Category Archives: Management

Lean Blog Podcast with John Hunter

Posted on May 13, 2013 by John Hunter

Mark Graban interviewed me for the Lean Blog podcast series: Podcast #174 – John Hunter, “Management Matters” (listen using this link). Links to more information on what we discussed in the podcast. Madison, Wisconsin: William G. Hunter, George Box, Brian Joiner, Peter Scholtes, Joe Sensenbrener (Quality Comes to City Hall), Statistics for Experimenters, Out of the Crisis, Doing More with Less in the Public Sector: A Progress Report from Madison, Wisconsin My online efforts: Curious Cat Management Guide, Curious Cat … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Deming, Lean thinking, Management, Respect | Tagged Books, Deming, John Hunter, Madison, management, Management Matters, podcast, Psychology, respect for people | 1 Comment

94% Belongs to the System

Posted on April 24, 2013 by John Hunter

I should estimate that in my experience most troubles and most possibilities for improvement add up to the proportions something like this: 94% belongs to the system (responsibility of management), 6% special. Page 315 of Out of the Crisis by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. the system that people work in and the interaction with people may account for 90 or 95 percent of performance. Dr. Deming’s quote from the introduction to the Team Handbook I think, in looking at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Popular, Psychology | Tagged blame, curiouscat, Deming, Joy in Work, managing people, organization as a system, Popular, quote, respect for people, Systems thinking | 15 Comments

The Art of Discovery

Posted on April 18, 2013 by John Hunter

Quality and The Art of Discovery by Professor George Box (1990): Quotes by George Box in the video: “I think of statistical methods as the use of science to make sense of numbers” “The scientific method is how we increase the rate at which we find things out.” “I think the quality revolution is nothing more, or less, than the dramatic expansion of the of scientific problem solving using informed observation and directed experimentation to find out more about the … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Data, Innovation, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Science, Statistics | Tagged control chart, curiouscat, Data, evidence based management, experiments, George Box, Innovation, learning, Process improvement, quote, respect for people, Statistics, technology, webcast | 4 Comments

Management Improvement Blog Carnival #190

Posted on April 4, 2013 by John Hunter

The Curious Cat Management Carnival is published twice each month. The posts selected for the carnival focus on the areas of management improvement I have focused on in the Curious Cat Management Improvement Guide since 1996: Deming, evidence based management, systems thinking, respect for people, applied statistics, etc.. photo of (from right to left) Peter Scholtes, John Hunter and George Box in Madison, Wisconsin at the 2008 Deming Conference George Box (1919 to 2013) by John Hunter – George Box … Continue reading →

Posted in Carnival, Management, Statistics | Tagged Carnival, Data

George Box

Posted on March 28, 2013 by John Hunter

I would most likely not exist if it were not for George Box. My father took a course from George while my father was a student at Princeton. George agreed to start the Statistics Department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and my father followed him to Madison, to be the first PhD student. Dad graduated, and the next year was a professor there, where he and George remained for the rest of their careers. George died today, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Deming, Design of Experiments, Management, Manufacturing, Process improvement, Quality tools, quote, Respect, Six sigma, Statistics, Systems thinking, UK | Tagged curiouscat, Data, Deming, Design of Experiments, George Box, John Hunter, Madison, management, Process improvement, quote, respect for people, Six sigma, Statistics, UK, William Hunter | 15 Comments

Quality Processes in Unexpected Places

Posted on March 25, 2013 by John Hunter

This month Paul Borawski asked ASQ’s Influential Voices to explore the use of quality tools in unexpected places. The most surprising example of this practice that I recall is the Madison, Wisconsin police department surveying those they arrested to get customer feedback. It is obvious that such “customers” are going to be biased. Still the police department was able to get actionable information by seeking the voice of the customer. Certain of the police department’s aims are not going to … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Customer focus, Data, Innovation, Management, Process improvement, Public Sector, Respect | Tagged ASQ Influential Voices, Creativity, Customer focus, customer service, leadership, Lean thinking, Madison, Process improvement, Public Sector, respect for people, Systems thinking | 5 Comments

What Does Respect for People Actually Mean?

Posted on March 11, 2013 by John Hunter

“Respect for People” is a great short hand statement. There is a great deal of complexity packed into those words. At the simplest level respect for people requires systems that are designed with people in mind – systems are not designed as though robots were doing what people did. Then those systems also must be built in a way that respects the inherent value of people. And the idea builds beyond that and grows into an understanding that in order … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management, Psychology | Tagged lean management, managing people, respect for people | 2 Comments

Podcast Discussion on Management Matters

Posted on February 19, 2013 by John Hunter

I continue to record podcasts as I promote my new book – Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. This the second part, of 2, of my podcast with Joe Dager, Business 901: Management Matters to a Curious Cat. The first part featured a discussion of 2 new deadly diseases facing companies. Listen to this podcast. Links to more information on some of the topics I mention in the podcast: Appreciation for a System Using the PDSA improvement cycle Dangers of Targets … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Deming, Management, Psychology, Systems thinking | Tagged Books, build capability, Data, Deming, John Hunter, Joy in Work, management, podcast, Psychology, Six sigma, Software Development, Statistics, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Accept Taking Risks, Don’t Blithely Accept Failure Though

