Monthly Archives: April 2012

Management Blog Posts From November 2006

Posted on April 26, 2012 by John Hunter

I have selected a few great posts from the Curious Cat Management Blog back in November 2006. What Could we do Better? – There are many important ideas to improve management. This is one of the most important tips to aid improvement that I know of: it is easy to do, brings huge benefits and most organizations fail to do it. Ask your customers: “What one thing could we do to improve?” Ackoff’s F-laws: Common Sins of Management presents 13 … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote | Tagged blogs, curiouscat, Data, Deming, management, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, tips

Webcast on Lean Startups by Eric Ries

Posted on April 23, 2012 by John Hunter

[broken embedded webcast link removed] Webcast with Eric Ries at PARC, author of Lean Startups, July 2011. Related: Why Lean is Different – An Introduction to Deming’s Management Ideas by Peter Scholtes (webcast) – Dr. Russell Ackoff Webcast on Systems Thinking

Posted in Lean thinking | Tagged entrepreneur, Lean thinking, management webcast

Management Improvement Carnival #164

Posted on April 20, 2012 by John Hunter

Paul Borawski is hosting 164th Management Improvement Carnival on ASQ’s View from the Q blog. Highlights from this edition include: Designing Experiments with Gummi Bears. Yes, Gummi bears. What a way to make statistics and quality fun, creative, and topical! “I am surprised at how many organizations don’t recognize the importance of sharing with others their success,” writes Quality Doc, the blogger behind Making Medical Lab Quality Relevant. Kevin Meyer of the Evolving Excellence blog writes about the purpose of … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged management, quality

Joy in Work in the Quality Improvement Field

Posted on April 17, 2012 by John Hunter

As I mentioned previously, I will be posting on a topics raised by Paul Borawski, CEO, ASQ as part of ASQ Influential Voices. This month Paul’s post, Are Quality Professionals Happy On the Job? looks at job happiness in the quality improvement field. Paul stated he “wasn’t surprised that Forbes Magazine named software quality assurance engineer as the ‘happiest job’ in the U.S.” I was. Frankly looking at the results I question the methodology used – I just find their … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Psychology | Tagged ASQ Influential Voices, Career, Joy in Work, managing people, Psychology, quality, respect for people, Software Development | 4 Comments

Marketplace Looks at the Apple Economy

Posted on April 15, 2012 by John Hunter

Marketplace looks at the Apple economy in China [the broken link was removed]. Marketplace is an excellent source of actual journalism; rare in the post Bill Moyers days, sadly. A look inside a Foxconn factory< [the broken link was removed] The first misconception I had about Foxconn’s Longhua facility in the city of Shenzhen was that I’ve always called it a ‘factory’ — technically, it is. But after you enter the gates and walk around, you quickly realize that it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Economics, Manufacturing | Tagged Apple, China, Economics, Manufacturing | 1 Comment

Motivation, Rewards, Performance Appraisals and Your Career

Posted on April 12, 2012 by John Hunter

In this interview Dan Pink again makes some great points relating to psychology, managing people and managing your career. Q. What kinds of programs can managers and companies put into place to motivate their workforce? Assuming companies are paying people fairly, they should do what they can to foster autonomy, mastery, and purpose. One of my favorite specific ideas is this: The Australian company Atlassian conducts what they call “FedEx Days” in which people work on anything they want for … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Career, intrinsic motivation, managing people, motivation, Psychology, respect for people | 1 Comment

Management Improvement Blog Carnival #163

Posted on April 10, 2012 by John Hunter

Jason Yip is hosting Management Improvement Blog Carnival #163. Highlights from this edition include: Enterprise OODA by Richard Veryard – “The limitations of the OODA model appear when there is too much emphasis on speed (especially response speed) and not enough appreciation of complexity.” Why Knowledge is Superstition by Dave Trott – “When you start believing, you stop thinking.” Fall In Love With Your Business, Not Your Business Plan by Dharmesh Shah – “I don’t think business plans are completely … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival | Tagged management

The Customer is the Purpose of Our Work

Posted on April 9, 2012 by John Hunter

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so. Mahatma Gandhi [his authorship of the quote is … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Psychology, quote, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged aim, Customer focus, customer service, food, Psychology, purpose, quote, respect for people | 6 Comments

Respect for People: Optimize for Developer Happiness at Etsy

Posted on April 3, 2012 by John Hunter

The webcast above discusses the culture of software engineering at Etsy (a very popular site providing a marketplace and community for small businesses – artisan focus). Some of the key points of the talk. Etsy trusts employees. Etsy’s strategy is to optimize for developer happiness. Etsy has lunches twice a week where employees build community. Etsy sees code as craft. The echos Etsy’s value on authorship: “the people behind what we buy make commerce meaningful.” It re-inforces the belief that … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Psychology, Respect, Software Development | Tagged culture, engineering, IT, Joy in Work, managing people, Psychology, respect for people, Software Development, teams, trust | 6 Comments

Management Improvement Blog Carnival #162

Posted on April 1, 2012 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat management blog carnival is published 3 times a month with hand picked recent management blog posts. I also collect management improvement articles for the Curious Cat Management Articles site; an RSS feed of new article additions is available. Stress Solutions, Not Blame by Kevin Meyer – “My organization often hears me say that 90% of problems are the result of poor processes, not people, and 9%… are probably due to poor leadership.” The Real Leadership Lessons of … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management | Tagged management, Six sigma