are doing impacts the cost greatly. I have spent some of my time programming web applications. When I am doing that interruptions are a huge drain on my performance … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged Creativity, curiouscat, John Hunter, management, managing people, Paul Graham, Psychology, quote, respect for people, Software Development, Systems thinking, tips | 7 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #97

Posted on May 11, 2010 by John Hunter

Mike Wroblewski is hosting Management Improvement Carnival #97 on the Got Boondoggle? blog, highlights include: Bagel with a side of Jidoka by Evan Durant – “And the more we explore the concept of Jidoka the more we are forced to … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged management | 1 Comment

Manufacturing in the USA, and Why Organizations Often Don’t

Posted on May 9, 2010 by John Hunter

Manufacturing in the USA continues to do well. But it could do better. There are reasons manufacturing that could be located in the USA is not. And addressing those can increase USA manufacturing. Some reasons are sensible, based on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged China, Economics, Manufacturing, USA | 3 Comments

Ignoring Unpleasant Truths is Often Encouraged

Posted on May 4, 2010 by John Hunter

We can’t Handle the Truth Unfortunately, the proverbial “kill the messenger” is alive and well in American business. People who speak the truth are often labeled as a non-team player, a disrupter, a trouble maker or the current tag of … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, respect for people, Systems thinking | 6 Comments

Curious Cat Management Carnival #96

Posted on May 2, 2010 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management blog carnival selects recent management blog posts 3 times each month. Also visit the Curious Cat Management Library for online management improvement articles. Kanban Systems in Software Development – “In the field, I’ve seen Kanban work … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival | Tagged Carnival, management | 1 Comment