Monthly Archives: August 2011

Many Good Employees Want to Continue to Do Their Current Job Well

Posted on August 31, 2011 by John Hunter

Far too much focus on managing people is given to helping them get ahead. Yes many people want to be promoted, and it is good to help them. But I would guess a majority of people really don’t (at this … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged coaching, management, managing people, motivation, Psychology, respect for people | 1 Comment

When Companies Can Treat You Like an ATM, Many Will Do So

Posted on August 29, 2011 by John Hunter

The End of Refrigeration One small custom chip, some relays, a transformer, a couple of heat sinks, and a bunch of passive parts. Maybe a build cost of $20-30 or so? But GE’s price to me was $250, plus $150 … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Investing, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged Customer focus, customer service, Deming, Investing, Lean thinking, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Carnival #140

Posted on August 21, 2011 by John Hunter

Benjamin Mitchell hosts Management Improvement Carnival #140. He has choosen quite a few blogs making their first or second appearance on the management carnival (don’t forget to add blogs to your RSS feed that you are not already subscribed to), … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival | Tagged management | Comments Off

Not Ambiguous Sign

Posted on August 18, 2011 by John Hunter

I like the series of posts by Jon Miller on Ambiguous signs (another example). Here is a sign that got my attention recently and they succeeded in keeping me away (which I think was their intention). The area is near … Continue reading →

Posted in Quality tools | Tagged Quality tools, visual instructions, visual management | Comments Off

Visual Management with Brown M&Ms

Posted on August 15, 2011 by John Hunter

When you hear about rock musicians having a clause in their contract that they must have a bowl of M&Ms in their dressing room with all the brown M&Ms removed you could be excused for thinking: what will these crazy … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Quality tools | Tagged communication, Creativity, poka yoke, problem solving, Quality tools, visual communication, visual management | 3 Comments

Good Execution Can Make Management Tools Like Time and Motion Studies Useful

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Guest Post

In my experience most management concepts are applied poorly. Many of the concepts may also be bad. For example, performance appraisals are both done poorly and a bad idea. The solution is not to do performance appraisal righter: for what … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Quality tools | Tagged management, Quality tools | Comments Off

Management Improvement Carnival #139

Posted on August 10, 2011 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management Improvement Carnival has been published since 2006. We find great management blog posts and share them with you 3 times a month. We hope you find these post interesting and find some new blogs to start … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged Carnival, management, Statistics | Comments Off

Maslow on Dealing with Authoritarians

Posted on August 8, 2011 by John Hunter

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is well known as a fundamental principle of human psychology. Maslow also said: “It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” Maslow on … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Books, management, managing people, Psychology, quote, respect for people | Comments Off

Management Blog Posts From September 2006

Posted on August 4, 2011 by John Hunter

Find a few selected posts from the Curious Cat Management Blog back in September 2006. Going lean Brings Long-term Payoffs – “The early paybacks provide resources to invest in making large more fundamental changes to the organization… Without visible success … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged management, quality | Comments Off

Best Selling Books In the Curious Cat Bookstore

Posted on August 3, 2011 by John Hunter

The most popular books in July at Curious Cat Books were, Statistics for Experiments (1st edition), followed by Statistics for Experiments (2nd edition) and the Leader’s Handbook by Peter Scholtes. These books are great, I am happy others have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Deming, Management | Tagged Books, Deming, leadership, management, Peter Scholtes, Statistics, Statistics for Experimenters | Comments Off