Category Archives: Creativity

Samuel Adams Acts Like a Good Neighbor

Posted on February 17, 2008 by John Hunter

Some people think business is only about making money. I agree with Dr. Deming that the purpose is much larger than that. Even if you take a view similar to mine though, it is not often companies intentionally help those … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Creativity, Management | Tagged Creativity, ethics | Comments Off

Giving Away Your Service for Free on Weekends

Posted on January 28, 2008 by John Hunter

Copilot is a cool application that lets you control someone else’s computer. So you can receive technical support remotely. You let someone access your computer and copilot takes care of the sometimes very complex task of linking the two computers … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, IT, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged Creativity, Joel Spolsky, marketing | 3 Comments

Nice Design Example, the eco-cook

Posted on January 27, 2008 by John Hunter

dining in 2015 Basically I just think this is cool. I could try and explain how it shows creativity and reducing waste… but really I just like it. From the designer: My eco-cook is an object that helps to save … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Management | Comments Off

Poor Service from Amazon

Posted on January 11, 2008 by John Hunter

I like using Amazon, most of the time. But their decision to erect barriers for communication I find extremely annoying. Any time anything goes wrong you might as well be dealing with some organization in the middle of nowhere without … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Management, Process improvement | 6 Comments

Prediction Markets with Google Employees

Posted on January 10, 2008 by John Hunter

Another interesting experiment from Google: Using Prediction Markets to Track Information Flows: Evidence from Google In Google’s terminology, a market asks a question (e.g., “how many users will Gmail have?”) that has 2”5 possible mutually exclusive and completely exhaustive answers … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Economics, Google, Psychology, Statistics, Systems thinking | Comments Off

Stratification and Systemic Thinking

Posted on January 6, 2008 by John Hunter

I am reading a fascinating book by Jessica Snyder Sachs: Good Germs, Bad Germs. From page 108: At New York Hospital, Eichenwald and infectious disease specialist Henry Shinefield conceived and developed a controversial program that entailed deliberately inoculating a newborn’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Deming, Health care, Innovation, Management, Quality tools, Science, Statistics, Systems thinking | Tagged critical thinking, Data, evidence based management, Health care, Science, Statistics, Systems thinking | 2 Comments

Toyota’s Partner Robot

Posted on December 6, 2007 by John Hunter

Latest robot in Toyota’s line showcases violin skills [the broken link was removed] But Toyota’s new robot played a pretty solid “Pomp and Circumstance” on the violin Thursday. The 152-centimetre [about 5 feet] tall white robot used its mechanical fingers … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Fun, Science, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged engineering, Innovation, Toyota | 4 Comments

How Curiosity Empowers Toyota

Posted on October 20, 2007 by John Hunter

How Curiosity Empowers Toyota [the broken link was removed] by Keith McFarland: As I read Magee’s book one idea kept surfacing in my mind. Throughout its history, Toyota appears to have put an emphasis on an important but oft-overlooked characteristic: … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creativity, Management Articles, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Comments Off

Using Capitalism to Make the World Better

Posted on October 11, 2007 by John Hunter

I have mentioned Kiva before: Microfinancing Entrepreneurs (on our Curious Cat Economics and Investing blog). In addition to being a good cause Kiva really shows some great management strategies. The use of Information Technology to connect people directly is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, curiouscat.com, Economics, Fun, IT, Management, Psychology | 7 Comments

Employees That Telecommute are the Most Loyal

Posted on September 18, 2007 by John Hunter

In Loyal Employees Stay Home, quotes from the Wall Street Journal (behind a iron curtain still in this day and age – oh well): “When companies allow employees to work remotely or from home, they are explicitly communicating to them … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, IT, Management, Respect, Systems thinking | 3 Comments