Category Archives: Deming

Better and Different

Reaction to Toyota: Better or Different? and Seth Godin’s post. The answer, as I see it, is to be better and different (when necessary). In Seth’s post he talks about challenging people to find not just better solutions but different … Continue reading

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Forget Targets

Forget about targets – and decide what really matters by Simon Caulkin: The attraction of targets is their simplicity. But it’s a fatal one. As part of the misguided managerial obsession with quantification, they misapply partial, linear measures to a … Continue reading

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Problems Caused by Performance Appraisal

People are increasingly challenging the notion that we just have to live with performance appraisal systems. As usually, I will make my suggestion that chapter 9 of the Leader’s Handbook offers great material on performing without appraisal (and the rest of the book is great too). Continue reading

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The Customer Knows Best?

The Customer Knows Best? Better Think Again by Anthony W. Ulwick It’s important to listen to customers – but not follow their words without skepticism. Ask them to design your next product and you’re likely to miss the mark, suggests … Continue reading

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Management: Geeks and Deming

Why Business Needs More Geeks [the broken link was removed] by Robert May: then along came Wall Street. Obsessed with quarterly profit increases and seeing them as disconnected from value creation, Wall Street encouraged businesses to think short-term. The things … Continue reading

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Stop Demotivating Employees

Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation [broken link removed – Harvard is extremely bad about breaking links, which is an indication of how little they think about anything but the short term] by David Sirota, Louis A. Mischkind, and Michael … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Management Articles, Popular, Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

Quality and Costs

Finding the balance between quality and cost [the broken link was removed] by Thomas Nolan Maureen Bisognano One of the steps toward a system for improving value is recognizing that waste removal is an essential component of that system, not … Continue reading

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PBS Documentary: Improving Hospitals

Clare Crawford-Mason and Llyod Dobyns have teamed up on a new documentary. Previously they created If Japan Can-Why Can’t We? and the Deming Library Tapes. Good News – How Hospitals Heal Themselves (broken link was removed) A One-Hour Documentary Airing … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Health care, Lean thinking, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Toyota Again Get Positive Press

Toyota Eyes Chance to Pass by Anthony Faiola, Washington Post: The mainstream press continues to note the success of Toyota. Toyota has been toying with hybrid engines for the past 20 years. But the company began to seriously pursue a … Continue reading

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Lean Manufacturing Success

Oshkosh Truck Driven to Succeed [the broken link was removed] by Arlen Boardman: Wuest said this reduced the order-to-delivery time from 12 to 16 weeks to seven days. It made better use of manufacturing space and reduced inventory-holding costs. He … Continue reading

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