Author Archives: John Hunter

Change is not Improvement

Posted on January 25, 2006 by John Hunter

In response to: Why executives order reorgs [the broken link was removed] We trained hard… but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion; inefficiency, and demoralization. These lines, from the Satyricon of Petronius written 2,000 years ago… … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, quote | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

TPS – Take 2

Posted on January 25, 2006 by John Hunter

The cover story in latest issue of Industry Week focuses on what people have missed when applying ideas from the Toyota Production System. Learning From Toyota — Again [the broken link was removed] by John Teresko: “Why is it that the TPS tools of lean, agile, TQM, TPM, re-engineering, just-in-time, cellular/continuous workflow and so on — never seem to really pay off big [aside from Toyota]?” asks Michael Paris, president of Hinsdale, Ill.-based Paris:Consulting. His response: “Unless TPS is everywhere … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Quality tools, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , ,

China now the 5th Largest Economy

Posted on January 24, 2006 by John Hunter

China’s Economy Grew 9.9% in 2005, Overtaking France [the broken link was removed] China’s economy grew 9.9 percent in 2005, overtaking France as the world’s fifth largest, powered by exports and investment in factories, roads and power plants. Gross domestic product rose to 18.2 trillion yuan ($2.3 trillion) after expanding 10.1 percent in 2004, statistics bureau commissioner Li Deshui said today in Beijing. Investment in urban areas jumped 27.2 percent last year, he said. 2003 data, from Geohive [the broken … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Economics | Tagged ,

Management Excellence

Posted on January 23, 2006 by John Hunter

My comments on, Take off the Blinders [the broken link was removed]: I think the question of what other companies have management practices worth studying is interesting. The answer could be very helpful as others could learn from what those organizations do. There are at least two difficulties in identifying those organizations: 1) defining what set of criteria would indicate successful organizations 2) most often even companies that are doing many things well leave much to be desired (so picking … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, quote | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Lean Software Development

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Software Development: A Field Guide [the broken link was removed] – the first 3 chapters of this new book are available online. Excellent, recommended for anyone interested in lean thinking ideas. Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers by Mary Poppendieck and Tom Poppendieck, 2003. Articles on lean programming by the Poppendieck’s

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Toyota’s Early History

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

via Got Boondogle: A book that I recently finished is “Quest for the Dawn” by Shoji Kimoto. “Quest for the Dawn” is a fascinating true story set from about 1930 to the mid 1950s of a bold business quest to build an automobile from the ground up. The relentless inventors were Sakichi and Kiichiro Toyoda and, of course, the car manufacturer was the Toyota Motor Company. Look interesting, so I went on amazon.com and Quest for the Dawn by Shoji … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Zero Defects

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Zero Defects by Norman Bodek: Do you believe it is possible to have Zero Defects? I am not talking about six sigma at all. I believe it is possible to have zero defects (in a sense). But I do not believe it is a good management strategy to practice what those I have heard in the past preaching zero defects. A Dichotomy by Norman Bodek. Wow, you really have to look to find this article after you follow the link … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Quality tools, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Great Charts

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Karl Hartig displays some excellent charts that he created (for the Wall Street Journal) on his web site. The charts seem very similar to what would result from applying Edward Tufte’s ideas. Rarely do I see charts that do such a good job of visually displaying data. The lack of such effective visual display of information is another example of how much improvement could be made just by applying ideas that are already published. The Energy production consumption chart is … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Management | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Engines of Democracy

Posted on January 21, 2006 by John Hunter

Engines of Democracy [the broken link was removed] by Charles Fishman, Fast Company: The 170-plus people who work at this plant try to make perfect jet engines. And they come close. On average, one-quarter of the engines that GE/Durham sends to Boeing have just a single defect — something cosmetic, such as a cable not lined up right, or a scratch on a fan case. The other three-quarters are, in fact, perfect. … GE/Durham’s continuous-feedback culture — “We call this … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Management Articles | Tagged ,

Ackoff Podcast

Posted on January 19, 2006 by John Hunter

I found this great podcast via the post – School Architecture: Doing the Wrong Thing Right. As usually Ackoff provides great ideas, in an interesting and entertaining manner. This talk focuses on learning (and education and teaching) and doing the right things (effectiveness). In talking to educators Ackoff criticizes the educational system. Throughout the speech he does his normal excellent job of explaining system thinking. Enjoy. Russell Ackoff Talk at Great Schools By Design Summit (mp3 podcast) articles by Russell … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, webcast | Tagged , , ,

Improving Communication

Posted on January 18, 2006 by John Hunter

How to Communicate with Me [the broken link was removed] by David Anderson. A nice post, with practical advice on improving communication. He understood that service goes downward in management and he encouraged us to communicate to him, how he could be of service to us. I’ve used the template I developed for communicating with John as a way to train my staff to better up-manage. It’s important not to expect people to do this intuitively. Generally, their only up-management … Continue reading →

Posted in Management Articles | Tagged | 1 Comment

Effective Innovation

Posted on January 17, 2006 by John Hunter

Overcoming the barriers to effective innovation [the broken link was removed] by Pierre Loewe and Jennifer Dominiquini The top six obstacles to innovation identified by respondents were consistent across industries: Short-term focus. Lack of time, resources or staff. Leadership expects payoff sooner than is realistic. Management incentives are not structured to reward innovation. Lack of a systematic innovation process. Belief that innovation is inherently risky. Related posts: Managing Innovation Deming on Innovation

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Management Improvement Leaders

Posted on January 17, 2006 by John Hunter

Who’s Driving Quality Today by Laura Smith, Quality Digest. Ten years ago, in our March 1995 issue, we profiled 45 “New Quality Gurus.” Although it was one of our more popular articles, some of the “gurus” and their causes have faded into obscurity. Other gurus chased the latest fads into oblivion. A few have shown remarkable staying power. When we decided to revisit the quality gurus issue, one thing was immediately apparent: There isn’t any one guru who stands out … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Popular, quote | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Books: Blink, Freakonomics and more

Posted on January 16, 2006 by John Hunter

I finished reading two very popular books this weekend: Freakonomics and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. While both books were enjoyable and interesting, they really seemed to offer a few good or interesting ideas stretched to fill a book. That is the same thought I had after reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. I found all of them fine. I found them to be worth reading, but I don’t know they warrant … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Economics, Fun | Tagged | 1 Comment

What Should GM Do?

Posted on January 16, 2006 by John Hunter

GM must take back concepts that Toyota has capitalized on [the broken link was removed] by W. Harrison Goodenow: It still doesn’t have to be this way. The solution lies in better manufacturing engineering and not in Machiavellian marketing. Concurrent engineering, hard prototyping, management by planning, real process control and Deming’s analytic-studies approach to design of experiments are proven approaches to designing and building a quality car competitively. Just ask Toyota. Toyota posts Manufacturing articles and links

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Lean Accounting

Posted on January 15, 2006 by John Hunter

Lean Accounting (Lean Beans) [broken link was removed] by Sue Sondergelt We must get rid of Standard Cost and Absorption Accounting for managing the business. This is 1930’s thinking, when business was all labor, little material, and very little overhead. Today business is all material, very little labor, and moderate overhead. A nice short article introducing accounting issues which influence organizational behavior in the counter-productive ways. Accountants today need to change the way they think! We need to lose old … Continue reading →

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