Category Archives: Management

Habits

Posted on December 10, 2009 by John Hunter

Some things about what people do also have their roots in psychology. Deming had an understanding of psychology as one of 4 areas in his system of management. A huge factor in what people do is based on what they are used to doing – habits. It is often difficult for people to change – not necessarily because they don’t want to, or the alternative is more difficult or they think it is unwise. It is difficult just because they … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged curiouscat, Deming, extrinsic motivation, John Hunter, managing people, motivation, Psychology, quote | 7 Comments

No More Executive Bonuses!

Posted on November 30, 2009 by John Hunter

Henry Mintzberg, wrote an excellent article for the Wall Street Journal today, No More Executive Bonuses! Don’t pay any bonuses. Nothing. This may sound extreme. But when you look at the way the compensation game is played – and the assumptions that are made by those who want to reform it – you can come to no other conclusion. The system simply can’t be fixed. Executive bonuses – especially in the form of stock and option grants—represent the most prominent … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Performance Appraisal | Tagged bonus, commentary, ethics, executive pay, leadership, management, overpaid executives, respect for people | 5 Comments

Making Better Decisions

Posted on November 24, 2009 by John Hunter

I think the most important thing you can do to make better decisions is to learn from the decisions you make. It sounds easy, but very few people do so effectively. The best strategy to learn from decisions is to: predict the results of your decisions write down those predictions Then analyze the results Then adjust future predictions and decisions based on what you learn Failing to do this leads most people to fail to learn from there decisions. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Process improvement, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged Career, continual improvement, Data, John Hunter, learning, management, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, Systems thinking, tips | 4 Comments

Lean Inventories Do Not Excuse Failing to Deliver

Posted on November 20, 2009 by John Hunter

Low inventory levels do not mean failing to have products available for customers. Now, if you manufacturing in huge batches and can’t respond to customer feedback then it might mean failure to predict customer demand does mean failure to deliver. But lean thinking has shown how to avoid this problem. People need to adopt lean manufacturing practices and gain the benefits of low inventory levels without the costs of failing to deliver what customers want. Sorry Santa, We’re Out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Lean thinking, Management, Manufacturing, Process improvement, Systems thinking | Tagged Customer focus, customer service, Economics, lean management, lean manufacturing, Lean thinking, Process improvement | 2 Comments

Learn Lean by Doing Lean

Posted on November 13, 2009 by John Hunter

In response to: Developing Your Lean Education Plan [the broken link was removed] If you actually let the lean leaders practice lean management you are probably doing more to help them learn than anything else. Reading is great, but 10 times better when reading to find solutions you need to deal with issues you have in place. Same for going to conferences. Consultants can be a huge help, but if you just bring in consultants without allowing the changes needed … Continue reading →

Posted in Career, Education, Lean thinking, Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged Career, coaching, curiouscat, Education, John Hunter, Lean thinking, management, managing people, respect for people, Systems thinking, training | 6 Comments

Management Webcast: Introduction to Lean Manufacturing

Posted on November 9, 2009 by John Hunter

Webcast introduction to lean manufacturing by Ron Pereira. This is a great 9 minute introduction to the topic, for those not familiar with lean thinking. It sets the context for lean thinking and provides some history on how lean manufacturing has developed. Get videos on learning about lean from the Gemba Academy. Related: Oranges, Pebbles, and Sand [the broken link has been removed] – Dr. Russell Ackoff Webcast on Systems Thinking – An Introduction to Deming’s Management Ideas by Peter … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Toyota Production System (TPS), webcast | Tagged lean manufacturing, management, management history, management webcast, webcast

Russell L. Ackoff: 1919 -2009

Posted on October 31, 2009 by John Hunter

We lost another of the absolutely best minds in management history, this week. Somehow, many managers, do not know of Russell Ackoff’s ideas. I find that amazing. Dr. Ackoff is one of two management thinkers that any manager, that is serious about improving management results in their organization, must study (the other is Dr. Deming). The Curious Cat management library includes many articles by Russell Ackoff. Transformation and Redesign at the White House Communications Agency by March Laree Jacques is … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Innovation, Management, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged Ackoff, Deming, management, respect for people, Systems thinking | 4 Comments

Worker Retention at Zappos

Posted on October 29, 2009 by John Hunter

Tony Hsieh, chief executive of Zappos, spoke at a recent y-combinator event (two great organizations we have mentioned before). Facebook and Zappos’s Different Views on Worker Retention “We actually want our employees stay with the company for a long time, for 10 years, maybe their entire life.” … “We now provide mentorship and training so employees can join at the entry level and, over a period of five to seven years, have the opportunity and training to become senior leaders … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Fun, Management, Psychology, Respect, Systems thinking | Tagged aim, Creativity, Deming, long term thinking, management, managing people, respect for people | 2 Comments

