Category Archives: Management

Remembering Brian Joiner

I knew Brian Joiner as a child growing up in Madison, Wisconsin. He and my father worked together and our families spent time together. As I grew I interacted with Brian in my professional life and that relationship made my … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Management, Statistics, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Expand the View of the System to Find Ways to Improve Results

Here is an example of improvement made possible by expanding the view of the system (and viewing the results from the perspective of the customer instead of just looking at internal process measures). I was working to improve the processing … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Expand the View of the System to Find Ways to Improve Results

Interview of Bill Hunter: Statistical Variability and Interactions

Interview of Bill Hunter on Statistical Variability and Interactions by Peter Scholtes, 1986: In this interview Bill Hunter describes how results are made up of the impact and interactions of many variables. Many of those variables we don’t know about … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Management, Statistics, webcast | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Interview of Bill Hunter: Statistical Variability and Interactions

Profound Podcast with John Hunter, Part Two

John Willis interviewed me for his Profound podcast series, this posts is about part two of the interview (listen to part two of the podcast, John Hunter – Curious Cat). See my post on part one of the interview. John … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Profound Podcast with John Hunter, Part Two

Profound Podcast: John Hunter – Curious Cat

John Willis interviewed me for his Profound podcast series (listen to part one of the podcast, John Hunter – Curious Cat) John Hunter, Hurricane Ridge Trail, Olympic National Park This post provides links to more information on what we discussed … Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Design of Experiments, Management | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Profound Podcast: John Hunter – Curious Cat

Interview of Bill Hunter, Brian Joiner and Peter Scholtes on Better Management Practices

Interview with Bill Hunter, Brian Joiner and Peter Scholtes (listen to the interview) on a Public Affair, National Public Radio about improving management practices in the USA. The interview is over 30 years old now but the better management ideas … Continue reading

Posted in Data, Deming, Management, Process improvement, Public Sector, Statistics, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Interview of Bill Hunter, Brian Joiner and Peter Scholtes on Better Management Practices

How to Lead From Any Level In the Organization

By successfully helping other people get better results, whether it is your manager, peers, or subordinates, you will grow trust and influence with those around you. “You grow your influence with them by showing them that allowing you to have influence is good for them.” The more you show positive outcomes from your input, the more influence you will have over time. Continue reading

Posted in Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How to Lead From Any Level In the Organization

Learning from Customers

Don’t make it hard for customers to be heard. Provide training and tools to employees to document customers voices. Train employees to learn as much as possible from customers. Value the time employees spend listening to customers and learning from … Continue reading

Posted in Customer focus, Management | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Interview of Bill Hunter: Improving Quality and Productivity in Organizations

Interview of William G. Hunter on Improving Quality and Productivity in Organizations by Peter Scholtes. Bill taught a course at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Improving Quality and Productivity in Organizations, which was co-sponsored by the business school, statistics … Continue reading

Posted in Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Management Improvement System Flavors

ASQ has asked their Influential Voices to explore the question “Is Agile the new Lean?” I have participated with the program since 2012: see my past blog posts as part of the ASQ Influential Voices program. No Agile is not … Continue reading

Posted in Lean thinking, Management | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments