Author Archives: John Hunter

RSS feed for Management Improvement Blog Posts

Posted on October 17, 2017 by John Hunter

I have created a RSS feed for select blog posts from the start of the Curious Cat Management Improvement blog in 2004 (as well as other posts I have made on management improvement on other blogs). Subscribe to the John Hunter management improvement RSS feed. Doing so will add a post each day to your RSS feed reader from my past blog post. Of course, the normal RSS feed for this blog will continue to provide access to the new blog posts I publish. Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Management | Tagged , ,

Looking in the Mirror at Customer Focus

Posted on September 5, 2017 by John Hunter

Most organizations say they are focused on meeting and exceeding customer needs. But, as a customer, this often isn’t what I experience. Delighting customers is critical to long term business success. Satisfied customers will remain your customers until they see the opportunity for something that might be better or is cheaper. Delighted customers are loyal and much more likely to remain customers. Delighting customers is often about paying attention to the small details. Paying close attention to customer’s jobs to … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Innovation, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Don’t Expect Short Quotes to Tell the Whole Story

Posted on July 25, 2017 by John Hunter

When people try to use a short quote as an accurate encapsulation of a management concept they will often be disappointed. It is obvious that Dr. Deming believed that organizations failed to use data effectively to improve. He proposed that organizations needed to change and use data effectively in order to thrive over the long term. He believed that greatly increasing the use of data in decision making would be useful. He also believed there were specific problems with how … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Management, quote, Statistics, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Importance of Critical Thinking and Challenging Assumptions

Posted on July 12, 2017 by John Hunter

There are many factors that are important to effectively practice the management improvement ideas that I have discussed in this blog for over a decade. One of the most important is a culture that encourages critical thinking as well as challenging claims, decisions and assumptions. I discussed this idea some in: Customers Are Often Irrational. There is a difference between saying people wish to have their desires met and people act in the manner to maximize the benefits they wish … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Management, Process improvement, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

New JohnHunter.com Website

Posted on June 28, 2017 by John Hunter

I have created a new web site for my personal site. I hope you like it. The home page now shows selected blog posts I have written about management, as well as on other topics: investing, software development, travel, software testing, engineering, personal finance etc.. The site allows you to subscribe to an RSS feed of my posts. The new site makes it easy to find the pages you desire via a drop down menu or using the search option. … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Technological Innovation and Management

Posted on June 7, 2017 by John Hunter

Technological innovation brings great opportunity for improving results and our quality of life. But transforming potential benefits into real results comes with many challenges. ASQ has asked their Influential Voices to explore the idea of the fourth industrial revolution: “this new era is founded on the practical use of technological innovations like artificial intelligence, big data, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT).” For many years GMs huge investment in robotics in the 1980s ($billions) has been an example of … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Innovation, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lessons on Competition from Mother Nature

Posted on May 30, 2017 by John Hunter

An interesting short article by Joel Barker with some ideas to think about, Surviving the Fittest: New Lessons on Competition from Mother Nature As a result of this emerging body of research, we now must reexamine our competitive paradigm and factor in the new information. It is now clear that ‘the fittest’ not only don’t win all the time, but are only a piece of the more complex system. This information can lead to new strategies for small companies and … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Improving Management with Tools and Knowledge

Posted on May 10, 2017 by John Hunter

Too often today I hear people disparaging management tools/concepts (PDSA cycle, mistake proofing, flowcharts, design of experiments, gemba…). The frequently voiced notion is that tools are being applied and not helping improve management in the organization. But it seems to me using these tools re-enforce the best practices of management improvement. Yes, ignoring the underlying principles (while applying tools and concepts) drastically limits how successful an organization will be in improving management practices (and limits the results the organization will … Continue reading →

Posted in Quality tools, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Organizations as Social Systems

Posted on May 2, 2017 by John Hunter

Organizations are social systems made up of people. Social systems often amplify what happens. If good things happen, more good things often follow. When bad things happen, more bad things often follow. To improve it is wise to this into account and design elements of the management system to encourage the amplification of what is good and that seeks to stop what is bad from being amplified. Building in elements to stop the negatives from reinforcing and creating more negatives … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Robots for Health Care from Toyota

Posted on April 12, 2017 by John Hunter

Japan has an extremely rapidly aging population. This increases the need for health care and for assistance with everyday tasks from the elderly. Japan is also among the leading countries for developing robots for health care and living assistance. I have written about the efforts to have robots fill some needs in Japan previously, on this management blog and also my partner Curious Cat Engineering blog: Toyota Develops Thought-controlled Wheelchair (2012), Toyota’s Partner Robot (2007), Toyota Human Support Robot (2012) … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, IT | Tagged , , , , , ,

Interviews on Software Testing

Posted on March 20, 2017 by John Hunter

I haven’t added a new post here recently. One of the things that has been keeping me busy is putting together some interviews on software testing. Here are excerpts from 3 of the interviews: Testing Smarter with Alan Page Hexawise: During your 20 years at Microsoft you have been involved in hiring many software testers. What do you look for when choosing software testers? What suggestions do you have for those looking to advance in their in software testing career? … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Development | Tagged , ,

Why Do People Fail to Adopt Better Management Methods?

Posted on February 2, 2017 by John Hunter

It is confusing to know that better methods exist but to see those better methods being ignored. It seems that if there were better ways to manage, people would adopt those methods. But this just isn’t the case; sometimes better methods will be adopted but often they won’t. People can be very attached to the way things have always been done. Or they can just be uncomfortable with the prospect of trying something new. In this post I will look … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Innovation, Management, Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Most Popular Management and Leadership Quotes on Our Site in 2016

Posted on January 17, 2017 by John Hunter

These were the most popular quotes on the Curious Cat Management and Leadership Quotes web site in 2016 (based on page views). Follow the link on the quote text for the source and more information on the quote. Having no problems is the biggest problem of all. – Taiichi Ohno Performance appraisal is that occasion when once a year you find out who claims sovereignty over you. – Peter Block Don’t look with your eyes, look with your feet. Don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Management | Tagged | 1 Comment

Cater to Customers Desires to Achieve Customer Delight

Posted on January 10, 2017 by John Hunter

Customer delight requires understanding your customers needs and desires. Often even your customers don’t understand these well. Businesses that have a deep appreciation for what their customers, and potential customers, desire and that create systems to deliver solutions that delight those customers benefit greatly from that effort. To build a sustainable enterprise you must provide value customers will appreciate. Your customers do not have one unified set of desires. Some customers may want as good an experience as is possible … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Customer focus, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

20 Most Popular Posts on the Curious Cat Management Blog in 2016

Posted on January 3, 2017 by John Hunter

These posts were the most popular posts on the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog in 2016 (as measured by page views, as recorded by my analytics application). Toyota Post Record Profit: Splits $15 million in Pay and Bonus for top 21 Executives (2014) Stated Versus Revealed Preference (2013) The Toyota Way – Two Pillars (2010) The Purpose of an Organization (2005) One factor at a time (OFAT) Versus Factorial Designs (2011) How to Manage What You Can’t Measure (2010)* Keys … Continue reading →

Posted in curiouscat.com, Management, Popular | Tagged , , ,

Most Popular Links on Management Sub-Reddit in 2016

Posted on December 27, 2016 by John Hunter

I created the management sub-reddit many years ago. The management sub-reddit provides links to worthwhile management improvement content and the members indicate those links they liked. Here is a list of the most popular links added in the last year. Unintuitive Things I’ve Learned about Management by Julie Zhuo on Medium Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful by Gabriel Weinberg on Medium How to Lead From Any Level In the Organization on the Aileron blog. Five Lean Myths and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Management