Posted on February 13, 2013 by John Hunter

For discussion by ASQ’s Influential Voices this month, Paul Borawski looks at Risk, Failure & Careers in Quality. There is a bias toward avoiding the possibility of failure by avoiding actions which may lead to failure or even any action at all. This is a problem. The need in so many organizations to avoid failure means wise actions are avoided because there is a risk of failure. Many times the criticism of such cultures however gets a bit sloppy, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged ASQ Influential Voices, experiments, Innovation, poka yoke | 4 Comments

Process Excellence Network Podcast with John Hunter

Posted on February 10, 2013 by John Hunter

Diana Davis with the Process Excellence Network interviewed me for their podcast series, process perspective – Management Matters: Interview with author John Hunter (listen to podcast). Additional details on some of the ideas we discussed: How could they know? Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge: psychology, understanding variation, viewing the organization as a system, theory of knowledge “the most important figures that one needs for management are unknown or unknowable” Lloyd Nelson as quoted by Dr. Deming in Out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Deming, Management | Tagged Books, Deming, John Hunter, Management Matters, podcast | 1 Comment

Business 901 Podcast: Two New Deadly Diseases for Business

Posted on February 4, 2013 by John Hunter

I continue to record podcasts as I promote my new book – Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability. In this podcast I discuss the 2 new deadly diseases facing companies. The second part of the Business 901 podcast will be posted soon. Links to more information on items discussed in the podcast: Dr. Deming’s 7 Deadly Diseases + 2 Executive pay: Excessive Executive Pay (2005) Taking What You Don’t Deserve, CEO Style (2011) Warren Buffett: “Too often, executive compensation in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Economics, Management | Tagged copyright, Deming, Economics, government, John Hunter, management, overpaid executives, patent, podcast | 1 Comment

Leanpub Podcast on My Book – Management Matters: Building Enterprise Capability

Posted on January 23, 2013 by John Hunter

I recently was interviewed for a podcast by Len Epp with Leanpub: Leanpub Podcast Interview #9: John Hunter. I hope you enjoy the podcast (download the mp3 of the podcast). In the podcast we cover quite a bit of ground quickly, so the details are limited (transcript of the interview). These links provide more details on items I mention in the podcast. They are listed below in the same order as they are raised in the podcast: John Hunter’s professional … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Data, Deming, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged Books, Data, Deming, John Hunter, leadership, management, Management Matters, overpaid executives, podcast | 2 Comments

Indirect Improvement

Posted on January 21, 2013 by John Hunter

Often the improvements that have the largest impact are focused on improving the effectiveness of thought and decision making. Improving the critical thinking in an organization has huge benefits over the long term. My strategy along the lines of improving critical thinking is not to make that the focus of some new effort. Instead that ability to reason more effectively will be an outcome of things such as: PDSA projects (where people learn that theories must be tested, “solutions” often … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged build capability, coaching, evidence based management, long term thinking, management tools, managers, Systems thinking | 1 Comment

Management Blog Review 2012: Not Running a Hospital

Posted on January 3, 2013 by John Hunter

Paul Levy started the Running a Hospital blog when he was the CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Thankfully he has continued the blog, renamed to Not Running a Hospital, after leaving that position. Paul provides a huge number (the lowest number of posts in a month was 32) of valuable posts focused on health care, but worthwhile for everyone interested in improving the practice of management. In addition to his blog, during 2012 Paul published a wonderful book … Continue reading →

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

Customers

Posted on December 12, 2012 by John Hunter

Customer focus is critical to succeed with management improvement efforts. Few argue with that point, though my experience as a customer provides plenty of examples of poor systems performance on providing customer value (usability, managing the value stream well, etc.). At times people get into discussion about what counts as a customer. Are customers only those who pay you money for a product or service? What about internal customers? What about users that don’t pay you, but use your product … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Deming, Management | Tagged curiouscat, Customer focus, customer service, Deming, gemba, Innovation, management, quote, Systems thinking, value stream | 11 Comments

Business 901 Podcast with Me: Deming’s Management Ideas Today

Posted on November 13, 2012 by John Hunter

I recently was interviewed for a podcast by Joe Dager, at Business 901: Dr. Deming on Lean in 2012. I hope you enjoy the podcast. Listen to this podcast. Here are some links related to items I mention in the podcast: The W. Edwards Deming Institute Blog William Hunter, my father. Link to paper with Easaw Chacko on Building a Quality Movement within a developing nation, 1972. Developing Children’s Numeracy Using Dice Statistics for Experimenters by George Box, Bill Hunter … Continue reading →

Posted in Lean thinking, Management | Tagged Deming, interview, John Hunter, lean manufacturing, Lean thinking, podcast, Toyota Production System (TPS) | 6 Comments