Managing to Test Result Instead of Customer Value

Posted on October 19, 2009 by John Hunter

Computer hardware and software creators use benchmarks as one tool to compare the performance of alternative products. At times this can be very useful. You can learn what software of hardware is faster and that may be a very valuable factor. However, any measure is determined by the operational definitions used in collecting the measure. And if people have incentives to improve the measured number they often will do just that (improving the measure) rather than improving the system (the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, IT, Management, Software Development, Systems thinking | Tagged Creativity, Data, programming, Software Development, Systems thinking, targets | 7 Comments

2009 Deming Prize

Posted on October 16, 2009 by John Hunter

The Union Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) has awarded Niigata Diamond Electric (Japan) and Siam White Cement Company (Thailand) the Deming prize. Organizations receiving the Deming Prize since 2000 by country (prior to that almost all winners were from Japan): Country Prizes India 15 Thailand 9 Japan 5 USA 1 Singapore 1 The 2009 Deming Prize for Individuals went to Dr. Hiroshi Osada, Professor, Graduate School of Innovation Management, Tokyo Institute of Technology. Previous recipients include: Kaoru Ishikawa, Genichi Taguchi, … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management | Tagged awards, Deming, Deming Prize, India, TQM | 4 Comments

Management Improvement Carnival #77

Posted on October 1, 2009 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management Improvement Carnival provide links to recent blog posts for those interesting in improving management of organizations. A lesson in strategy, taught by a Cat by Mark Hurst – “Without direction, we’re presenting our flipcharts and our powerpoints to the Cheshire Cat. And he just griiiiiiins.” Respect for People, Underutilized People, and Waste by Pete Abilla – “Worldview and Values matter – those dictate the behaviors of everybody in the company. When ‘tools’ don’t work, that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Lean thinking, Management | Tagged Carnival, Lean thinking, management | 2 Comments

Five Managerial Fallacies Concerning Layoffs

Posted on September 28, 2009 by John Hunter

The Top Five Managerial Fallacies Concerning Layoff Survivors by David Noer, author of Healing the Wounds: Overcoming the Trauma of Layoffs and Revitalizing Downsized Organizations. The overwhelming consensus of downsizing research is that layoffs do not achieve their going in productivity goals. Survivors of most organizations are angry, depressed, anxious and fearful. They are not able or willing to take risks or focus on increasing customer service. At the very time organizations need them to be the most creative and … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Psychology, Respect | Tagged Career, layoffs, management, Psychology, respect for people | 2 Comments

Extrinsic Incentives Kill Creativity

Posted on September 21, 2009 by John Hunter

If you read this blog, you know I believe extrinsic motivation is a poor strategy. This TED webcast Dan Pink discusses studies showing extrinsic rewards failing. This is a great webcast, definitely worth 20 minutes of your time. “you’ve got an incentive designed to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity and it does just the opposite. It dulls thinking and blocks creativity… This has been replicated over and over and over again for nearly 40 years. These contingent motivators, if you … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Deming, Management, Performance Appraisal, Psychology, quote, Science | Tagged Creativity, curiouscat, experiments, extrinsic motivation, management, management research, management webcast, Performance Appraisal, Popular, Psychology, Science, TED | 5 Comments

An Introduction to Deming’s Management Ideas by Peter Scholtes (webcast)

Posted on September 14, 2009 by John Hunter

An Introduction to Deming’s Management Teaching and Philosophy by Peter Scholtes – webcast from the Annual W. Edwards Deming Institute conference in Madison, Wisconsin, November 9th, 2008. My previous post on this speech: 6 Leadership Competencies. Next month, the Annual Deming Institute conference will be held at Purdue on Oct 10th, 2009. Related: Peter Scholtes’ Life – Curious Cat’s Deming on Management – The Leader’s Handbook – Performance without Appraisal

Posted in Creativity, curiouscat.com, Deming, Education, Innovation, Lean thinking, Management, Performance Appraisal, Popular, Process improvement, Psychology, quote, Respect, Science, Systems thinking, webcast | Tagged curiouscat, Deming, Innovation, management, management webcast, Performance Appraisal, Peter Scholtes, Popular, quote, respect for people, Systems thinking, webcast | 4 Comments

Understanding How to Manage Geeks

Posted on September 12, 2009 by John Hunter

The unspoken truth about managing geeks [the broken link was removed] by Jeff Ello IT pros are sensitive to logic — that’s what you pay them for. When things don’t add up, they are prone to express their opinions on the matter, and the level of response will be proportional to the absurdity of the event. The more things that occur that make no sense, the more cynical IT pros will become… Presuming this is a trait that must be … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Management, Psychology, Respect, Software Development | Tagged IT, managing people, programming, Psychology, respect for people, Software Development | 6 Comments

The Best Leadership Is Good Management

Posted on September 6, 2009 by John Hunter

The Best Leadership Is Good Management [the broken link has been removed] by Henry Mintzberg Let me suggest that you should, because what we’ve been calling a financial crisis is actually one of management. Corporate America has had too much of fancy leadership disconnected from plain old management. … How did this happen? It became fashionable some years ago to separate “leaders” from “managers”—you know, distinguishing those who “do the right things” from those who “do things right.” It sounds … Continue reading →

Posted in Management, Management Articles, Systems thinking | Tagged Books, leadership, management, management experts, Systems thinking | 7 Comments