Category Archives: Data

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, quote | Tagged continual improvement, Data, Lean thinking, management, respect for people | 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 … Continue reading →

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

Data Based Decision Making

Posted on December 6, 2005 by John Hunter

Acumen visits Google: As a first step, we hope to collaborate with interested Googlers to find better ways to learn what works around the world. Identifying powerful solutions to poverty that are useful to people in different settings, and that … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Google, Management | Tagged critical thinking, Data, evidence based management, Google | 4 Comments

Google: Experiment Quickly and Often

Posted on November 25, 2005 by John Hunter

Google Thinks Small by Quentin Hardy, Forbes: Brin and Page have created a corporate organism that tackles most big projects in small, tightly focused teams, setting them up in an instant and breaking them down weeks later without remorse. “Their … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Google, Innovation, Management, Process improvement, quote, Software Development | Tagged experiments, Google, iteration | 12 Comments

Manufacturing and the Economy

Posted on October 30, 2005 by John Hunter

In Global Market, Iowa Manufacturers Fight for Survival: The conventional wisdom has been that expanded trade would result in the United States losing low-pay, low-skilled manufacturing jobs, said David Swenson, an economic scientist at Iowa State University. But “a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Economics, Management, Manufacturing, Popular, quote | Tagged China, commentary, curiouscat, economic data, economy, Europe, Germany, Japan, John Hunter, Manufacturing, UK, USA | 3 Comments

Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations

Posted on October 8, 2005 by John Hunter

Forward [the broken link was removed] (by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister) to Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations: measurement is almost always part of an effort to achieve some goal. You can’t always measure all aspects of progress against … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Management | Tagged Data, evidence based management, Management, organization as a system | 2 Comments

The Lion of Lean

Posted on September 25, 2005 by John Hunter

Great article – The Lion of Lean: An Interview with James Womack [broken link was removed] by Francis J. Quinn, Supply Chain Management Review: Let’s just take one example in the purchasing area. People say, “Yes, we’re going to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged lean manufacturing | Comments Off

Operational Definitions and Data Collection

Posted on September 22, 2005 by John Hunter

Americans’ Dirty Secret Revealed by Bjorn Carey See also: Google News on washing hands [broken link was remove] – Soap and Detergent Association press release [another broken link was remove] A study released recently spawned a flurry of articles on … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management | Tagged critical thinking, Data, evidence based management, operational definition, Statistics | 1 Comment

Measurement and Data Collection

Posted on September 10, 2005 by John Hunter

This is my response to the Deming Electronic Network message (the site is dead, so I removed the link) on measurement. I find it useful to ask what will be done with the results of data collection efforts (in order … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, quote, Statistics | Tagged continual improvement, curiouscat, Data, Deming, evidence based management, quote, Statistics | 5 Comments

Targets Distorting the System

Posted on June 13, 2005 by John Hunter

I still remember Dr. Brian Joiner speaking about process improvement and the role of data well over a decade ago. He spoke of 3 ways to improve the figures: distort the data, distort the system and improve the system. Improving … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged Brian Joiner, Data, Deming, management, Systems thinking | 6 Comments